Rima Yurt Camp

About Rima Yurt Camp

Rima is the small, working-family end of Song-Köl and one of the few camps here that publishes its specification plainly. Five guest yurts with four wooden beds each — mattress, linen, pillow and blanket per bed — taking up to twenty guests, convertible to doubles if you want the space, plus two metal yurts housing the kitchen and staff. One toilet, one hot shower, one washbasin, and a stove in each yurt lit twice a day, evening and morning. Electricity runs off a petrol generator and there is a usable mobile signal in this spot, which is not true of every camp on the lake. Meals are taken in a dining yurt seating twenty-five, decorated in national style, with a traditional menu that includes vegetarian options, and you eat with the host family rather than apart from them. That is the point of the place. The mares and cows are milked in front of you, kymyz therapy is offered, and horse riding is US$5 an hour — among the cheapest we found anywhere in this dataset. English and Russian are spoken. Payment is cash only, so bring som. Season runs 1 June to 25 September. No nightly rate is published, so agree it when you book; expect to pay in the region other north-shore family camps charge.

Highlights

• Horse riding at US$5 an hour
• Eat with the host family
• Watch the milking and try kymyz
• Hot shower and a working phone signal
• English and Russian spoken

Getting there

Northern shore of Song-Köl. Transfer from the lake to Manas International quoted at US$100.