Participant Travel Plans

KYRGYZSTAN 2025

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BEFORE BOOKING!

Please read through all information and confirm your arrival/departure dates and times with us BEFORE you book. Simply email a basic overview of your plans (e.g. “Arrive 25 Jan 2:20am, Depart 3 Feb 10:50am”) to ryan@40tribesbackcountry.com and wait for the green light. Do not submit this form until your flights have been OK’d and are finalized.

Travel Tips

The arrival/departure airport for our Kyrgyzstan programming is Manas International Airport (FRU) in Bishkek. The majority of flights to/from FRU connect through Istanbul with Turkish Airlines and the low-cost Pegasus Airlines being the most common carriers. Turkish Airlines flies from the main airport (IST), which is really nice, and massive. We strongly recommend a layover of at least a couple of hours at IST to help ensure you and your bags make your connection. Other possible but less frequently-used transit locations include Dubai (DXB) in the United Arab Emirates, Urumqi (URC) in western China, or Almaty (ALA) in Kazakhstan.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

GUIDED

ARRIVE: Early morning the day before your tour start date (Saturday). Our driver will be waiting for your group at the airport and will bring you directly to our partner village, by way of Karakol (approx. 6 hrs drive).

Important for mixed groups: Our goal is to time arrivals so that no one has to wait at the airport too long for others. Ideally we’ll be able to get everyone on the same flight. For this reason, it’s really important for mixed groups to check with us before booking so that we can help you coordinate with others.

DEPART: Two days after your tour end date (Monday). After riding out from the yurts we will provide transport back to Karakol and will have accommodation arranged at our partner’s guesthouse for the night. The next day (Sunday) we will provide transport back to Bishkek and will have accommodation arranged at a nice hotel for your final night. The hotel will arrange all transfers to the airport on Monday. For mixed groups, timing your departures isn’t as important as arrivals.

To make sure you're on the right track with your planning, please consult the "Tour dates" dropdown on our travel plans form.

EARLY ARRIVALS/LATE DEPARTURES

Arriving early and/or staying late is totally fine with us, and recommended if you'd like to spend a few extra days in Bishkek or head out from there to explore more of the country. Note, however, that airport pickup is included only if arriving as outlined above. If you plan to arrive earlier, we are happy to put you in touch with the hotel we use in Bishkek to arrange pickup and additional nights lodging. For departures later than outlined above, airport drop off is included as long as you plan on staying at the hotel the night before your departure.

Along the same lines, if you plan on staying longer in the Karakol area after leaving the yurts, the entire group must be on the same schedule. We cannot arrange Karakol-Bishkek transport according to individual schedules. If you plan on staying extra nights in Karakol as a group, we are happy to put you in touch with our partners to arrange lodging for additional nights.

SELF-GUIDED

If you opted for our transport and lodging package, our travel requirements are the same as with our Guided tours (see above). If you have chosen to arrange transport and lodging on your own: We simply require that your group arrives in Karakol the day before your reservation start date, and we will then drop you off wherever you have arranged your lodging in Karakol by nightfall on your reservation end date.