Travel deep dive
Song-Kul, a Lake of the High Summer Pastures
Song-Kul lies in the centre of Kyrgyzstan at about 3,000 metres, a wide lake in a bowl of grassy mountains, with no village on its shores. In summer, once the snow has left the passes, herding families drive their horses, sheep and cattle up to the jailoo, the summer pastures around it, and raise their felt yurts by the water. For a few weeks the lake becomes the place to stay in a yurt, ride across the pastures and see the herders' summer life.
Updated 2026-10-08
The jailoo and the yurts
The jailoo is the high pasture where Kyrgyz herders spend the summer, and around Song-Kul it stretches in every direction, dotted with the white yurts of the families and their herds. Some families take in guests in yurts of their own, with felt walls, rugs and sheepskins on the floor, a stove for the cold nights and simple outdoor toilets. Meals are the herders' food: bread, cream and jam, noodles with mutton, and kymyz, fermented mare's milk, at its freshest here in summer.
Riding to the lake
The classic way to arrive is on horseback, a ride of one to three days from Kochkor or the villages of the Kochkor valley, crossing a pass from which the lake appears below. No riding experience is needed for the usual routes, with a local guide and calm horses. A rough road also climbs to the lake from Kochkor and from the south, so it can be reached by car with a driver in a few hours.
A day on the pastures
Days at Song-Kul follow the herds: mornings of mist on the water, rides along the shore and over the hills, the milking of the mares, and evenings by the yurt as the cattle come in. When neighbouring camps meet there may be a game of kok-boru, the mounted contest of the herders. At night, far from any town, the sky is full of stars.
Arranging a stay
Yurt stays and horse treks are arranged through the community tourism offices and guesthouses of Kochkor, which work with the herding families, or through agencies in Bishkek and Karakol. A stay of one or two nights by the lake, joined to the ride in and out, is the usual plan, and drivers from Kochkor bring travellers up by road.
The season
The yurts stand from about late June to early September, the short season when the passes are free of snow; before and after it the pastures are empty and the camps gone. Even in July, nights at this height are cold and the weather turns quickly, so warm layers and rain gear are packed for every visit.