The Celestial Mountains to the Altai

Over ninety per cent of Kyrgyzia lies above the top of the UK’s highest mountain! Independent after the collapse of Soviet rule in Central Asia, this stunningly beautiful country never actually existed before the Soviet Union, rather it was invented (as an autonomous region) in the 1920s by Stalin. Perhaps not surprising then that few of us know much about this land of alpine lakes, fast-flowing rivers, rolling steppe lands, conifer forests and rare walnut forests that lie between the arms of the giant snow-capped peaks of the Celestial Mountains.

Bishkek will provide us with a comfortable base to explore the bulb-rich Alexander Range and the Besh-Kungei Hills. We’ll also explore Kastek, Kemin and Kungei Mountains and we’ll visit a number of gorges including the famed Archaly Gorge, beautiful Oruu-Sai, and, on the last day of the tour, the Belogorka Gorge. During the middle part of the tour we’ll travel to the flower-filled Suusamyr Valley, explore the Fergana and Talas Mountains, and visit several passes including the high Otmyok.

These areas are home to some very fine flowers. Tulips will be a major focus. Alongside the classical scarlet goblets of Tulipa greigii are swathes of yellow and white Tulipa tarda. There’s newly described Tulipa lazkovii, variable Tulipa ostrowskiana, with its red, yellow or any combination in between blooms, and if we are not too late the shiny white stars of Tulipa jacquesii. Egge-yolk yellow Tulipa kolpakowskiana are a delight. Still there’s more. We’ll see Tulipa dasystemon, Tulipa tetraphylla, pure yellow Tulipa talassica, and yellow and red Tulipa zenaidae. Fritillaria ferganensis scrambles through shrubberies of bright yellow Rosa ecae. Flowering spires of the rather genteel (for a fox-tail lily) Eremurus zoae dot hillsides where we will also find Pedicularis albertii and Allium caricifolium as well as bright yellow Glaucium fimbrilligerum. Irises are varied and we’ll see species such as Iris loczyi, Iris albertii, and the gorgeous little pale blue Iridodictyum kolpakowskianum whose falls are dipped in purple ink. Red-pink Paeonia intermedia will impress and on the same hillsides are the tall brownish wands of Eremurus cristatus and the fabulous tall Eremurus robustus. Nearby higher ground yields pink and white Corydalis ledebouriana, Gagea liotardii, and little Colchicum kesselringii. Chorispora bungeana is that classic alpine, a little mound of large pink flowers that almost completely covers the foliage. Its cousin Chorispora sibirica is yellow. Also here are luminous yellow Adonis chrysocyathus, Glaucium elegans, Viola altaica, Colchicum luteum and Juno orchioides. Under the pretty pink blooms of the small tree Louiseania ulmifolia we’ll find Allium karataviense, Allium dodecadontum and yet another foxtail lily, Eremurus lactiflorus. The variety seems never-ending, and the landscapes one fabulous vista are another.

Moving into Kazakhstan we explore the eastern Kazakh border with China, a closed book for a century or so, and even with the opening up of Kazakhstan the lack of roads and even towns of any size has kept this region remote from outsiders.

For two millennia the Dzhungarian Gate was a major line of communication between western and eastern Asia and through it passed some notable armies as well as trade. A flat valley floor is hemmed in by precipitous mountains on both flanks so completely that any other route through them is incomprehensible. The adjacent peaks reach a heady 14,500 feet! This tour leaves the eastern fringes of the Tien Shan mountains and passes through the Taukum and Akdala Deserts to the Dzhungarian Alatau. From there we pass Alakol Lake before entering the species-rich Tarbagatai Mountains. Then we head north across the Zaissan Depression before reaching the more Siberian habitats of the Kalbinsky Hills on the western fringes of the Altai. Simple hotels provide accommodation throughout. There will be much travelling but always through wonderful vast central Asian landscapes, varying from endless rolling montane steppes to high mountain peaks, and from bird-rich wetlands to sandy deserts. You’ll experience the largely uninhabited wildernesses of the mountains and explore what are, in terms of fauna and flora, very little-known regions. Indeed you’ll soon note that several of the plant names bear the name of your guide, as Vladimir has discovered new tulips and fritillarias when guiding groups through this region in recent years.

We’ll have many wonderful botanical encounters in these mountains, such as drifts of fabulous Erythronium sibiricum that decorate the Marble Pass in fetching shades of yellow and pink and swathes of golden Tulipa altaica on the high Tarbagati Mountains. There’s pale Fritillaria pallidiflora, equally pale Fritillaria pallida (actually now thought to be a cream-coloured form of meleagris), newly-minted Fritillaria kolbintsevii, and an eye-catching ivory form of Fritillaria verticillata. There are shows of pink Primula kaufmanniana and yellow Primula macrocalyx, steel-blue forms of Clematis integrifolia, the local columbine Aquilegia vitalii, and the pretty shrub Caragana camilli-schneideri. By late snow patches are beautiful forms of Corydalis schanginii and the butter-yellow Gymnospermium altaicum. Most unusual are the pretty lilac tomato-relative Physochlaina physaloides and a sub-shrubby cress, Dendroarabis fruticulosa. Being Central Asia we might expect more Tulips and sure enough we’ll soon find yellow Tulipa heteropetala, Tulipa corynestemon, pale rose Tulipa patens, and Vladimir’s own tulip, Tulipa kolbintsevii. Middle altitude rocky valleys will yield Allium inderiensis, Fritillaria meleagroides, Pedicularis dasystachys and stands of bright pink Paeonia intermedia. Even low-lying desert sands have a fascinating flora with lots of Astragalus species, beautiful yellow Chorispora sibirica and pink and white Pseudosedum lievenii blooming amongst the curious ‘mini trees’ of Anabasis truncata. There’s a whole bunch of onions in the shape of elegant Allium tulipifolium, Allium subscapum, Allium tschulaktavicum the spherical pink or white heads of Allium caricifolium. And even more tulips – the rather unassuming Tulipa annae, and the elegant golden goblets of Tulipa lehmanniana.

NB Trip reports for these magnificent longer tours are too unwieldy to download from the website, let alone read in one go, so trip reports are listed for each section of the tour. Tien Shan to the Altai is a new tour so there is no trip report available for this yet.