Sam & the YellowWood team were brilliant in the planning, organization and execution of this tour. The itinerary was well-laid out and the Tien Shan Mtns is breathtakingly beautiful!

During the tour, the city guide (Tatiana) and trek guides (Beksultan & Nursultan) were superb - well organized, well informed, very knowledgeable, extremely proactive and helpful. They were very well-supported by the van drivers, cook and porters throughout our entire tour/trek.

I strongly recommend using YellowWood Adventures for Kyrgyzstan and other "path less traveled" tours!!!

Sam and the YellowWood team did a great job organizing our Kyrgyzstan adventure. Our group had a marvelous time at the World Nomad Games, and were blown away by the beauty of hiking the Tian Shen mountains. The guides are excellent - organized, knowledgeable and encouraging. I highly recommend both Kyrgyzstan and YellowWood.

Yellowwood and their local partners delivered a seamless experience. It was a great blend of safari, relaxation and the opportunity to gain an insight into the wider history and culture of Malawi. A memorable trip, from our first consideration to our return home the Yellowwood team were exceptional.

YellowWood, and specifically Rachel Ginty, organized a private tour for us ( party of 4) to Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and then joining a small group for the Nomad Games in Krygzstan They were very accommodating to our individual requests and certain things we wanted to see which were not part of their usual itinerary. They were adept at pre-managing expectations for the Nomad games which were an amazing experience.
Thank you for the trip of a lifetime

Our group visited the World Nomad Games and then hiked in the Tien Shan Mountains. Our guides were informative, professional, and definitely there when we needed them. One of our group members needed medical attention, and I don’t know what would have happened if it weren’t for our guide in Bishkek. Thank you, Tatiana!

The hiking was hard, but our guides were encouraging all the way. The food was fantastic, even for a vegetarian like me, and what a treat it was to have the tents all set up and tea ready when we arrived at camp each night. The campfire and stars on the second-to-last night were a highlight.

Yellowwood were super responsive when I first contacted them.
The tour was well organised and the tour guides knowledgeable, interesting and flexible.
I saw and learnt much.
The Nomad Games are a must see!

Our experience at the Nomad Games and Kyrgyzstan was amazing!! Yellowwood overcame many obstacles to ensure we enjoyed the best experience possible under difficult and ever changing circumstances. Our guide Aidana was simply “the best”! She loves her country and loves to share this with others, as apparent in her ongoing enthusiasm and care for our group. Without a doubt I would recommend Yellowwood to others.

Our trip to Kyrgyzstan would have been a difficult one to plan on our own. Having YellowWood help with all the details was a great move. They were very responsive to our questions, and when the event changed due to forces outside of anyone's control, they took care of it.

Heading to the 2026 Nomad Games with YellowWood was wonderful! - we felt supported and cared for every step of the way - from help with obtaining our opening ceremony tickets to encouraging words when we were having difficulties getting onto our plane - there was help at every step of the way! - and our tour guide Aidana was simply superb! - totally unflappable in all the chaos of the games!! - a girl who truly loves her country and told us story after story of Kyrgyzstan’s past and present - totally an amazing adventure!! - thanks lots for making it happen!

I communicated all of the concerns below to YellowWood’s Managing Director, Sam McManus, and their Operations Team during the tour and after returning home. Unfortunately, the responses I received were, in my view, deflective and totally lacking in accountability. My husband and I recently returned from the World Nomad Games with YellowWood. We chose a group tour because we wanted a stress-free, immersive experience for this once-in-a-lifetime event. We were happy to pay a premium because we believed YellowWood would deliver what they promised.

