Central Asian & Kyrgyz nomadic food trip

Description
Trip Essentials
Trip Highlights
Itinerary
Tour Map
Dates & Prices

Description

Food and Drink

Kyrgyzstan hosts over 80 distinct cultures and nationalities. Kyrgyz, Uighar, Russian, Dungan, Uzbek, and Korean influences help create one of the most diverse cuisines of Central Asia. Kyrgyz food relies heavily on meat, dairy and bread, and is light on spices. Each meal ends with an «omin», a motion which gives thanks to God.

Traditional dishes

Besh Barmak For Kyrgyz people, Besh Barmak is a ceremonial food. A whole sheep is butchered and the mutton is boiled in a kazan (iron pot) with noodles until the broth reduces to a rich and flavorful sauce. The name, Besh Barmak, means «five fingers», it is traditionally eaten with the fingers and you will need all of yours to mop up the delicious stew.

Plov

Plov is a mound of rice, onions, and carrots with stewed meat.

Manty

Fist sized dumplings filled with mutton and onions

Lagman

A dish of thick home-made noodles in a spicy sauce, with cabbage, onions, and tomatoes

Chuchpara/ pelmeni

Smaller dumplings filled with onions, and juicy mutton, served in a soup

Kuurdak

Mutton or beef sauteed with onions and spices and garnished with herbs

Shorpo

Rich broth with potatos and vegetables

Shashlyk

Kebabs of mutton, beef, or chicken served with onions and vinegar

Traditional Drinks

Kymyz

A popular traditional drink made of fermented mares milk, drunk in summer.

Bozo

Fermented barley, usually drunk in winter

Jarma

Fermented millet, drunk in summer

As regards to homemade: the later the season, the stronger the drink.

Vegetarians

There are dishes which can be found without meat, and most places in Bishkek have a vegetarian item on the menu, or can alter a dish to suit your dietary needs. There are also supermarkets which carry standard items. Outside the city you will probably want to prepare food for yourself. Fruits are widely available, as a are a limited selection of vegetables (cabbage, cucumbers, tomatos). You may be able to find nuts, lentils, rice and beans, as well as fresh milk products, and eggs.

Bread, which is cheap and sold fresh in stores and roadside stands is another good option.

Trip essentials

Total Duration: 8 days

Best Season: June — September

Start and End Point: Bishkek

Accommodation: standard hotel, guesthouse, yurt

Transport: car/minibus

Best group size: any

BESHBARMAK — The term Beshbarmak means «five fingers», because nomads used to eat this dish with their hands. The boiled meat is finely chopped with knives, mixed with boiled noodles, and spiced with onion sauce. It is usually served in a big round dish. Beshbarmak is usually served with shorpo – mutton broth in bowls called kese. Shorpo is usually served after this dish.

PLOV — Famous Uzbek plov is a dish made from rice and meat, which are prepared at the same time. In the preparation of plov the great improtance is attached to the rice and its taste. Each grain should be separated from the others. The garlic is added for a pleasant flavor.

KUURDAK — It is a traditional dish, made from roasted meat, mixed with onion and potatoes. Dish is universal, and in some regions, you can see the variations of it, with added liver, kidneys, lungs for different taste and flavour. Additional vegetables, like potatoes, carrot or pumpkin.

BOORSOK – Popular ancient ritual dish–boorsok– is cut pieces ofrolled dough deep fried in oil.This is a traditional table “decoration”. They are produced in large quantities and spread over the dastorkon (tablecloth) at every major celebration.

LAGMAN — is a popular dish of Central Asian cuisine. It is prepared from stretched noodles, meat and vegetables. Noodles are stretched by hands. To add a flavor, spices and herbs are added in the dish. It is served hot.

ASLYAM-FU — Dungan cuisine dish, which is being prepared in many Asian countries, but the most delicious ashlyam-fu is deservedly recognized to be prepared in Kyrgyzstan. The dish is made from starch with spicy-sour vegetable sauce. It is served cold.

MANTY — is a traditional meat dish of Central Asian people. Manty are prepared from finely chopped meat and onions in thin dough. The dish is cooked on steam.

DIMLYAMA — It is very fine national meal and usually is made of potatoes, meat, carrot, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, pepper and garlic, cooked in kazan (cooking pot made from cast iron).

