Karakol serves as a jumping-off place for one of Kyrgyzstan’s most distinctive landforms, the blood-red crags of the Jety Orguz Gorge. The most photographed formations in the valley are the so-called ‘Seven Bulls’, a row of spectacular crags set against a glorious backdrop of alpine meadows and snow-streaked mountains. We recommend clients continue up the un-surfaced road beyond the rocks to spend a night in a family-owned yurt camp, set in the bucolic surroundings of the ‘Valley of Flowers’, which as its name suggests is ablaze with wild blooms in the spring.