Kyrgyzstan Horse Riding Tour

Customer Reviews

• Jinny

  · August 27th, 2025
  I went on the Central Asia combined Sile Road tour with Steppe Journeys in Sep 2024. Steppe Journeys is one of the few tour operators that go to all five Stans. All in all, it was well organised and the tour covered a large number of amazing sights in all five countries. All hotels were three or four stars. Some were excellent and some less so, but they were all clean and comfortable. Also the transportation was good and comfortable. Ilya, our guide in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan was a gem. Also Ahmed in Tajikistan was very good. Our experience of guides in Uzbekistan was not a good one. It was very disorganised and we had several guides in each city and some were with us for a few hours only. Often the English was not good and it was difficult to understand. Steppe Journeys is a good operator but will be better if they improve communications. My suggestion to the company is to create a WhatsApp group chat with each group so that the company can communicate directly with the members of the group and not through the guides, which is not always effective. Also, please give the group members the names and telephone numbers of the local guides, if possible. If you go on this tour, please bear the following in mind: 1) If you need a visa for Tajikistan, book well in advance as it takes time. the website crashes, payments do not go through etc. 2) If there are any problems contact Odyl (the owner) directly as the members of his team are not that quick and effective. 3) Get the contact details of the local travel agent in each country that Stepp Journeys works with and also the telephone numbers of Odyl and staff members. We were stuck in the Turkmenistan border for over two hours as the local guide did not turn up. It was not a nice experience. Our phones and internet networks did not work inside Turkmenistan. After a lot of attempts, one phone worked and we managed to contact Odyl. It would have been far easier if we had the local agents contact details. 4) In Turkmenistan, there are buses to take the passengers at the borders on either side and they charge a dollar or equivalent local currency per person. We did not have the right money as we were not aware. Therefore keep some local currency or one dollar notes for the buses. 5) Crossing the borders was a hard but interesting experience. You need to walk long distances on broken roads carrying your luggage. So, keep the suitcases light. 6) Download Taxi.Yandex app before you leave home. You cannot download it when you are there. I am so glad I went on this tour and Stepp Journeys did a lot to make us comfortable. A big thanks to Odyl. I will never forget Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva in Uzbekistan, the natural beauty of Kyrgyzstan and the amazing capital cities. I wish I had more time to visit these countries in more detail. Well worth going on this trip.
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• Wendy

  · August 15th, 2025
  I was surprised at how well organised this tour was, I didn’t really know what to expect as I didn’t hear much from them after we’d paid the money. I was expecting the weather to be hot but as we spent time in the mountains, there was one night (in the yurt) that must have been freezing or below. The yurt heating stove was pretty useless. It would have been helpful to have been warned about that by the tour company but they didn’t mention it - fortunately a friend offered a warning so we weren’t totally unprepared. The hotels were fine and the guest houses were surprisingly good and comfortable, each one with its own ensuite which was a pleasant surprise. The biggest thanks goes to our guide, Chynara. She’s extremely well organised, thoughtful, good company and an excellent and informative guide. The other big thanks is to our driver. There was never any reason to be nervous about being a passenger, he drove well and we always felt that we were in safe, capable hands. The tour of Almaty was also good, with another local guide and driver for the day. It was disappointing however to discover that the museum tour could not take place as it was scheduled for Tuesday and that is the day the museum is closed. The tour organisers should have been aware of this in their planning. As we allowed ourselves extra time in Almaty we were able to visit the museum another day. Entry was quite expensive and we needed to pay for this ourselves. Again Chynara came to the rescue and arranged reimbursement
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• Kristin

  · July 1st, 2025
  The tour was exceptional. Both the driver and guide were wonderful. We had an unusual opportunity as well. Since my friend and I were the only two people who signed up for the 12 day tour, we essentially had a private tour. Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan were amazing countries to visit and I thoroughly enjoyed all the hiking and nature experiences. I don't enjoy larger cities as much and would have liked more time or more overnights in the smaller villages and in guest houses and yurts.The yurt experience was great and I would have loved another night by the lake. The horseback riding was great and the views were magnificent. I have a lot of dietary allergies and our guide spoke with the guest house owners and restaurant waiters to let them know what I could not eat and they were able to provide wonderful meals. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the places we visited as well as shared information about culture and food and customs. I would highly recommend this tour as well as our guide and driver. Five stars. I wish I could have extended the tour.
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