Big Almaty Lake was the first site I’d decided I wanted to see when I started researching Almaty, frequently heralded as the “most beautiful lake in Kazakhstan”. Hidden amidst the mountains at an altitude of 2,511 metres, this imaginatively named wonder is a turquoise natural reservoir which provides drinking water for the city. Due to […]
Kazakhstan
The sun which set beyond the Kok-Tobe cable cars
What to do when first arriving in a new town? Go see the highest view you can find. This can be via a tower, via a tram up a mountain or, traditionally in the Story of My Life, via a cable car. One of the attractions of Almaty in the first place was the cable car […]
Lake Kaindy, the mystic sunken forest
110 years ago Lake Kaindy was a forest like any other. Then the 1911 Kebin earthquake happened, which created a landslide which created a dam, eventually causing rainwater to drown the forest. The trees have taken Ariel as a role model and still appear to be living underwater as mertrees, covered in sea plants and […]
Charyn Canyon, the little sibling of the Grand
What should you go see in Kazakhstan? Yeah, I had no idea a few weeks ago either. But I’ll tell you. As mentioned in my previous entry, there were certain places I wanted to visit: the Charyn Canyon and surreal Lake Kaindy topping the list. Visiting both of these would require a private and expensive […]
Transport in Kazakhstan
I have a question for you. Is Kazakhstan part of Europe? If you say no, you lose, like I lost that bet at university some years ago. If you say yes, you win, but I am still skeptical. But since about 10% of Kazakhstan is on this side of the Ural mountains, it can be […]