Things To Know About Kyrgyzstan Before You Travel

Kyrgyzstan is lesser travelled country in Central Asia that is becoming ever more popular due to the incredible nature, traditional lifestyle and affordable costs. As more and more people visit this special country, they will have a lot of questions about what to expect when they first get to Kyrgyzstan. After spending a month in the country, I noticed a lot of cultural quirks as well as gained a lot of tips to pass on to others that might not know what to expect.

Some of these notes below are just things that I noticed but didn’t understand but most of these are tips to help you on your journey around Kyrgyzstan.

Things To Know About Kyrgyzstan Before You Travel

It is a stunningly beautiful country.

It is a very mountainous country with 90% over 1500m.

The scenary is very varied from plains, to mountains, to lakes, to incredible rock formations at Skanza canyon

The name Kyrgyz comes from the word “forty” for the 40 tribes that used to be in the country.

Women drink pints of beer through straws – I saw this all over Central Asia strangely.

The traditional hats that men wear are called pakpals. They look awesome.

Marshrutkas are the way to go – these minibuses criss cross the country .

When on marshrutkas, for longer distances, you pay the driver before departure but shorter distances, e.g. within a city, you pay when you get off.

Learn Cyrillic – it makes everything so much easier if you can read some signs .

Learn some Russian as well – it’s easier to learn than Kyrgyz (for English speakers). Get a phrase book here.

Not too much English is spoken in the country – especially if you head away from tourist sites.

Get Yandex – this is the taxi app that is used everywhere and can also be used for food delivery.

Hitchhiking is popular – but you still have to pay. On popular routes, the driver will ask for an amount of money similar to a bus or marshrutka, in more rural areas, it may still be free or cheaper.

In Bishkek, bikes and scooters will rush past, always look around before stepping out.

Sometimes, they turn off the traffic lights on some intersections in Bishkek on weekends. I don’t know why.

The country is modernising fast. Go there soon.

You will see the ethnicities of people change throughout the country with Osh being more conservative, some Uyghur people in Karakol and a mix of ethnically white Russian people and a very modern dress code in Bishkek.

Officially, Kyrgyzstan is a Muslim majority country. There is little evidence of this in Bishkek, but other parts of the country are more conservative.

The currency is the Kyrgyz som.

Cash is king, but a lot of places take card.

There are money changers everywhere – I found them to have better rates than getting my money from ATM’s.

Manas is everywhere, he is a national hero.

There will be a 10-15% service charge on all sit down meals and drinks you will buy. It is part of Kyrgyz law that they can add this on.

You will see horse meat and horse milk on the menu.

The food is very beige – bread and noodles with meat and of course plov.

Bishkek has a very modern centre and construction work going on everywhere. Outside of this, you can tell the country is still developing and many roads and pavements aren’t in good condition.

It is visa free for most nationalities – over 60 nationalities get a 60 day visa on arrival.

The driving is interesting – it isn’t the worst I’ve seen but it is a long way from the best.

Honking is everywhere – drivers use their horns for everything.

Every Kyrgyz car has a cracked windscreen.

You’ll find flower shops in hubs and it’s quite normal for men to regularly buy flowers for their girlfriend or wife.

The border crossing was surprisingly quick – and I’ve heard that from other travellers as well that it’s a quick stamp and nothing more.

In the mountains, the weather can change quickly, always be prepared.

The hiking season is short, from just August to September.

Kyrgyzstan is also a ski destination in winter.

Summing up what to know about Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan has gone straight in as one of my favourite countries. There are a lot of cultural quirks about the country that I didn’t realise until I visited and saw them with my own eyes. For many of them I don’t have the answers to why they are done that way, but I find them fascinating to observe.

There are also a lot of tips here for people travelling the country in future listed in a random order that I wrote down as I thought about them!

Dan

Dan is an avid traveller from London. His first big adventure was in 2010 living in Malaysia for 3 months. He has been on the road almost constantly since 2015 travelling to destinations that aren’t on the mainstream tourist trail and working full time and travelling since 2021.