The final two days of the tour through Central Asia were in Kazakhstan, visiting the Charyn Canyon on the first, and the city of Almaty on the second.
We reached the border between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in the late morning, and went through the usual process walking between countries. As we were waiting to be stamped out on the Kyrgyz side, a couple of people were headed the other way, into Kyrgyzstan. I head their accents, so looked at the passports they were carrying – they were Kiwis! We briefly acknowledged each other’s status as New Zealanders and continued on our ways.
Once through those formalities we were picked up by our new, and final, guide and we headed off to the canyon. while much smaller than the Grand Canyon, apparently there are resemblances between the two, and thus Charyn Canyon is also referred to as “Little Brother”. At the National Park, we had the option of either walking of driving through the canyon – most of us chose walking. About half the group chose to do the return driving, but it turns out that the line for a lift was so long that those of up who walked it ended up arriving quite a bit before the drivers! The walk itself was very pleasant, and the scenery was pretty magnificent. At the end of the trail there was a wee rest area by the river where we stopped for a moment before those of us who were walking back began our return journey.
We probably spent around three hours at the canyon, and then the remainder of the day was spent driving to Kazakhstan’s former capital, and current largest city, Almaty. Fun fact for you: the city’s name, Almaty, comes from the word for apple, “alma”, because this is where apples originate from. I haven’t mentioned it before, but I actually have a list of mundane little tasks to complete during my travels, just to give myself a little purpose as I make my way around the world, and one of these mini goals was to eat an apple in Almaty. I ended up buying one at the bazaar here, ensuring it was a locally grown one. It was tasty, but at the end of the day it was still just an apple!
Our second day in Almaty was the last day of the group trip, and we spent it on a tour of the city. We began at Medeu, said to be the highest altitude full size ice skating rink in the world at 1700m above sea level. From there, we took a series of cable cars up to Shymbulak, Central Asia’s largest ski resort, with the last cable car taking us up to an elevation of 3200m (Almaty itself sits at around 800m above sea level). We had been warned to take warm clothing so we all went with jumpers and jackets, and then found ourselves up the mountain in a balmy 20-something degrees!
After our morning up the mountain we had lunch and then walked past a steam fountain (fascinating concept, very popular with the kids) to the base of Kok-Tobe, another hill, also to be accessed by cable car. At the top of this one we had impressive views of the city, plus a small amusement park area as well as some cafes and souvenir shops.
Our next stop was a chocolate “factory” (read: shop), followed by the green bazaar. This is where I bought my apple, but was also an interesting place to just wander around, as all bazaars have been so far. This one wasn’t as big as some that we have visited, but it had some unique aspects, like the row of Korean stalls, due to the huge Korean population in the city, the dried lizards and snakes used in traditional medicines, and the horse meat section. Outside the bazaar, on the street, were a number of further stalls. Apparently renting a space inside the bazaar itself is quite expensive, so people set up their stalls all around the surrounding areas, making the most of the foot traffic headed to the bazaar that has to pass by the street sellers on the way there.
Our final stop was Panfilov Park, with its military memorial to the 28 Guardsmen from the region who died in World War Two. The park itself used to be a cemetery, but has been used as a public park for the past 100 years or so. It also contains the famous Ascension Cathedral, a pretty, colourful, wooden Russian Orthodox church. It is said to be the second tallest wooden church in the world, and there are claims that it was built without nails, though this is more a technicality than anything, as it contains metal staples and even bolts.
And with that, the tour was over. It was a bit sad saying goodbye, and a bit of an adjustment going back to solo travel, but I took it slow and eased myself in with another few days in the city by myself before moving on to my next adventures.
Over the next few days I went for lots of walks, spent a few hours in cute, cozy coffee shops, explored the city’s public transport system, did some reading and some journaling, and generally just had a few quiet days after a few very busy weeks. And then, just as I started to find myself getting bored, it was time to move on to my next destination: Azerbaijan.
Some extra Kazakhstan pics:
emilyonearth 
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