The Almaty region, or rather the Semirechye region, is not only one of the most beautiful, but also one of the oldest populated places in Kazakhstan. There are a variety of easily accessible and hard-to-reach locations with incredible views, many of which can be reached quickly enough. In this article, we have collected for you several different attractions of Zhetysu that are worth exploring on vacation.
Tengri Peak
Khan Tengri is one of the most beautiful peaks not only in Central Asia, but also in the world. If we count the ice cap, this peak has the shape of a sharp tetrahedral pyramid with a height of 7,010 meters. It is located in the Central Tien Shan, as part of the Tengri-Tag ridge on the border of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China. The name of the peak in translation from Turkic means “lord of the sky”.
The conquest of Khan Tengri Peak is the dream and life goal of many climbers around the world, there are more than a dozen routes laid here, the ascent of which takes at least 14 days. Under the peak there is an International climbing Camp (MAL) “Khan-Tengri”, created by Kazbek Valiev himself and hosting up to 2,000 climbers and mountain tourists per season. Under the patronage of the regional authorities and the CSKA Mountaineering club, international sports festivals are held every year on the basis of the MAL.
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Zhasylkol Lake
One of the largest national natural parks of Kazakhstan – Zhongar-Alatau is located on the slope of the Zhetysu Alatau ridge. Numerous rivers flow here, flowing into lakes, among which Zhasylkol is especially noteworthy – a glacier-fed lake located at an altitude of 1,630 meters above sea level in the gorge of the Agynykatta River. In spring and summer, the water in the reservoir is muddy, but by the end of summer, with the cessation of active melting of glaciers, you will find it transparent, greenish-blue. However, you should be careful with bathing – the water temperature even in summer fluctuates around plus 10 degrees Celsius. By the way, to get to the shores of Zhasylkol, take with you everything you need to pay for a visit to the natural park: cash and an identity card.
Ash Grove
A cluster of Sogdian ash trees in the Charyn Canyon is a rare relic of the Ice Age. Ash trees were named after the tribes that ruled for a long time on this section of the Silk Road. The trees themselves are very ancient, the grove used to be part of a large ecosystem that is more than 25 million years old. Now the grove occupies a strip of 25 kilometers. Impassable due to the dense undergrowth, the grove remains sunny. The waters of Charyn were able to make their way through relict trees, which at noon, when the steppe is languishing from the heat, beckon travelers with coolness.
In the grove you can see various birds, such as brown pigeon, tuvik, white-winged woodpecker, white-tailed eagle and Semirechensky pheasant. Here you can also meet muskrat, hare, fox, reed cat and wild boars. The territory is protected, and the animals feel protected.
Lake Issyk
This picturesque alpine lake is surrounded by an extraordinarily beautiful nature of dense forests and wide flower fields at an altitude of 1,760 meters above sea level, in the Issyk gorge of the Trans-Ili Alatau. They say he has a character: the water changes color depending on the weather. When the sky frowns, the lake turns gray, and under the bright sunlight the water turns blue, turquoise or green, and you can look at this calm beauty endlessly.
Around the lake there are rocky gorges, alpine meadows and dense forests filled with many different representatives of fauna. Many local plants are listed in the Red Book: Kungey grass, golden adonis, Cossack juniper, Shrenka spruce, Edelweiss. The surrounding area is home to more than 150 species of birds and about 30 species of animals: here you can see mountain goats and graceful lynxes, wolves, bears and many others.
Aigaykum – Singing Dune
There are many interesting locations in the Altyn-Emel National Park that are worth visiting, and one of them is the Singing Dune. There are two sandy hills between the peaks of Bolshoy and Maly Kalkan. The southern dune rises 150 meters, the northern one – 100 meters. The singing dune is a phenomenon of nature, famous for the fact that in dry weather the sands emit a sound similar to the melody of a ringing organ.
