Alay Traverse Low Route Trail Guide and Practical Info

My low route guide is far less detailed than my high route guide. The low route is much more simple and easy. Most of the info you need on the low route is contained in the GPX file as waypoints. Return to the main introduction to the Alay Traverse for the GPX files.

Getting to the trailhead

Low Route northern trailhead: Starting from Osh you can take a “marshrutka” (minibus) from the “New Central Bus Station” to the town of Kyzyl-Kiya and get off before that town in the village of Kök-Jar. The cost in 2026 was 230 som (plus 200 som for a taxi from downtown to the bus station). Pay for your ticket at the ticket window and then go find the mini-bus with Kyzyl-Kiya written in the front. Kyzyl-Kiya in the local alphabet is Кызыл-Кия.

In Kök-Jar the taxis headed to the south are parked just south of where the road to Abshir-Ata intersects the main highway. If your offline map is based on Open Street Map data and is regularly updated, you will see the taxi stand I added, labelled “Taxis to Abshir-Ata Waterfall.” The drivers will understand that you as a foreign tourist want to go to the Abshir-Ata waterfall, not the lower village of the same name. But to be sure you can add the Russian word for waterfall to your request. The drivers who drop you off will be returning empty, so you will be paying the cost equivalent to a round trip. I paid the asking price of 1000 som as a single passenger and with the driver agreeing to leave immediately.

Tourists in previous years reported a fee station where they paid a small fee to go see the waterfall. I saw nothing and paid nothing. The driver stopped me off in a small parking area a 30-second walk from the waterfall.

Low route southern trailhead: Find instructions for getting to Sary-Mogol on my high route page.

Alternate routes: The alternates, side trips and (some of the) shortcuts on the low route are included in the GPX file as waypoints (with the trails/roads making for obvious alternate routes). The shortcuts are obvious (but this means missing out on a scenic highlight). All passes can be avoided by a lower route if snow blocks your route. There is only one pass on the low route that can’t be avoided - the 3575 meter Kosh-Bel Pass. So if snow blocks you here, there is no alternate.

Kyrgyz-Ata National Park: This area on the low route is packed full of local tourists, cars and yurt camps of a style that do not cater to solo travelers or small groups. It is very, very loud with lots of alcohol and parties that go through the night in certain camps. If you stay the night in a guesthouse nearby in the hamlet of Kalday, you can easily day-hike through the park and avoid the loud parties. You can also camp just before this area and easily hike thru in half a day.

There is a 250 som (about $3) entry fee for foreigners as of 2024. One tourist was told it was 2000 som ($23) to set up a tent in the park. The fee station is 5km down the main road, far away from the route you will walk. I did not pay a fee or see a forest ranger.

If you are the social type and you don’t mind some noise, then you could also dive right into one of the busy yurt camps (where dinner and breakfast may be served). But note that some places are self-catered (no food provided), and some places only have 10-person yurts. As for the luxury “cabins“ that you see, some are asking $100-150 per night.

Locals call this area "Kara Koy," not the official name (“Kyrgyz-Ata“), which is only known locally as the village far below. Search for the hamlet of Kalday. This is the Kara-Koy area.

Food resupplying on the low route: Most of the resupply locations are obvious - the route goes through a town or a village with a food store. In between you can stay at a tourist yurt camp in certain locations and get dinner and breakfast (and ask to buy bread to take with you). Don’t rely on free hand-outs from shepherds (but expect them occasionally). The distances are not far enough between resupply points to create any food-carry difficulties for the experienced thru-hiker.

Don’t expect healthy food in some of these locations. You’ll be doing a lot of instant ramen noodles, sausages that should be eaten within a day, canned fish, biscuits with too much sugar, candy, low quality chocolate, candy, chips/crisps, strange snack food, etc…

As of 2025/2026 you will be the only foreign tourist that local families and shepherds see in certain locations. And sometimes you pass locals picnicking in the mountains. Often these people try to feed you (or get you to take a shot of vodka in the case of some picnickers). But as I said above, this is a bonus; not a resupply tactic you should rely on. By “bonus“ I mean freshly cooked shashlik, vegetables, fruit and fresh bread in exchange for some selfies and a chat through a translation app.