KESME — Kesme is a traditional noodle Central Asian dish, made in kazan.

Trip highlights

Burana Tower

Burana Tower is the most visible remnant of the old city of the Balasagyn city. Built in the 11th century, the tower is thought to have been a minaret. It was originally double it’s current height of 24.6 meters. Historian’s believe the top half to have been destroyed in a 15th century earthquake.

Balasagyn was a city in the Chuy Valley during the Karakhanid Khanate. Excavations have revealed that the double walls of the settlement enclosed 30 sq km, including a fortress, many workshops, bazaars, a bathhouse, and a plot of arable land. Water brought by a large pipe from a neighboring canyon. As the Karakhanid rule was shaken by Mongol invasions, Balasagyn began a slow decline, eventually becoming a ghost town in the 15th century.

Local Kyrgyz tell a Sleeping Beauty-esque fairy tale about the towers origins. According to legend, it was built by a powerful khan who had only one daughter, a beautiful young woman he wished to shield from every hardship. A seer foretold that despite his care, the girl would die on her 16th birthday. The furious Khan built the tower, and locked his daughter away from the world. On her 16th birthday he visited her with a gift of fruit, proud of having defeated the prophecy. To his horror, the girl collapsed before his eyes, and fell dead to the floor. Unbeknownst to him, a poisonous black spider had been concealed among the grapes. In his grief he destroyed the top half of the tower, and left the base as his daughter’s mausoleum.

There are several brick mausoleums nearby the tower, and a museum encompasses the area of the former town. Balbal, Turkic grave markers from the 6th century, and rocks with pertroglyphs from the 2nd century have been brought here for preservation.

Issyk-Kul Lake

The crown jewel of the Tien Shan, Lake Issyk-Kul is 6232 sq m of sparkling blue paradise. The second largest saline lake in the world, its name in Kyrgyz means «hot lake»— though surrounded by spectacular snow capped peaks, the water never freezes. Silk Road traders stopped here to recover from the grueling trek over the passes of the Tian Shan, and it is still the most popular destination in Kyrgyzstan to relax for both tourists and locals.

Karakol is the regional center. On Sundays see a tradition which is reminiscent of Silk Road times, the famous animal bazaar. Shepherds from surrounding regions travel long hours to bring their livestock— on foot, by cart, by tractor, by car— even by motorcycle. Other cities in the region include Cholpon-Ata and Balykchi.

The mountains in Issyk-Kul rise over 7000 m, with Khan Tengri and Pobeda Peak being popular destinations for intrepid mountaineers. Trek to the massive Enilchek Glacier and the “dissappearing” Lake Merzbacher.

Song-Kol Lake

Song-Kol Lake — «The Last Lake» is considered one of the most beautiful areas for summer pasturing. It is in the Naryn district, and Kyrgyzstan’s second largest lake with an area of 270 km sq. In winter the lake freezes over with ice more than a meter thick.

Chamomile, sage, friar’s cap and golden root are prized for their medicinal qualities, and wildflowers are abundant in spring. Migratory birds bisit the lake in summer as well as shy mountain wildlife like foxes and deer. Fish were introduced to the lake in 1959.

Nomads have been making the upland trek to this 3016 m asl lake since ancient times with their livestock. Some left mysterious «standing stone» arrangements.

Lake Son-Kul is a beautiful place to experience life on a jailoo. Ride horses in the surrounding mountains, or stay in a yurt and experience an old-fashioned Kyrgyz summer.

Itinerary

Day 1

Arrival in Manas airport. Transfer from Manas airport to Bishkek. After check in at the hotel city tour in Bishkek (the Monument of Kyrgyz National hero Manas, Changing of Guards of Honor, Kurmanjan Datka Monument. A sightseeing tour of Bishkek comes to an end at Victory Square). After lunch at the local café, we drive around 40 km out of Bishkek to Ala Archa National Park. Dinner café, making Kyrgyz national dish, Plov. Plov is made of rice, onion, meat and carrot with adding different spices. Overnight in Hotel.

Day 2

Breakfast at the hotel. After early breakfast, leave Bishkek for Karakol. On the way, visit the Burana Tower architectural complex (the 10-11^th centuries, the Great Silk Road). Lunch at the local Kyrgyz family`s house, where we will take part in making national kyrgyz meal, «shorpo». Transfer to Karakol. Dinner in Dungan family house where you watch the master class — cooking traditional Dungandishes. Overnight in Guesthouse.