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The sand of the Singing Dune stretches from the sandbanks of the Ili River. In both directions, peculiar “tails” of the dune stretch towards the river, which are visible to the naked eye. About 80 species of mammals and 260 species of birds live here – for example, argali, gazelles and kulans peacefully coexist on the spacious plains and mountain slopes of Altyn-Emel.
Burkhan-Bulak
A noteworthy object for tourists in the Almaty region is also the highest waterfall in Central Asia – Burkhan-Bulak in the Korinsky gorge in the Dzungarian Alatau. The height of all its visible cascades is about 112 meters. But getting there is not so easy – only on very passable transport. To date, the most suitable entrance option is through the Kapalsky Izvoz pass. That when descending into the gorge to the Kora River, that when climbing the pass, travelers take their breath away. There is only 12 kilometers of dirt road along the bottom of the gorge to the waterfall. If you are lucky enough to become a participant of a trip to the waterfall, you will not regret it, and all the difficulties of the road will later be remembered as an interesting adventure.
Zharkent Mosque
In the center of the city of Zharkent there is a mosque that colorfully combines Chinese and Central Asian styles. For the construction of this interesting structure, the famous Chinese architect Hong Pik was invited, who embodied in the appearance of the building traditional folk motifs of almost all nationalities living in this region. Locals say with confidence that Hong Pik did not create anything more beautiful in his life than this mosque, even working in China, for which he was executed by the emperor of the Celestial Empire. Most of the works of the legendary Chinese did not stand the test of time, but the Zharkent mosque survived even the most powerful earthquake of 1910. But it was built from the logs of the legendary Tien Shan spruce traditionally, without a single nail.
Over time, the mosque, of course, is decaying, but the charm of oriental motifs – an impressive central arch, towers, cartouches, magnificent paintings on the walls depicting fantastic animals and plants – still affects visitors. Inside, the spectacle is even more interesting: an altar niche, walls and cornices painted with thousands of bright subjects, traditional Chinese lanterns, a lot of sacred paraphernalia and ornaments.
Ile-Alatau State National Nature Park
The Ile-Alatau National Park with an area of more than 200 thousand hectares was opened in 1996. A significant part of it is occupied by relict forests, which are home to about 300 species of animals and birds. One of the pearls of the park is the snow leopard, the symbol of the city of Almaty. Most of the Ile-Alatau Mountains are included in the Ile-Alatau National Park from the Turgen River in the east to the Chemolgan River in the west. The park’s office is located in Almaty in the Tausamal microdistrict (1 Zhandosova Street). Most tourist sites can be visited without special passes, with the exception of the Kaskelensky and Aksai gorges, where you need to get a special entrance ticket.
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In the Ulken Uryukty gorge in the Kungei-Alatau mountains at an altitude of 2,162 meters there is a little-known, but very beautiful lake, which the locals call Myazhe. Its length is 500 meters, width is 100 meters. Most likely, it was formed during the Chiliko-Kemin earthquake in the early XX century. Good places to spend the night are located two kilometers before the beginning of the lake. The hike to the gorge is carried out through the valley of the Chilik River, where a dirt road runs to the confluence with the Orta Uryukta River. The journey to the lake can take from two to four days. There are no good trails above the lake.
Zhongar-Alatau State National Nature Park
The National Park was created in 2010 in the absolutely wild mountains of the Zhetysu Alatau in the northeast of Almaty. It occupies an area of 356 thousand hectares – from the Aksu River in the west to the Tentek River in the east. Here you can see the pristine nature, which civilization has not touched at all: stormy rivers, beautiful mountain lakes and high snowy peaks. In the park there are the world’s largest groves of wild Sivers apple trees, which are the main object of protection. They are especially numerous in the vicinity of Lepsinsk. The park’s office is located in Sarqand on the main street behind the bus station. There is a branch of the park in Lepsinsk, where you can also get a pass to visit the territory. Foreigners need to submit documents a month before the trip, since the entire mountain system is located in the border zone.
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