How wrong we were
I repeatedly made clear that our concerns were entirely separate from the Nomad Games themselves or the logistical challenges of such a large event. Despite this, YellowWood’s responses focused heavily on those challenges. We understand that major events create difficulties and that some circumstances are outside a tour operator’s control. However, we chose an experienced specialist company precisely because we expected them to manage those challenges rather than use them to explain shortcomings in the experience delivered. YellowWood markets itself as: “The traveller's travel company; specialising in tailor-made and select small group adventures.” Unfortunately, our experience bore little resemblance to this promise. We were aware of more than nine YellowWood groups travelling for the Nomad Games. Our group travelled alongside two other YellowWood groups for virtually the entire trip. We stayed at the same accommodation, used the same luggage van, departed together and stopped at the same lunch venues.
When I raised this with the Managing Director, he referred to it as “crossover.” This was not “crossover” as we experienced it. It was a convoy. On our first day in Bishkek, our walking tour consisted of approximately 36 people and three guides. This is difficult to reconcile with the promise of a “select small group adventure” and personalised travel experience.

The guiding experience
Our guide told us this was his first tour with an English-speaking group. His English was not sufficient to provide meaningful information about the Nomad Games or the history, culture and traditions of Kyrgyzstan. We often had to Google information ourselves and make group decisions regarding meals and logistics when flexibility was required. There were no proper daily briefings, little information about what to expect, no clear communication about driving times and very limited engagement. Our guide also preferred to eat separately with the drivers and slept at the front of the bus during long drives. For the premium price we paid, this was nowhere near the level of guiding we expected. I raised these concerns with YellowWood on the second day. Rather than considering intervention, I was told to “give him another go.” I raised the issue again with Sam McManus at the end of the tour. His response was that YellowWood had “always received excellent feedback” about its local guides and had “a great deal of confidence” in its partners. That did not address our specific experience. Previous positive feedback does not change what happened to us.
The YellowWood representative

We were told a YellowWood representative would be on the ground and available to assist with issues. After I raised our concerns on day two, I was specifically told he would contact us and spend time with our group. That never happened. I was subsequently told he was “too busy helping other groups.” I am still waiting to hear from him. This was not about the logistical difficulties of the Nomad Games. It was about customer service and communication.

The World Nomad Games themselves were not the problem. Kyrgyzstan is fascinating, the Games were extraordinary and there were memorable moments. The problem was the gap between what YellowWood promised and what we experienced. We understand that things can go wrong and circumstances can change. What we expected was an experienced operator that would take ownership and ensure customers still received the personalised experience for which they had paid. Instead, when we raised concerns, we received explanations rather than accountability. We paid a premium for expert guidance, personalised service, meaningful local insight, small-group interaction and the reassurance that an experienced company was taking care of us.

In our experience, that premium did not deliver the promised value.

We were left with the impression that commercial considerations took precedence over the personalised small-group experience YellowWood marketed to us. We did not expect perfection. We expected YellowWood to deliver what they promised and, when shortcomings occurred, to acknowledge them and take responsibility.

World nomad games is a great trip not to be missed. Yes, getting into the final Kok Boru competition was chaotic. But it also showed just how brilliantly our guide Meerim handled the whole thing, especially given her young age and the fact that this was her first time at the Games too.
I also want to say how incredibly generous it was of the country to open pretty much all the events to visitors and local people completely free of charge. It felt like a continuation of the nomadic tradition of sharing, hospitality, and a free spirit. We truly appreciated it.
I’ve travelled to many countries over the past 20 years, and experiences like this still felt very unique. And, to be fair, it was actually fairly comfortable compared with many of the places we could have gone to. I suppose that’s the trade-off when you want to experience something genuinely special, authentic, and original.

The trip to the World Nomad Games 2026 in Bishkek was carefully planned by Yellow Wood and worked out as an extremely extraordinary experience.
I loved to visit the impressing opening ceremony, to see the games and the following journey to the yurt camps in a absolutely beautiful landscape !!
I felt safe and looked after, guides an driver did a very good job 🤩

YellowWood Adventures made our World Nomad Games 2026 a wonderful experience even prior to leaving home.

Their communication was outstanding, the local guides and drivers were unbelievably helpful and the itinerary and accommodations exceeded expectations. The guides navigated the occasional hiccup with ease and always did their best to ensure everyone in our group was happy.

I would definitely recommend YellowWood Adventures to anyone interested in an unforgettable travel experience.

