Co-founder Jonathan shares his personal journey of finding a home in the Tian Shan mountains, and the passion project behind our unique restored shepherd's wagon.
I was brought up in the south of the UK. Ever since I was young, I was interested in the outdoors and wildlife. My mom and dad would find me outside collecting bugs, and by the age of 11, I was working at an animal sanctuary. At 17, I joined the army and the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, a mounted regiment based in London. Working with horses there actually prepared me for life in Kyrgyzstan. I first came here on a military adventure training trip—we climbed mountains, slept in yurts, rode horses, swam in lakes, and had a brilliant time.
As I left on the plane after those three weeks, I thought I just wanted to visit other places in the world. But a year later, I left the army, and what I'd seen in Kyrgyzstan really started to grow in my heart. I ended up doing a few trips back and forth. During one visit, I stayed for three months in a village on the south shore of the lake, helping set up a language school and looking after the host family's apple trees, since I was an arboriculturist in the UK. During that time, I met Saule. We married a year later and lived in Bishkek, but my heart always yearned to be in rural Kyrgyzstan. So, in 2019, we took the plunge, moved to Karakol, and started our tourist business.
It's not just business, it's a passion. We as a family love to visit Kyrgyzstan and explore new areas, and from that, we can take our tourists and our guests to those places to explore alongside us.
Jonathan.
Co-founder of Shepherd's House
One of our favorite passion projects has been our guest wagon. The first time I came to Kyrgyzstan, I saw someone using one of these Soviet-era wagons as a mountain banya (sauna). Coming from the UK, it looked quite strange seeing this wagon in the mountains with steam coming out of it, but I really liked it. I thought for a long time we could renovate one and make it a nice mini-house for guests. Finally, in 2024, Saule and I decided to go for it. We bought one over the phone from Bishkek, and by the time it was delivered to us, the axle had broken and a wheel was hanging off. Everything inside needed taking out, and the roof needed redoing.
But it has been a real pleasure. We could have just built something new, but we like the wagon because it has historical value. Originally from the Soviet Union, these wagons were used by shepherds living in the mountains and railroad workers. They have been a part of the development of Kyrgyzstan this whole time. We put a lot of warm wood inside, added a shower, a kitchen, and two comfortable single beds.
I think our guests really enjoy it when they come. They’ve often stayed in places that are a bit crowded, but here they have their own space and their own little garden to just relax and get an idea of what village life is like. You’re the only guests on this site. It’s a perfect base camp before your next adventure—from here you can go to Ala-Kul Lake, Altyn Arashan, or the Aksuu Traverse. And when you come back, you know you've got a warm shower, a warm meal, and what many of our guests have said is the best night's sleep they've had since being in Kyrgyzstan.