Kyrgyzstan: Trails of the Tien Shan

11 nights of accommodation in 3-4* hotels, mountain guesthouses, yurt and tented encampments (twin or double share)

Fully-supported trail running trip

Cultural sightseeing

Full board throughout

All transfers

4:1 Runners to Guide Ratio

Porter service (12kg packed weight carried whilst on the trail)

Trails & Trees: with every booking, we plant a tree

International flights

Beverages and snacks

Personal equipment

Laundry

Travel Insurance (REQUIRED before the trips departure - for cancellation, accidents, health and emergency evacuation, loss, theft, or damage to baggage or personal effects)

Tips

Single Supplement

Visa and visa support fee (if necessary)

Food:

Full board throughout.

Accommodation:

The hotel where we stay, is one of the best boutique places to stay in central Bishkek. Colourful, fun and very hospitable we love using the hotel as our base pre/post-travel into the mountains.

Our trail takes us to some wild and wonderfully remote spots in the Tien Shan mountain ranges, as such we will be spending the majority of our stay in tented encampments. The encampments are erected early season and have all the comforts you can imagine from an established campsite.

For the duration, we will be the only guests in camp, with bathroom and private toilets, along with spacious tents and blow-up mattresses.

VISAS

British, EU, Australian and US citizens can enter and remain in Kyrgyzstan for a maximum of 60 days without a visa.

“Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my trip. I thought that Charlie was an excellent leader and Eddie and Al were also both fantastic. I think the itinerary was a good amount of running and relaxing. Overall I would recommend the company to a friend.”

— STEPHEN C ON OCT 24 2022

“I had a fantastic time and hope to do another trip in the future. You guys exceeded my expectations in every way. ”

— BY STEPH D ON AUG 24 2022

“Thank you all so much. It was such a fantastic trip and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

— BY JEN C ON AUG 18, 2022

CANCELLATION POLICY

It is important to be aware that once your deposit is paid, should you wish to cancel at any time thereafter, the deposits are non-refundable. In addition, the cancellation penalties detailed below will be applied. It is strongly recommended that you have suitable cancellation insurance coverage from the time of booking.

AMENDMENTS AND CANCELLATION

(a) Amendments by you While the Company will make every effort to assist you if you wish to alter your arrangements it cannot guarantee it will be able to meet such requests. Requests for an amendment must be in writing and signed by the signatory of the Booking Form. In the event of an amendment, all communication charges and other expenses and all costs and charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers will be payable by you together with an amendment fee of £50 per amendment. If you change your booking less than
10 weeks before departure, this will be treated as a cancellation by you and a re-booking, and the normal cancellation charges detailed in paragraph 6 (b) below will apply.

(b) Cancellation by you
Should you or another member of your party need to cancel your arrangements, you must tell us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will only be effective when it is received in writing at our offices. As we incur costs from the time we confirm your booking the following cancellation charges will be payable. Where the cancellation charge is shown as a percentage, this is calculated on the total cost payable by the person (s)
cancelling excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges (which are non-refundable).
Period before departure from when written notification is received by us: Cancellation charge per person
cancelling:

141 days or more full deposit
85 days - 140 days 50%
84 days or less 100% charge

Note: Certain arrangements (such as scheduled flights) could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements in addition to the charges above.
Insurance premiums and amendment charges are non-refundable. If your cancellation falls within the provisions of your travel insurance policy, you may be able to make a claim which must be made direct to your insurance company.

Amendments and Cancellations by The Company before departure.

We take great care to provide the tour arrangements that have been confirmed, but we must retain the right to modify or cancel any tour, flight schedule, accommodation or arrangement. Most changes are minor. Occasionally we have to make a ‘significant change’. ‘Significant changes’ in these booking conditions include the following changes when made before departure; - a change of destination or standard of accommodation for the whole or a major part of the time you are away. In such circumstance, we will inform you as soon as possible. Should the change be such that it significantly alters the nature of the tour (as defined above), we shall give you the choice of an alternative tour or a full refund of all money paid. In recognition, we will absorb all financial loss consequent upon cancellation. We shall not cancel any tour for reason of political tension or natural disaster unless specifically recommended to do so by the Foreign Office.

SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Your responsibilities

(a) It is your responsibility to ensure that visas, passports, vaccination certificates and other health documents are in order before departure. Advice on health requirements may be obtained from your GP or alternatively please read the leaflet Advice on Health for Travelers which is available from the Dept of Health.
(b) The Company is unable to accept responsibility for any decisions, actions, losses or delays in relation to any failure by you to obtain or carry the correct documentation and the consequential effect it may have on the visit itself, except where caused by the negligence of The Company or any of its employees or agents. The Company will not be liable for clients missing flights as a result of late check-ins, and no refunds will be given if you fail to take up any component of your arrangement.
(c) If, in the reasonable opinion of The Company or of any other person in authority you or any member of your party behaves in such a manner as to cause or be likely to cause danger, distress or annoyance to others or damage to property, your (or the person’(s) concerned) arrangements may be terminated by The Company or the supplier concerned. In such an event, you must pay any compensation or meet any costs or expenses which you and/or The Company incur as a result.
(d) Travel insurance is mandatory on all of our trips. We will require you to let us have evidence of your insurance at least 8 weeks prior to departure or at the time of booking if later. We reserve the right to terminate your booking if you fail to obtain travel insurance cover. Particular care should be taken to ensure that you have adequate cover, in particular for cancellation and emergency repatriation in the event of medical problems.

The responsibilities of the Company

a) Please note, in comparison with more conventional locations, the destinations you choose (which may include very remote areas) may not achieve the level of sophistication and development that might normally be expected. Facilities in some areas will be found to be of a basic nature and more appropriate to the local culture than foreign tourists.
b) Subject to these Booking Terms & Conditions, if we or our suppliers perform or arrange your contracted holiday arrangements negligently, we will pay you reasonable compensation. Please note that it is your responsibility to show that we or our supplier(s) have been negligent if you wish to make a claim against us.
We will not be responsible or pay you compensation for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description if it results from:-
i the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected;
ii the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable; or iii unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond ours or our supplier(s) control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all due care had been exercised; or
iv an event which either ourselves or suppliers could not, even with all due care, have foreseen or forestalled.
c) We do not exclude or limit any liability to our clients which may arise from proven negligence by any person employed directly by us or by our suppliers and subcontractors, servants or agents of the same whilst acting in the course of their employment (other than air and sea carriers performing any domestic internal or international carriage of whatsoever kind) in respect of death, bodily injury or illness. Such liabilities shall be
subject to English law and all proceedings shall be within the exclusive domain of the English courts.
d) The Company’s acceptance of liability in this clause is conditional upon you assigning to The Company all rights you may have against any third party in any way responsible for personal injury, illness, death, deficiency or difficulty in question and upon you giving your full co-operation to The Company and/or its insurers.
e) If booking your own flights, or transportation, we strongly advise you to only book fully flexible fares, which can be can be cancelled or changed without charge prior to departure. If you have booked your own flight or transportation, the Company will not be held responsible or liable should they be cancelled, amended or you fail to reach the point at which the services offered by The Company commence.
f) Force Majeure. Except where otherwise expressly stated in these Booking Terms & Conditions, The Company regrets it cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of its contractual obligations are prevented or affected by or you otherwise suffer any damage or loss as a result of ‘Force Majeure’. In these Booking Terms & Conditions, ‘Force Majeure’ means any event which The Company or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include war, or threat of war, riot, civil strife, actual or threatened terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, fire and all similar events beyond The Company’s control. UK Foreign Office advice against travel to an area for the above reasons will be treated as ‘Force Majeure’.

