Issyk - Turgen

Fri 31/5/24

After settling everything at the ALA airport, we drove to our guesthouse at Issyk and arrived at about 11 am. There was no toll charge from Almaty to Issyk. The journey took just about over an hour over a short distance of 45 km. We did see police officers hiding behind trees along the way from the airport at about every 200m until we were out of the city, probably. We filled up the tank on the way to our guesthouse, which cost 205 KZT/liter for Bensin 92.

our guesthouse

Our room with breakfast cost RM 152 per night booked from booking.com, paid by cash. Our host Naila did not speak English so we used the translator app to communicate. We refreshed ourselves and cooked instant noodle prior to setting out again to Turgen valley and Asy plateau. She also had 3 dogs in the house compound with one of them overly friendly to play with us.

our room

There is an entrance fee of 1000 kzt to the Turgen valley /Asy plateau national park which we paid by cash. We drove straight towards Asy plateau direction, but unfortunately the road is closed at Batan. There was about 16km left to Asy plateau which was only accessible by foot, but since it was already almost 2pm, we wouldn't have enough time to trek and go back down before sunset. 

We felt a little disappointed of not able to reach Asy plateau at a higher location to get the best views of the mountain and valley, but took pictures at Batan and Turgen valley nevertheless, there was a nice spot to fly the drone. There were families picnicking along the river and yurts available for rent to stay the night. However, the yurts are not listed on booking.com or airbnb, so it was difficult to pre-book and you had to book it on the spot.

river at Turgen valley

Turgen valley

Kazakh horses

After spending about 2 hours of taking pictures and drone flying (no trekking done as we didn't have the time), we drove back to Issyk to have dinner at a random restaurant that we found - Rayyan restaurant where we had kumys kuyrdak (lamb stew in cheese / horse milk) and tashkent plov which cost KZT 5489. It was delicious. We also did some groceries shopping at the supermarket to buy water and fruits. After dinner, we went back to our accommodation to get a well deserved rest after a day of travelling and no proper sleep since from Malaysia.

kumys kuyrdak (lamb stew in cheese / horse milk)

tashkent plov