Arid, grey mountains. Sand dunes that sing. Steppes with more horses than humans. Pine tree forests hidden in clouds. Icy rivers that sting on the skin but are refreshing to drink. Trees buried in the lake. Canyons that would swallow you. Kazakhstan is everything.

 

We did a trip this September; I’ve been wanting to see that part of the world forever. The landscape was spectacular and surreal and I’m hoping to visit again. If you are experimental with your trips, not fussed about food, would like to see places that are still quaint and relatively un-commercialized and are looking for lots of time in nature, then Kazakhstan is the place for you!

 

 

Our prep for Kazakhstan:

Since tourism is primarily domestic in Kazakhstan, there wasn’t too much online so we relied on travel blogs for all our basic details. They were accurate, descriptive and super useful.

 

Here’s our experience and I’ll begin with some key points on arrival in Almaty:

 

• We flew into Almaty and made that our base for most of our trip as the Alatau national park is within easy access. It’s perfect for day hikes if you are looking to enjoy the outdoors without making it intense
• We got ourselves a local SIM card at the airport on arrival. It’s so much cheaper than activating ISD on your phone and getting a local SIM at the airport barely took 10 min. There’s a counter just as you exit baggage collection.
• It’s hard to get Tenge (Kazakh currency) in most countries and you may need the currency in cash for making payments in smaller villages away from the city. We exchanged currency at the airport itself and got an excellent conversion rate, better than money changers within the city.
• We followed recommendations on the travel blogs we had read and downloaded the local cab service app – Yandex. (Tourist information at the airport is helpful if you need guidance). We used Yandex all through our trip and stay at Almaty. It was seamless. Most cab drivers do not speak English so ensure that you mark your pick up point correctly.
• Bus trips cost a flat 200 tenge per person irrespective of the length of the journey.
• You can download the 2Gis app to figure out bus routes within the city.

 

Hiking in Ile-Alatau national park from Almaty:

 

• We didn’t have time to prep for a longer hiking trip with camping so decided to fill our week-long visit to Kazakhstan with day hikes exploring the width of the country’s beautiful landscape
• We did day hikes in the Ile-Alatau national park which is barely 30 min away from the city of Almaty
• You can book a Yandex to some of the starting points of the hike or travel by the public bus. We did a combination of both. Buses take almost twice as much time as the cab but they also drive through the inner lanes of the city giving you a tour of the everyday life of the city. We discovered a great place for a Turkish meal this way – Garage.
• At Ile-Allatau, we did the Kok Zhalau hike, the Ayusai waterfall and the Alma-Arasan gorge. They were all relatively easy hikes with beautiful terrains.
  • Kok-Zhalau: Take bus no. 12 from the city to Medue Park stop. You can also Yandex it. From here, you’ll see a road go up to the start of the trail. Instead of the usual trail which has steps to climb and less interesting, we joined Azad, a Kazakh we bumped into on the bus and followed a lesser used trail which was quieter and prettier. I’m not sure which app he was using to map the trail, so you will have to check for that.
  • Ayusai waterfall: Take bus no. 28 and get off at the last stop. From there you can either walk 3 kms by road to the starting point of the trail or take a minibus. The minibus will cost you an additional 200 tenge per person. The minibus drops you a little away from the starting point so once you get off, continue following the road till you see the tourist information centre which is the start of the trail. Everybody speaks English so it’s all pretty straight forward there on. There’s also a really nice café and restrooms.
  • Alma-Arasan: We went on this hike on a weekday so it was very quiet. It’s the same bus no. 28 and get off at the last stop; the same one as Ayusai. But this time you’ll take the other road from the bus stop. Again, you walk for about 3 kms from the bus stop to the start of the trail. The initial part of the trail has bridges and steps till you get to the Sulphur springs. Once you walk beyond that, it’ll be very quiet. You’ll be walking through the forest for most of it with some openings every now and then. Your path will follow the stream uphill.
• I would highly recommend planning the hikes for weekdays and chilling with city activities on the weekend. Almaty locals do weekend hikes so it can be relatively busier. Also, the city is buzzing on weekends with the performing arts!

 

 

For the next part of our trip, we had initially planned to drive to Altyn-Emel. But we weren’t able to book a homestay in advance as the ones we messaged/ emailed were unresponsive. Finally we were able to reach them from Almaty but by then a self-driving vehincle was becoming difficult or too expensive to book. So we dropped the plan and decided to see Charyn Canyon and Kolsay lakes. They are touristy but very beautiful. We were there on weekdays so it wasn’t too crowded either.

 

Once at Charyn canyon tourist centre, we saw that there were 2 other gorges in the canyon that could be hiked through. Difficulty levels were higher. Our vehicle and guide was unwilling to go there so we didn’t but I would suggest looking up Witches gorge early on if you would like some adventure and if you like hiking. Plan in advance as those gorges of the canyon are further away and lesser known. Having said that even the easy part of Charyn canyon is beautiful and you can easily spend a couple of hours there.

 

The highlight of Kolsay would definitely be Kaindy lake. Its a short drive from Kolsay village and then you can either walk or ride a horse. Kaindy lake is special, don’t miss it. And don’t forget to walk around and get a view from the other side.

 

 

We did one of the Shymbulak hikes on our last day in Kazakhstan. Symbulak has numerous trails, from shorter ones that can be done in 4-5 hours to longer ones that could take 12 hours. All the trails here were marked so once you get started, it’s easy to hike on your own.

To get to Symbulak, take a Yandex or bus no. 12 from the city to the last stop. There are restrooms and a pretty cafe there that you can use before you get started.

To get to the trails you can either walk along the road or climb the steps of the dam. Once that’s done, you’ll see the sign boards for all the trails with relevant details – kms, hours and altitude. Choose your trail and have a great time!

 

Food:

It’s all meat everywhere. Horse, beef and lamb. There’s lots of cheese and fresh bread and the most delicious, juicy fruits. Apples, peaches, plums and pears. I just couldn’t have enough of them.

 

Shopping:

We went to green bazaar, the popular local market. It had everything from clothes, leather, meat, cheese, vegetables to dry fruits. We went straight for the dry fruits. While selecting your dry fruits, please check which ones are local (Kazakh) and which ones are imported. I picked up dried apricots and plums, the local ones. We bought them for about 2000 tenge a kilo from a vendor on the basement floor. Walk and look around before you make your final purchase.

 

Take away:

Go to Kazakhstan to enjoy the outdoors. The landscape is unique and changes within minutes/ hours. People are pretty friendly and will do their best to help you out even when they don’t speak your language.

There’s something for you even if you are travelling on a budget. If you are a solo traveller on a budget, then it would be best to visit places away from Almaty with a group. There are no buses/ public transport to visit and your only options would be to self-drive or hire a taxi.