Shymbulak mountains, Charyn Canyon, Altyn Emel desert, lakes of Kolsai, Kaindy, Balkash, Almaty are the most prominent places to visit around Almaty city
Shymbulak mountains- Half day
Quick 45 -60 min ride from Almaty city. One way ride costed 2k Tenge ($5, INR 400) till Medeu ring. From there we had to take an electric taxi till chair car point for 4000 Tenge one way ($10, INR 800). It was a lot of wait, frustrating and ad-hoc without a queue
The chaircar costed 300 Tenge per person ($7.5, INR600)
The view was beautiful with snow capped mountains. The chair cars were a bit difficult to handle for my mom- you need to be quick to get in and out of them as they keep moving without a stop
There was a small area where we could play around in snow. The entire area was slippery and difficult to walk- get your snow boots. We have a tough time navigating and decided to sit in one place and absorb natural beauty
Sunkar Raptor Falcon Sanctuary- Half day
I had seen an episode on Kazakh eagles on Sony BBC Earth, and badly wanted to see one. Although we couldn’t manage to see one in the wild or remote deserts, we went to Sunkar Eagle sanctuary to see a variety of them. There is a show at 4 PM which is very funny and informatory. It used to run at 5 PM earlier, so we ended up missing it although we went specifically for this around 5 PM
The place is at the foothills of Ile-Alatau National Park. You can see native variety and many more- they are huge, bit scary, giving a feeling of being overwhelmed, surprised and excited at the same time.
I am not sure how healthy they were. Some of them walked back and forth in restlessness which made us feel bad for them. There was an ailing horse as you walk behind the main building and packs of dogs in cages. Do visit the back area to greet the dogs
One way ride from the city costed 2.5k-3k Tenge one way ($6-8, INR 500-600)
Day tour to Charyn canyon, Kaindy lake, Kolsai lake
We got this organized by getting in touch with a local tour company called Panda Travels for 9500 Tenge per person ($18, INR 2k). Most of the local operators have a virtual store on Whatsapp. Other similar companies include Almatytour, sayahat.tike, Steppe spirit where we can book tours at local prices
You will find some of them listed on Viator, Get my guide with separate pricing for international tourists. The difference will be better vehicles with charging points and English speaking guides
We had an adventure on this tour. Our bus broke down about 30 mins before Charyn Canyon after a 3 hour ride from Almaty. It is a godforsaken place with no possibility to get help. After many failed attempts to fix the bus, the guide asked for a backup bus which would take 3-4 hours to arrive from Almaty. It was raining, cold outside and we could do nothing but wait inside the broken bus
They managed to cover the itinerary by shortening stop times and did make up for this by offering a tour on any other day of your choice later. We recommend sticking to better vehicles in case you don’t have a buffer day
Charyn Canyon runs across hundreds of miles with interesting formations. It is not as deep as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, but definitely worth a visit. We spent about an hour walking to the bottom of the canyon
Kaindy lake is a sunken forest lake with turquoise waters and trees coming out of the water. It was a couple of hours away from Charyn Canyon. We had to transfer into a UAZ (2k Tenge per person return) for a half an hour ride from the road dropping point, and then a shared taxi to hiking point (per 500 Tenge per person one way). It was a further 30-40 minute hike to the lake. The hike is very doable, you don’t need a horse (3k Tenge per person, negotiable) or taxi (10k Tenge)
Kolsai Lake: Another lake with snowcapped mountains in the background. It was almost dark by the time we reached here. The roads stop by the lake, so not much of a hike. There are two more lakes that can be accessed by hiking and needs another day to cover
Day tour to singing dunes and Altyn Emel National Park
We hardly had day tour options here and booked this tour through an independent guide on Indyguide. Many local operators offer day tours to Singing dune only or multi day tours to Altyn Emel on certain fixed days of the month. Our schedule didn’t match these dates and we wanted to cover it in a single day. You can also take a rental car but need good driving skills on unmarked, unpaved roads
The tour was very average compared to the price (USD 400 for a group of 3; USD 135 per person). Although the description mentioned inclusion of breakfast, 4×4, visit to Kakatau mountains, none of them turned into reality. We visited only singing dunes and Akatau mountains. It was the guide’s first tour in the region and he was trying to get a sense of the region himself
Singing dune is a medium- tough climb. It is known for humming sound created by air travel patterns. My parents did it easily, but I backed off midway due to fear of height. We could not hear any singing throughout. The view from top was good though. There were nice desert blooms around
Akatau mountains are layered, colorful with nice desert shrubs and flowers on the way. They have been created with millions of years of sediments. Just the remoteness of the location makes you think twice about it
The Kakatau mountains have another different types of formations- smooth, eroded, creating different shapes
The closest village before entering the park is Basshi. The overall drive was more than 5 hours one way from Almaty, was a bit exhausting in a small car with limited legspace. The views of Tien Shan mountains along Balkash lake, with red poppy fields on the other side was mesmerizing. Balkash lake is a popular weekend getaway for families in Almaty
Issyk Lake
We had a spare day and decided to visit the Issyk lake near Almaty. This is different from similar sounding lake in Kyrgystan
We hailed a Yandex and requested if the driver can wait for us for an hour at the lake and get back. He readily agreed!
It was a rainy day again, not much luck with the weather this time. The drive was 2 hours from Almaty. There was a 2000 Tenge entrance fee for the vehicle to enter the park
There are walking trails that go around the lake. Towards one point, you will find stairs to a cemetery and church
The entire area around was beautiful with apple and apricot flowers blooming
Overall roundtrip from Almaty costed us 26.5k Tenge ($ 50/ INR 5k)
