Contents
- How it started.
- Our flights
- Planning our itinerary in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
- Money, Expenses and Getting Around
- Booking our tour, contacting CBT and concerns
How it started.
Had been thinking of going to Kyrgyzstan since before COVID in 2019. My original plan was to fly to Beijing, then travel to Xinjiang, then enter and explore Kyrgyzstan.
So, when in September 2025, a friend asked me to go Kazakhstan, I was already prepared, having done research on Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
My research outcome: you can see similar sceneries and have the same experiences in Kyrgyzstan and in Kazakhstan, however because Kyrgyzstan is smaller, it takes fewer days to see the similar sceneries and have the same experiences.
Hence, the plan was to mainly explore Kyrgyzstan.
Our flights
In the midst of finding flights, there were limited options flying to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Thus, we decided to fly to Almaty, Kazakhstan, then fly to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. And since we are flying to Almaty, Kazakhstan, we might as well explore Almaty and part of Kazakhstan.
I booked my flights on 29 November 2025.
For your reference, these are our flights:
Singapore Airlines
Singapore – New Delhi
6 June 2:35am – 05:40am SQ402
Air Astana
New Delhi – Almaty
6 June 11:35-14:30 KC908
Air Astana
Almaty- Bishkek
7 June 15:55-17:45 KC109
Air Astana
Bishkek – Almaty
16 June 18:55-18:45 KC110
Air Astana
Almaty – New Delhi
20 June 06:40-10:35 KC907
Singapore Airlines
New Delhi – Singapore
20 June 21:55 – 21 June 06:10 SQ403
When booking, this is how we booked our flights, with my fare prices, noting that I DID NOT buy any check in luggage for my Air Astana flights:
Singapore airlines S$481.60
Singapore – New Delhi Return
6 June 2:35-05:40 SQ402
20 June 21:55-06:10 SQ403
Air Astana S$399.60 (from Trip.com)
Delhi – Almaty Return
6 June 15:00-17:55 KC908 (this was later rescheduled to 6 June 11:35-14:30 KC908)
20 June 10:10-13:55 KC907 (this was later rescheduled to 20 June 06:40-10:35 KC907)
Air Astana S$217.40 (from trip.com)
Almaty – Bishkek Return
7 June 15:55-17:45 KC109
16 June 18:55-18:45 KC110
If you did some research, you would have found that there are flights from Singapore to Almaty, Kazakhstan, via Kuala Lumpur, with AirAsia. But, even though the flight timings were much better, AirAsia is a budget airline and the prices were similar or even more expensive. So, we decided on the above route instead.
While we were in New Delhi, we also noted that there were flights from New Delhi directly to Bishkek. In other words, we could have saved on 1 flight. Meaning, flying New Delhi, India then to Almaty, Kazakhstan, then to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, then back to New Delhi, India (3 flights instead of our 4 flights).
I think this is due to our search process, we were looking for return flights and didn’t consider one way flights.
Planning our itinerary in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
In general, we had about 4 full days in Almaty, Kazakhstan. For Kyrgyzstan, we booked an 8 days tour, Pearls of Kyrgyzstan with CBT (Community Based Tourism), and had only about an extra day in Bishkek.
I got AI to help with planning our days in Almaty and Bishkek.
Our 8 days tour, Pearls of Kyrgyzstan, was USD975/pax, which had 2 treks. Each of the treks was 1.5days long. We chose this tour, as we liked trekking. If you do not want to trek, you can do the 4/5 days tours to see the same sites.
Personally, I enjoyed both treks, as both showed different sceneries of Kyrgyzstan. The first trek entered the Alpine forests amidst the mountains. The second trek showed the grassy pastures surrounded by mountains.
These are the places we visited in Kazakhstan:
- Astana Square
- Panfilov Park
- Ascension Cathedral
- Arbat Almaty
- Took the cable car up Shymbulak Mountain
- Took the metro and explored the various stations
- Zhibek Zholy St
- Green Bazaar
- Almaty Central Mosque
- Abai Square
- Took the cable car up Kok Tobe
- Went for a 12-15h tour for Charyn Canyon,Kolsai Lake,Kaindy Lake
These are the places we visited in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan:
- Osh Bazaar
- Bishkek central mosque
- Victory Square
- Erkindik Boulevard
- Holy Resurrection Cathedral
- Panfilov Park
- Oak Park
- Ala-Too Square
- Erkindik Boulevard
Money, Expenses and Getting Around
Kazakhstan:
You can get around most places with card. You might need some cash, Tenge, if you are buying at the bazaar or street stalls, but almost all places accept cards.
Meals are generally from 2500Tenge onwards (roughly from S$7 onwards)
Ride-hailing app: Yandex Go, or just called Yandex. I am able to link my Apple Pay to Yandex Go, so payment can be done by card.
Kyrgyzstan:
You would need more cash, Som, in Kyrgyzstan. Only bigger retail shops/supermarkets accept cards. I would say in Bishkek, only half accept cards. Outside in the small villages and mountains, only cash, Som, is accepted.
Meals go from 300Som onwards (roughly S$4.50).
Ride-hailing app: Yandex Go, or just called Yandex. I am unable to link my Apple Pay/cards to Yandex Go, so payment can only be done in cash, Som.
Booking our tour, Contacting CBT and concerns
I searched online for CBT’s (Community Based Tourism) contact and found 2 websites. I WhatsApp both websites on 1 October 2025, to check on their tours, specifically their 8 days, “Pearls of Kyrgyzstan” tour.
The main CBT website gave me the WhatsApp of Kuma, who is the manager of CBT Bishkek. Concurrently, I had also WhatsApp CBT Bishkek office.
Both WhatsApp contacts, Kuma and CBT Bishkek were very helpful with my many queries.
After messaging same queries to both contacts, Kuma told me that she had already replied me on the CBT Bishkek WhatsApp number. She was handling the CBT Bishkek WhatsApp contact as well.
This was the first indication that Kuma was a legitimate staff of CBT.
I confirmed our tour on 21 Jan 2026. Kuma mentioned that she would get back to me with the invoice for the payment after 1-2 weeks. But I didn’t hear from her after 1-2 weeks.
This gave me more confidence that this was legitimate. As I believe scammers would be more prompt in getting the invoice and payment for the tour.
I contacted Kuma on 5 Feb 2026 for the invoice and she promptly sent it to me on the same day. We then proceeded to pay 30% for the tour.
After requesting for a receipt for the payment, she provided it.
Nearing the tour date, Kuma called me on WhatsApp to explain about our tour. This was another reason why I trusted her.
The final step of trust, and in the legitimacy of our tour booking with Kuma, was when she agreed to meet us together with our driver on the morning of our tour at our hotel, to give us a final briefing of the tour together with my travel mates. And we would settle the rest of the tour payment on that morning.
Everything turned out fine and we had an amazing 8 days tour, “Pearls of Kyrgyzstan” with CBT.