Price Policy

(a) After a confirmation invoice has been issued, the price of your arrangements is still subject to the possibility of surcharges in certain limited circumstances. However, subject to the correction of errors, a surcharge will only be levied to reflect increases in transportation costs (including fuel and scheduled airfares), dues, taxes (including a change in either foreign or UK VAT), fees chargeable for services (such as landing taxes and embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports or airports), or adverse variations in exchange rates which have been used to calculate the price of your arrangements. Surcharges will be notified by a Supplementary Invoice sent to you (or your travel agent).
b) The Company undertakes, however, not to levy a surcharge within 10 weeks (70 days) of departure except in the circumstances set out in (a) above and:
(c) Even when our costs increase as set out in 5. (a) above, the Company will absorb a total equivalent to 2% of the cost of your confirmed arrangements (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges). Only if the increased costs exceed this 2% will The Company levy a surcharge. If a surcharge made would increase the total price of your arrangements (excluding insurance premiums and amendment charges) by 10% or more,
you may cancel your booking within 14 days of the date of issue of the supplementary invoice and obtain a full refund of all payments made to The Company, except for insurance premiums and any amendment charges previously incurred.
(d) The financial commitments made above by The Company in respect of the booking means that no refunds can be made in the event of exchange rate fluctuations or decreases in cost.
(e) Please note, changes and errors occasionally occur. You must check the price of your chosen arrangements at the time of booking.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with a service or facility provided in connection with your arrangements, you should address your complaint immediately to The Company’s local representative and, if relevant, to the management of the hotel or other supplier whose services are involved, so that The Company will have an opportunity to correct the matter whilst you are away. If the problem cannot be solved locally however, you must write to us within 28 days of your return to the UK giving your booking information and full details of your complaint. If you fail to follow this simple procedure we will have been deprived of the opportunity to investigate and rectify your complaint promptly and this may affect your rights under this contract. These Booking Terms & Conditions and any agreement to which they apply are governed in all respects by English law. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises between us out of or in connection with your contract or booking will be dealt with by the Courts which lie within the United Kingdom.

Privacy Policy

The process of booking your holiday requires that we use the personal data you provide such as your name and address. In addition, we may need some sensitive personal data such as special needs or dietary preferences etc. This information is passed on to the airlines and hotels and any other suppliers of your travel arrangements on a ‘need to know’ basis. If we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, we cannot accept your booking. In making a booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons. The information may also be provided to public authorities, as required by law. You should also be aware that controls on data protection in many of the countries we deal with are not as strong as in the UK. We will however not pass your information on to any person not responsible for part of your travel arrangements unless required to do so by law. Full details of our data protection policy are available upon
request.

DIFFICULTY

A (EASY)

Easy-graded trails follow very well-established paths and trails (at times undulating) and routes at low levels of elevation. Low cumulative levels of ascent over the duration of the trip (usually no more than 450 - 500m).

B (MODERATE)

The moderately graded trail runs normally follow well-established trails and routes at lower altitudes which are generally lower than 1,500m. Some of the trails will involve some short, steep ascents. Previous experience is not essential.

C (CHALLENGING)

Challenging graded trail runs feature longer trails which involve some long, steep ascents, as well as steep descents which are away from civilization. The trails we travel on can sometimes reach higher altitudes up to 4,000m and follows rough and more difficult terrain. Previous experience would be advantageous, but not essential.

D (STRENUOUS)

Strenuous trail running days are our hardest grade which routes through difficult terrain often including time at higher altitudes (over 4,500m). You should expect some demanding ascents and descents. The trails are typically away in remoter areas away from civilization.

FITNESS

1 (TRAIL STARTER)

Suitable for slower, sociable-paced runners and manageable by anyone in good health.

2 (INTERMEDIATE)

Suitable for runners who are fit and active and can comfortably run up to 6 - 10 miles per day. The trips involve lots of impromptu stops and our time on the trail will typically be between 3-4 hours per day.

3 (SEASONED)

Suitable for runners who can comfortably be on their feet for up to 4-6 hours per day (including walking). You need to have a good level of running fitness and be able to run up to distances of 20km+ in one push and be able to run back-back (consecutive) days. Some extra training before your trip may be required; previous trail running experience is recommended.

4 (ADVANCED)

Suitable for runners who can run on multiple back-back long days (sometimes up to 6 hours or more including walking). You will need to be physically fit and a confident, experienced trail runner.