Every summer, many Kyrgyz families leave their villages and move their herds up to the summer pastures— the jailoo (jai-LOH). They spend the warm months in yurts, the way their grandparents did, and their grandparents before them.
In the summer of 2027, I’m planning to bring a small group up there with me. I have over a decade of experience photographing across Central Asia, and I’ve also guided for National Geographic Expeditions for their “5 Stans of Central Asia” trip.
What I have in mind is a base in a comfortable village guesthouse, where we’ll hold talks and workshops, with a few nights up in the summer pastures living alongside nomadic families.
A small-group journey into modern Kyrgyz nomadic life
Teach me how to Nomad
In the village, we’ll learn applied arts like felt making, cooking traditional dishes, and learn from eagle hunters as well as musicians what carrying their heritage in a modern world means to them.
In the evenings, I myself as well as guest speakers will hold in-depth talks about what we’ve seen and experienced that day. We’ll talk about nomadic history, old and new, and help contextualize where Central Asia sits in the wider world today. One night, I’m hoping to bring a manaschi, one of the storytellers who recite the Epic of Manas from memory, along with a few more surprise guests.
Up in the summer pastures means really living like a nomad: riding horses, herding sheep, milking cows, and helping put up the yurt you’ll sleep in.
I hesitate to call this “once in a lifetime...” We all come from different lives. But I think it’s the kind of trip you’ll remember for a long time. There’ll be plenty to do, but the days won’t run by the hour, and you’ll always have time to wander… After all, to live like a nomad is to experience time like a nomad.
I’d like to shape this itinerary with people who are interested. Join the list, tell me what you’d want most in the following survey when you click “Submit!” I hope to see you atop a horse in Kyrgyzstan, in the summer of 2027!