My husband and I spent 10 days in Kyrgyzstan touring Bishkek, attending the World Nomad Games, and exploring mountains and lakes along the Silk Road. From beginning to end, the itinerary, organization, accommodations and customer service of staff and local guide and driver exceeded our expectations. They managed the inevitable adventure travel hiccups with ease. We felt well taken care of the entire time and look forward to our next YellowWood Adventure.

This trip all began Monday, August 31, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek Azattyk Arena. All the world is staged. We found ourselves at the confluence of historic events: The 35th anniversary of Kyrgyzstan’s independence from the Soviet Union, SCO’s (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) 25 year anniversary, and the 6th biennial World Nomad Games.

The rest of our trip included stays at two yurt camps high in the Tian Shan mountains and plenty of amazing meals. People and scenery and culture are just an extraordinary thing to experience.

Thank you, YellowWood for making all the extraordinary logistics possible for this trip!

Our trip to Kyrgyzstan was an authentic and immersive experience where we were able to connect with the warm and hospitable local people and gain a better cultural understanding of their world.

I recently completed a two-week solo-traveler tour through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia arranged through YellowWood. The trip was goodI. I saw urban and rural areas, visit many historic sites, and learned about local culture and history. I had different guides in each country. All three guides were knowledgeable, personable, and helpful. And they made themselves available after-hours in case any question or emergency arose. I was impressed with YellowWood's efficiency and execution. Plus, communications with YellowWood before and during the trip was timely and excellent. I'll use YellowWood for future trips.

Amazing, life changing experience.

We are a family of four (kids are 5 and 8). We wanted spend two weeks opening our eyes and minds to a part of the world we had never visited before.

We have never been to sub Saharan Africa before. Kenya is not easy to get around unless you are with someone who knows how it all works, so without YellowWood organising all of our travel, transfers and connections, would have been a very testing and stressful couple of weeks.

They have clearly spent a lot of time and consideration selecting the partners they work with and piecing together a trip that seems so straightforward (but is actually very complicated) that allowed us to see so much of this incredible country in a relatively short time without ever feeling rushed or stressed.

Every day was packed with adventure. There was always something memorable and impactful happening. We didn’t want to miss a thing which meant we had very very tired kids by the end of the day. Fortunately, YW knew this would be the case and made sure everywhere they picked for us to stay were very restful and comfortable. Being able to recuperate after a long day was the key to our amazing time. The food was all delicious and flexible for the picky eaters. The camps and hotels were all incredibly welcoming and felt very indulgent. The experience of YW and their partners was so valuable as everything had been thought of before we needed to ask.

We were worried that our kids might have been a bit young for this sort of trip, and had we not had such experienced tour operators we may well have been right, but YW delivered the perfect balance of adventure and comfort, tailored for our needs rather than a one size fits all.

I cannot recommend them highly enough.

For the same price as two weeks in a European resort devoid of culture, I would chose adventure every time. And YW will be the ones helping us.

We had an awesome trip to Mongolia with 2 different tour companies, Yellowwood being the 2nd tour, so naturally I am comparing the two. On both trips there were just the two of us ladies.

Yellowwood had excellent communications and the professional way they set up a WhatsApp group chat with a beginning and end date is a great idea. We also had a Zoom session with the owner, Sam, prior to booking to answer our questions.
I gave Yellowwood 4 out of 5 as there were a few hiccups which we emailed privately to the company and had a satisfactory response.

As for value for money we felt our first tour which was with a local Mongolian company was way better, Yellowwood being pricey for what was delivered.

One of the best parts of our tour was our 2 staff from Yellowwood’s partner company in Mongolia. The driver who only spoke 3 words of English was very willing to contribute his local knowledge and our guide very happy to translate. They were also both interested to hear about our lives and to accommodate our interests and desire to take lots of photos. This made us feel like human beings, not just tourists and this cross-cultural exchange greatly added to our enjoyment.

The combination of experiences within our trip offered an insight into Uganda and its conservation efforts, but would have benefitted from a rest day between the hikes. Highlights included the Gorillas in Bwindi which was magical and meeting the Batwa people who were displaced to create the national park. The Ugandan hospitality was faultless and our memories will be everlasting.