![\"arashan-kyrgyzstan](\"https:\/\/www.davestravelcorner.com\/wp-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/arashan-kyrgyzstan-8.jpg\")
<\/a>Arashan is a trek that gets under your skin; it is a four to five hour hike up a rutted and rough dirt road alongside a raging river. From Karokal you can take mini bus number 350 – it is about 30 minutes to the drop off point. Or you can take a taxi for about 350 som. <\/p>\nYou can certainly hike this yourself in the summer – allow 4-5 hours along a very rocky rough dirt road that follows a quickly flowing river for much of the way until the road rises high above the river and then increases in steepness before eventually cresting a pass and dropping down into a beautiful river valley.<\/p>\n
Or you can arrange jeep transportation, horse transportation or a guide through a number of guesthouses in the Karakol or through the Community Based Tourism Office (CBT), located a short drive from the main bus station in Karokal. One guesthouse we recommend that is clean, comfortable (has Wifi, albeit a bit slow) and the helpful owner speaks very good English is Teskey Guesthouse.<\/p>\n
A note regarding the town of Karakol – it is very rough around the edges, many streets are dirt, in some state of construction, often front yards are torn up for whatever reason, lots of rubble, rusted vehicles sitting around randomly, a number of buildings are in bad shape etc. But because of its location, logistically Karokal is the closest town to Arashan and other mountain trekking.<\/p>\n
In late summer, look for apricot trees growing wild near the start of the hike. Also fill up your water bottles from several of the flowing side streams – some are connected by a pipe that juts out of the side of the hill. These side streams are located randomly throughout the hike and we were told by locals that the water is perfectly safe to drink untreated.<\/p>\n\n\t\t