A Kyrgyz joke goes that if you put three people in a yurt and come back an hour later, you’ll find five khans. Some say the new khan is too young. Or too inexperienced. They say he’s an opium ...

If you consider yourself an experienced outdoors person, you can hike without a guide and stay in local yurts — traditional Kyrgyz tents — for a few dollars per night. Otherwise, Kyrgyzstan ...