Tips for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Before Your Horse Trek
Updated: Oct 8
Before the trip, I fell into the trap of booking one excursion and relying on the tour company to share knowledge instead of my meticulous browsing and reading like I normally do. Still, somehow Kyrgyzstan landed on top of my list of my favorite countries I have ever visited because of our horse trekking experience. Our experience in Bishkek was lackluster in comparison, but we viewed it as a transit city only anyway.
We landed in Manas International Airport (BSZ) on Uzbekistan Airways as Kyrgyzstan was the second half of the trip we started in Uzbekistan. We flew out of Bishkek to Istanbul (IST) on a direct flight through Turkish Airlines on our way out of the country. USA Citizens do not need a visa and the immigration process was quick.
Landing in the airport is a little jarring. It's stark white and there are no services other than the booths trying to sell you a SIM card. We could not find any ATMs inside the airport. The airport Wi-Fi was also impossible to connect to. We ended up booking a taxi at the official taxi stand for 1500 Kyrgyz Som or about $17. Maybe they were trying to rip us off, but we weren't mad at $17 and did not have the energy or language skills to bargain. We had to input the hotel into our drivers Yandex app for him, which we found as the most straightforward way to get there.
Yandex Go is the best option if you can get it to load! BSZ is 30 minutes from the city center of Bishkek, so prepare for a long ride. I also saw a city bus stopped at the airport, so that could be an option to look into.
Out of everyone we met, only the hotel staff knew English. Airport staff, taxi drivers, guides, and restaurant staff knew only Kyrgyz or Russian. I would download Kyrgyz on Google Translate so it's available to you.
We unfortunately only had US dollars, so our taxi driver took us to a currency exchange close to the airport where he exchanged the $20 we gave him and we exchanged another $50 to have some cash on us. We only used that money for tips and snacks at gas stations that also took card. You can get away with not exchanging any money if you are on a tour the whole time and plan to tip in other currency. There's something about Kyrgyz taxi drivers that put their needs above the drive - he also stopped for a cigarette break. Another driver we had stopped for his lunch, although that was a longer drive from Kyzart Village to Bishkek organized through our tour operator.
Our return taxi to the airport did not get that close to the airport when we were dropped off . In May 2026 there was construction around the airport, so he dropped us off at a pseudo-parking lot they had set up and we walked the 5 minutes into the airport. It was an easy walk but be aware if you have a lot of luggage!
We had no plans for Bishkek. We were in Kyrgyzstan solely for the horse trekking experience. We chose a route that was feasible time-wise and did not require too much travel to start. For Song-Kul Lake, Bishkek was a great starting spot. We debated flying to Osh as the lower half of the country has access to different lakes, but the transit to Osh was more complicated than we wanted to deal with.
We stayed at the Orion Hotel. I cannot recommend it. It was fine, but it felt like it was cosplaying as a much nicer hotel than it actually is. We paid for the nights we'd be on our horse trek so we wouldn't have to worry about our luggage and could leave it in our rooms. Breakfast is an additional fee and while a large buffet, it was not quality. Unfortunately, it's a nicer option than what else is available in Bishkek. There is a restaurant at the hotel, and the room service we ordered was good, but not fantastic. It did its job; which was keeping our stuff safe while we were on our horse trek!
We had one meal in Bishkek at Navat, which was recommended by the hotel receptionist. It was a 20-minute walk away on an easy-to-follow path through the city. The food was OK. A bit of a letdown after all the delicious meals we had in Uzbekistan. It was the only restaurant we ate at in Kyrgyzstan, so I don't have much to compare it to. The wait staff did a traditional dance at 9:00 PM and it seems they do one every hour, which was a fun surprise! They had live music playing otherwise.
If you look it up, there are some things to see in Bishkek in terms of museums or statues. Unless you are into that stuff, I recommend spending the night before your horse trek packing your bags, eating a good meal, taking your last shower, and resting up before your adventure! That's all we did and I don't regret it.
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