Kazakhstan Off The Beaten Path

  Charin gorge
by mirko77
 
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      Charin gorge
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The Steppes

by traveldave

In addition to deserts and mountains, a significant percentage of Kazakhstan is made up of steppes, which are semi-arid grassy plains. It is here that many of the semi-nomadic Kazakhs tend their flocks of sheep or herds of horses in the summertime.Most of the water that falls on the steppes comes from violent thunderstorms in the summer that can cause flash flooding, and snows that cover the ground during most of the winter. In early May, millions of wild poppies bloom and turn the steppes red from horizon to horizon.

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The Sugaty Valley

by traveldave

The arid Sugaty Valley lies east of Almaty. Most travelers will have no reason to visit the Sugaty Valley unless passing through on their way to Charyn Red Canyon. Birdwatchers, however, come here to look for raptors, sandgrouse, larks, wheatears, and other birds of arid country. The prize here is the Pallas's sandgrouse, a rare bird that is difficult to find outside of Kazakhstan.Although the Sugaty Valley is relatively arid, it is not part of a true desert. It is one of the numerous areas within the rain shadow of the Tien Shan Mountains that receive little rainfall and are characterized by dry, desert-like terrain. However, more than two-thirds of Kazakhstan's surface area is comprised of desert, including two major deserts, the Qyzylqum and Betpak-Dala, which are located in the southwest part of the country.

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Big Almaty Lake

by traveldave

Located high in the Tien Shan Mountains south of Almaty, Big Almaty Lake is the main attraction of Alatau-Eliy National Park. The alpine lake sits at an altitude of 8,238 feet (2,511 meters), and is fed by the Almaty River, which rises in nearby mountains that are much higher. Because Big Almaty Lake is at such a high elevation, its waters are frigid, and do not get warmer than 46 degrees Farenheit (eight degrees Celcius), even in July.

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Ancient rock art

by TheWanderingCamel

Tamgaly Tas is a deep ravine with the walls covered in petroglyphs dating back thousands of years through to the Bhuddistic 16th century CE. Amazing scenes of mammoths,cattle, deer, horses, mountain sheep, men hunting and, in the "Sanctuary" a group of sun-headed gods and worshippers, all in an empty landscape that is so quiet and still the agelessness of the place is palpable. This is a UNESCO World Heritage siteSelf-driving isn't really an option in Kazakhstan, so getting to Tamgaly Tas will involve some sort of organization -either a day tour organized through a tourist agency, or a car and driver for the day.

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Old Almaty

by TheWanderingCamel

Most of Almaty was razed to the ground by the earthquake of 1911. Subsequently the city became a Soviet satellite, full of massive buildings and vast blocks of flats, but a small pocket of of the old-style Almaty can be found in the Tartar district in the streets behind the zoo. Small wooden houses; often unpaved streets; lots of trees and vegetable gardens; lethal (overhead!) gas piping and a little mosque with its new madrassa, which we were shown with great pride, where classes are held for women and girls as well as men and boys as the community tries to regain their Muslim heritage.Posted by leyle

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Aktau

by uhnbom

An extremely insane place by the Caspian Sea where only one of the citys streets actually have a name (the rest are just just numbered 'microrayons')...Must be nice during summer when you can have a drink by the sea as you're watching the oiltankers glide by...The train ride here from Aktöbe offers some of the most depressing sights you'll ever sea (except from the area around Aralsk)...

Visit wonderful Semipalatinsk

by uhnbom

Stroll down the dusty streets towards the river and spend half an hour by the polygon memorial, if you're lucky you might stumble across a wedding group going there to get their pictures taken (mostly on fridays)...

Cold War Relics

by traveldave

Cold War tensions existed not only between the Soviet Union and the West, but also between the Soviet Union and China. The Soviet Union had an almost schizophrenic fear that the Chinese would invade. The area near Charyn Red Canyon is very close to the Chinese border, and during the Soviet era, it was one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world. Nowadays, Cold War relics remain, and are testimony to the Soviet fear of a Chinese invasion. Many of the hillsides along Charyn Red Canyon contain broken-down machine-gun pillboxes such as the one seen here.

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The Tamgaly Archaeological Complex

by traveldave

Located in Tamgaly Gorge in the Chu-Ili Mountains northwest of Almaty, the Tamgaly Archaeological Complex features ancient settlements, burial mounds, and around 5,000 petroglyphs. The largest concentration of petroglyphs is within Tamgaly Canyon, which contains about 2,000 of the rock carvings. Most depict deer and hunting scenes, but there are also many solar images and scenes from the daily lives of the people who carved the petroglyphs. Although there are carvings from as late as the early twentieth century, most date from the Bronze Age and are about 4,000 to 5,000 years old.The Tamgaly Archaeological Complex has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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The Tien Shan Astronomical Observatory

by traveldave

The Tien Shan Astronomical Observatory is set amid the Tien Shan Mountains at an altitude of about 9,000 feet (2,743 meters), and is 19 miles (30 kilometers) south of Almaty. Constructed during the Soviet era, the Russians lease the observatory from the Kazakh government and still operate it, mainly in the autumn and winter when the sky is at its clearest.The observatory features two Richi-Cretien-Coudet telescopes, two Cassegren telescopes, an HSFA horizontal solar telescope-spectrograph, and an ACU-5 horizontal solar telescope.Visitors, usually those on birdwatching or trekking tours, can stay in the observatory's very basic twin rooms, with a toilet and shower shared between two rooms.The observatory's dome and radar dish can be seen among the spruce trees below the high peak (best seen by enlarging the picture).

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Unique Places in Kazakhstan

Top 3 Hotels in Kazakhstan

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Reviews and photos of Kazakhstan attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Kazakhstan sightseeing.

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Off The Beaten Path: Cities in Kazakhstan
  1. Almaty Off The Beaten Path
  2. Astana Off The Beaten Path
  3. Atyrau Off The Beaten Path

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  Hi Everybody, I will be in Kazakhstan in September 2012. I will arrive in Almaty but need to get to Astana. I would prefer not to... 

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A: As you might expect, Kazakhstan is not an "on-line" friendly place. It is difficult to book anything online. Sites like... 

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