Central Asia 2004: Kichi-Alay trek

Return to Central Asia 2004 main webpage

Kichi-Alay is a mountain range located south of the city of Osh and north of Peak Lenin. This 4-day trek, which crosses this range from north to south at Kyndyk pass, offers awesome views over Peak Lenin. I did this trek with Maksim Chubukov, a Russian living in Tashkent.

Map. The itinerary is shown in blue dots. The large red and green dots indicate the start and the finish (Kashkasu village) of the trek, respectively. The numbered orange dots indicate the locations of the 3 successive camps. To see the map at a better resolution, click here. To see the two 100K map sheets that cover the trek, click here (north) and here (south).

Start of the trek at the beginning of the valley of the Kyndyk river.

Small settlement along the way, with yaks.

Our camp #2 at the lake below Kyndyk pass, on the northern side of the pass.

Maxim, while on our way to Kyndyk pass.

View from the pass (4482m) toward the north, with the lake visible on the left side of the photo.

View of Peak Lenin (7134m) and the surrounding range from Kyndyk pass.

At Kyndyk pass, with Maxim in the photo on the left.

Yurts along the way down from the pass.

More views.

Our camp #3.

The Karakavak valley further down.

Maxim talking to a local horseman.

Village of Kashkasu at the end of the trek.

Return to Central Asia 2004 main webpage