Peak Lenin Base Camp Trek

A firsthand experience at what it is like to climb and hike to Peak Lenin base camp, one of the highest mountains in Kyrgyzstan

We had left Sary Moghul behind and had been walking for more than two hours along the Alay Valley, a massive, isolated plain, which marks the beginning of the Pamir Range, hence Tajikistan.

The green pastures with beautiful Kyrgyz horses grazing on them were quickly replaced by an arid, extremely flat valley, whose very end was striking views of the whole Pamir range.

The closer we got to the mountains, the greener the arid land became and, very soon, we were suddenly surrounded by green, rolling hills, in which we could spot several nomadic yurts between them.

It was such a long way but, thanks to the warm greetings from the Kyrgyz nomads and the kumis they offered us to drink, it was totally worth it.

As we kept advancing, we reached Tulpar Lake, a dreamy alpine lake from which you see epic views of the snow-capped mountains and their reflection on the water.

We couldn’t find a better place where to camp before continuing our way to the advanced base camp.

Welcome to Lenin Peak.

Trekking to Lenin Peak Base Camp

Before traveling to Central Asia, I didn’t really know about the region’s geography. I had heard of the Pamir Highway and the mountain ranges in Tajikistan but I didn’t know about any specific peak.

However, Lenin Peak had been on my thoughts for years and was, definitely, something I didn’t want to miss when I went backpacking in Kyrgyzstan.

Lenin Peak is an imposing 7,134-meter peak shared between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It is the second-highest in the Pamir range and third in the former Soviet Union, after Jengish Chokusu (7,439 meters), located on the Chinese-Kyrgyz border, and Ismoil Somoni Peak (7,495 meters), located in the Tajik Pamirs.

You probably wonder why I knew about Lenin and not the other peaks. Well, the Lenin Peak is the easiest 7,000-meter summit to climb in the world, as it doesn’t really require any hard mountaineering experience but you can reach it by foot.

Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that you can climb it with your backpacking trekking shoes and gear. The altitude is a real issue and only well-prepared people can reach the top.

Basically, it is a mountain for amateur professional climbers.

However, the base camp can be easily reached by absolutely anyone and, if you are…