At-Bashi: Riding Kyrgyzstan led by Vadim Savin

Yet the great pleasure of At Bashi is that the landscape is lived in. We ride amongst shepherds and their animals, through farmland and villages and past summer yurts scattered across the pastures. Tourism has barely made an impression here, so encounters happen naturally as we travel through rather than being arranged for visitors. Traces of the old Silk Road remain throughout the region, culminating at Tash Rabat on the ancient route towards China.

Unlike riding journeys based from a fixed camp or lodge, we travel continuously on horseback, with our private mobile camp moving ahead of us each day. This allows us to cover real distance and wake each morning somewhere new, without sacrificing comfort: spacious British-made tents, padded camp beds, hot water for washing, a separate mess tent, and generous meals freshly prepared by our three cooks. Dinner is served at proper tables by oil lamp, followed by homemade cakes and, whenever the evening allows, a campfire. It is this combination of a true journey and an unusually high level of comfort in such isolated country that makes Alexandra Tolstoy Traveldistinctive.