Almaty to Bishkek and surrounding in 8+ days

Hi everyone--thanks for your help in advance.

Three of us will be arriving in Almaty from China on the evening of September 29th and will be returning to China via the Bishkek airport on October 8th. We are looking for itinerary suggestions. We plan to get a single entry Kazakhstan visa so once we enter Kyrgyzstan it will be for good.

Before you say things like Kazakhstan is lame, your time is insufficient, go to Uzbekistan, etc. please understand we all work full time jobs, are limited by holidays/flight schedules, do not wish to travel within China during domestic holidays and have visited many other peripheral countries.

Roughly:

Arrive Almaty Night, September 29
September 30: Stay in City, Big Almaty Lake?
October 1: Tamgaly Petroglyphs (en route to Bishkek)
October 2: Arrive Bishkek
October3:
????? (Al-Archa National Park)
October4-6:
October 7: ______, stay in Bishkek for flight next morning
October 8 (morning) return to China

Any help for some rad nature/hiking or historical sites during or before the question marks is very much appreciated. I am very ignorant of both countries. We probably want 2 nights of Central Asian bars/clubs or whatever it is they do.

Thanks a ton!

First thorntree post,

TreyBien

Edited by: treybien

Edited by: treybien