Day 3

Breakfast. City tour. Visiting Dungan mosque, Russian Orthodox Church, “Kalinka” café that is an old wooden house converted to café. Lunch in local café. Dungan cuisine dish, which is being prepared in many Asian countries, but the most delicious ashlyam-fu is deservedly recognized to be prepared in Karakol. The dish is made from starch with spicy-sour vegetable sauce. It is served cold.Drive to Tepke village, dinner at the farm. Rest of the day you will spend at the farm. Owners of this farm raise horses, cows, and chickens. You can watch and even help them to take care of livestock. This place also has picturesque nature, mountains and Jergalan River. For dinner, you will see a master class in cooking manty. Manty is a traditional meat dish of Central Asian people. Manty are prepared from finely chopped meat and onions in thin dough. The dish is cooked on steam. Transfer to Karakol. Overnight at Guesthouse.

Day 4

Drive to Chyrak village. Visiting Jety-Oguz Gorge just to see seven bulls’ rocks. In Chyrak village, you can watch horse games: Ulak tartysh, Tiyin enmey, Odarysh, Atchabish. Lunch at Kyrgyz family – traditional Kyrgyz food Boorsok and lagman making. Cooking lesson. Lagman is a popular dish of Central Asian cuisine. It is prepared from stretched noodles, meat and vegetables. Noodles are stretched by hands. To add a flavor, spices and herbs are added in the dish. It is served hot. Drive to Bokonbaevo village. Dinner in a yurt. Kuurdak It is a traditional dish, made from roasted meat, mixed with onion and potatoes. Dish is universal, and in some regions, you can see the variations of it, with added liver, kidneys, lungs for different taste and flavour. Additional vegetables, like potatoes, carrot or pumpkin. B&B in a yurt.

Day 5

After breakfast, visit Felt Art Studio in Bokonbaevo. Transfer to Kochkor village. (3 hours, 150 km) On the way visit Kyzyl-Tuu village, village of yurt makers. 10-11 a.m. — Visit a Kyrgyz family where all family members make a BozUy (Yurt) – a traditional Kyrgyz dwelling tent. Experience yurt-making process, and teatime with gosh-nan and salads in the yurt. Central Asian dish gosh-nan is the cake stuffed with meat. Adding onions and spices makes gosh-nan fragrant and delicious. Continue to Kochkor Village, where we will try national food «DImlyama». It is very fine national meal and usually is made of potatoes, meat, carrot, cabbage, tomatoes, onions, pepper and garlic, cooked in kazan (cooking pot made from cast iron). You also participate in the master-class of bread baking (boorsoks, Kattama, and Chak-Chak).Overnight at home stay.

Day 6

Morning transfer to Son-Kol Lake (100 km, 4-5 hours driving). Free time in Song Kol Lake. Master class on preparation of national products from milk (kumis, kurut and others). It is a fish lunch today. The fish is cooked on the open fire. For dinner making «kesme» (noodles). Kesme is a traditional noodle Central Asian dish, made in kazan. Andsamsa – traditional bakery products Oriental cuisine. Prepared in the form of triangles stuffed with minced meat and onions. Use puff pastry. Served hot. Lunch, dinner and B&B at yurt stay.

Day 7

Breakfast. Leisure time exploring the area. Today special for you we will cook Kyrgyz national cuisine. You can see and take a participate in slaughtering sheep and do yourself our delicates like byzhy, zhorgom etc. Cooking lesson. Beshbarmak cut noodles and slice meat. People can participate. Lunch and dinner in a yurt. Overnight in a yurt.

Day 8

Breakfast. Transfer back to capital Bishkek. Check-in at hotel. Farewell dinner with folklore concert. Overnight at hotel.

Day 9

Night/morning transfer to the airport. Departure.

Tour map

Dates and Prices

Trip date	Availability	Trip Status	Price
Any date	Available	Booking	From $ 1 875

TRIP INCLUSIONS:

Accommodation in Bishkek
Accommodation in home stays and yurt stays
Meals according to the program
Transfers according to the program
Entrance fees to natural places, cultural places and museums
Master Classes and shows according to itinerary
Touring guide

Price does not include: personal expenses; activities out of program; single supplement; travel insurance;