Kayak trip to Kyrgyzstan

This year we are organizing the kayak trip to wonderful and amazing Central Asia…

The project will take place in Kyrgyzstan in Tian Shan Mountains – a large system of mountain ranges located in Central Asia. They are one of the longest mountain ranges in Central Asia which stretches for 2,800 kilometers eastward from Tashkent in Uzbekistan. In ancient times, Tian Shan was an essential part of the Silk Road, a major trading route between China and Europe. Numerous caravans came over the passes from China to the fertile Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan. No doubt this place will surprise you with an amazing culture, big mountains with high snowy peaks, and great whitewater.

Adventure:
This is going to be a 2 weeks long adventure in heart of Central Asia. Amazing sceneries, friendly people, big volume rivers, and hot dry climate. Big volume water fun with car support – this is the aim of the trip. Huge mountains, big rivers, mountainous lakes, Asian food, and amazing hospitality of local people – this is Kyrgyzstan.

Rivers:
We will paddle 4-5 big volume rivers in different parts of the Tian Shan Mountains.

Chu river This is the closest river to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. It is ideal for warmup, as it flows along the highway and has easy access to any part. This river will give us a taste of the white waters of Central Asia. Difficulty class III – III +

Chong-Kemin river – the right tributary of Chu river, flowing in a big valley north of Issyk-Kul Lake. The section is about 50-60 km long with 5 different gorges on it. On this river there are many different sections from class II to class V. We will choose the section that will fit the forces of our group. All sections are close to the river, which will allow us to run it on empty boats. The difficulty class III / IV + depending on the water level.

Greater Naryn – the left source of the mighty Naryn river – the major river of the Central Tian-Shan. Greater Naryn brings about 2/3 of the volume at the confluence with Smaller Naryn which is about 80-100cms (3000-4000cfs). We will start from the very upper part and will make a nice 2-3 days short self-supported class 3-4 adventure. The most remarkable part of the river is known as the Naryn Falls Canyon – a nice class IV+/V section in a very impressive canyon ( which easy to portage).

Smaller Naryn river – younger brother of Big Naryn. The upper part of Small Naryn does not represent a great sporting interest, but the middle part is very beautiful and is saturated with a rapids class III / III + (IV) category. The most interesting and challenging part is the “Impermeable” canyon, about 10 km long, with class IV / V rapids located in the lower part of this river and, if desired, we can skip this part. The river flows close to the road, which will allow us to run along the rapids of Small Naryn on empty boats.

Naryn river – the biggest river in Central Tian Shan. Akshirak gorge is an interesting section of the river that is about 50km long with lots of class IV-IV+ big volume rapids 200-250cms (7000-9000 CFS). Due to the huge volume of water, all the rapids have a lot of lines and we will always be able to choose the line that you can do. The length of the rafting site is about 80 km with class III / IV + rapids located in a deep and picturesque gorge.

Kekemeren river – the right tributary of the Naryn river. The 40 km long section is located along the road, which will allow it to run several times on empty boats. We will divide this section into two parts and spend a whole day on each part. The complexity of class III-IV, depending on the water level.

Difficulty:
This year we will go on this journey at the beginning of September, which will provide us with a much lower flow of water in all the rivers and significantly simplify our kayaking.
The difficulty of the whole trip is class III/IV (IV+).

Requirements to participants:
Great eskimo-roll and whitewater experience of class III-IV.