Kyrgyzstan’s tourism is all mountains and hunting

A jurt - serving fast food - on the side of the highway in Kyrgyzstan swissinfo.ch

There is no mistaking the similarities between Kyrgyzstan and the Swiss Alps.

The mountains could give visitors the impression that they have arrived in an unpopulated version of the Bernese Oberland.

Despite a rapidly expanding infrastructure and political stability, tourists remain a rarity in the region.

But for those who do make the effort, a visit to Central Asia offers activities no longer found in many of the world’s most developed countries.

“I was just in the mountains with two Swiss hunters,” said Paul, a tourist guide in Bishkek.

“They were here to hunt Marco Polo sheep, wild boar and ibex,” he said.

For hunters seeking to visit Kyrgyzstan’s wildest areas, dozens of companies now offer tours.

At the check-in desks of Bishkek international airport, groups of European and American hunters are regularly seen loading up gun cases.

The typical cost of a two-week trip to the mountains in the west or south of the country is anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000 (SFr13,000-26,000).

Organisers even promise to mount the head of any kills as a trophy, while the hunting itself is done on horseback or by foot.

Starry skies

Mairam Omurzakova, by contrast, offers a less dramatic holiday option.

The 55-year-old operates a bed-and-breakfast in the town of Kochkor, around 120 km southwest of Bishkek.

Here she serves traditional Kyrgyz dishes, even for vegetarians. And at night, guests sleep on traditional bedding made of bright, highly embroidered felt.

A visit to the outhouse offers pollution-free views of the Milky Way.

“We want to show visitors how we live,” said Omurzakova, who is part of a network of some 30 family-run hostel businesses called “Shepherd’s Life”.

The cooperative can even offer accommodation in traditional nomadic yurts to those seeking the full Kyrgyz treatment.

The Swiss charity, Helvetas, helped establish the “Shepherd’s Life” group in 1997, as a way of giving women control over their financial wellbeing.

Helvetas also hopes to boost the standard of hospitality to enable “Shepherd’s Life” members to cope with larger tour groups.

The project – which is supported by the Swiss Development Agency – receives some SFr250,000 in funding.

Hunting versus “community tourism”

Christine Plüss, a former tour guide and Basel-based expert on tourism and development, said both the hunting and bed-and-breakfast style of tourism have their place in Kyrgyzstan.

“The hunters bring in a lot of money,” Plüss said. “But if the hotel belongs to foreign investors, and all the key jobs are held by foreigners, then the local population sees very little benefit.”

However, conflicts can also arise within community-based tourism projects such as “Shepherd’s Life”, because they potentially take tourists away from existing hotels.

“Projects such as these must be built carefully, to ensure they function properly,” Plüss said.

She also argued that tourism should not become the dominant source of income for a family.

“Tourism is fickle. You only need a bomb to explode somewhere, and people stop coming,” she said.

swissinfo, Philippe Kropf and Jacob Greber in Kochkor