Where is it located?
Kyrgyzstan is a country in Central Asia and is sharing the border with Uzbekistan, China, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. The capital Bishkek is where most of the people live and it is located not too far away from the border with Kazakhstan.
Where to find hosts in the country?
When looking at Couchsurfing, there are only three places to really search for hosts in my opinion. Bishkek, about which also this article is, Karakol and Osh. Couchsurfing isn’t even big in these cities so finding hosts in smaller places is possible, but really hard. For that I would suggest just bringing camping equipment.
Is it easy finding a host in Bishkek?
Bishkek is by far the biggest city of the country so it is here most likely to find a host. The good thing for you is, not that many visitors are coming. The hosts usually do not receive too many requests and those who are actually probably would be happy to host you. Of course like always, as more personal and good the message & profile from you is, as easier to find a host.
What did I do with the hosts?
I actually had two hosts, one through Couchsurfing and the other on the street.
Rustanbek was the first host, who we had right after arriving to the country. He was an experienced couchsurfer and also a vegan, which was not expected to find in Kyrgyzstan. He had an apartment quite downtown and went out with us for some exploring of the city. We were walking around Bishkek and saw some sights. He went with us to the Osh Bazaar, the biggest bazaar in town.
We were cooking together and having amazing talks. We learned a lot about the culture of the country and received great ideas of what to do and what not to do. One time he was taking me to his students, which he was teaching English for free. I was there to talk about my travels a bit and just making some language exchange, which was actually a quite nice experience for me. The people were happy to be able to talk to me, it made me feel a bit special, even though I was just honored to be able to take part of the class.
The best thing for sure was the camping which we did. His girlfriend joined him and us to drive in the mountains of the city. They were cooking over the fire some food and were sleeping in nature for the night. It is actually something I was really enjoying, to just do something like that in a capital, in a city similar to my hometown.
The other host
The other hosting experience was a bit different. After hitchhiking from one side of the country to another, we were going through Bishkek again and were kind of lost during the night. Some local, who didn’t speak English, approached us and bought us ice-cream. He was super nice and super drunk, but invited us in, which we accepted.
His wife wasn’t super happy about randomly bringing two guests into their house with two kids. She still welcomed us and even served us food, which was great. We tried to have some conversation and were getting along really well. Never expected to be accepting some invitation like that from a drunk man.
Overall everything went well and he solved for us a ride to the outside of the city from a friend of his, which was honestly a super huge help. The bed and room we received was also super comfortable.
How was the experience?
Both experiences were amazing, even though they were completely different. When recalling both of the experiences I am super glad of being able to make them. This was already two years ago and I for sure miss this country!
The locals we met in Bishkek were super friendly and always there to help, when having issues with something. It felt also quite safe, even in shady looking areas.
What is important to know?
Kyrgyzstan is a country with bad infrastructure and not many English speakers. It is a country which is still kind of nomadic and slowly is becoming a more modern country, in little steps.
Finding hosts will not be the easiest task for you, because there are just not many, which is sad. The best chances you have are in Bishkek. I was also doing it in Karakol and Osh, but nothing in comparison to Bishkek when talking about hosting.
When traveling to this country before May, prepare warm clothes and you can get surprised by snow, even still in May.
Summary
Our two hosts in Bishkek were both amazing on a fully different level. It was also compared to most couchsurfing experiences, which were kind of different and unique, which I really liked and which also stayed in my mind until now. Finding a host isn’t the easiest, but for sure possible. Try it out and be open for a maybe unique experience in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
