Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is a country where the steppe meets the cosmos

Kazakhstan is the largest country in the world without access to the ocean, the ninth largest on the planet (2.7 million km2), but at the same time one of the most sparsely populated: almost 6 football fields per person account for the territory. You can drive here all day and not meet a single person – just the sky, the steppe and the horizon, which seems endless.

The nature of Kazakhstan is breathtaking in its contrasts:

• Charyn Canyon is the "younger brother" of the Grand Canyon in the USA. 150 km of colorful rocks up to 300 meters high, and below – the turquoise Charyn River and the Valley of Castles, where "Game of Thrones" and "Nomad" were filmed.
• Lakes Kaindy and Kolsai are "Kazakh Switzerland". Kaindy is especially surreal: in 1911, after an earthquake, the valley was flooded, and dead fir trees stick out of the water like a sunken forest. In summer, the water is emerald, in winter it is a mirror of ice.
• The Ustyurt plateau and the Karagie depression (-132 m below sea level) are Martian landscapes, white salt marshes and cliffs where the "White Sun of the Desert" was filmed.
• The Singing dune in the Altyn-Emel National Park is a 150-meter-high sand mountain that, when descending, emits a sound similar to the hum of an organ or an airplane.
• Borovoe (Burabai) is a "Kazakh pearl", a lake among granite rocks and pine forests. Khrushchev also rested here, and the locals call this place "Kazakhstan Switzerland No. 2."
• Altai Mountains in the east: Katon-Karagai National Park, Rakhmanovskie Klyuchi, Lake Markakol – places that are still accessible only by off-road vehicles or helicopters.

People are the main wealth of Kazakhstan. There are more than 130 nationalities living here, and everyone respects each other. Hospitality is not a pretty word: if you are invited to visit, get ready to eat beshbarmak to the brim, drink koumiss and listen to dombra until three in the morning. In villages, they still keep yurts in the courtyard "just in case," and grandmothers in headscarves can easily stop the car and ask: "Bala, sen kaida barasyn?" ("Where are you going, child?").

Kazakhs are proud, but they are also very warm and have a great sense of humor. Even in the huge metropolis of Almaty (2 million people), people maintain a steppe unhurriedness: "Take your time, everything will be fine." The city stands at the foot of the Trans-Ili Alatau, and snow peaks can be seen from any street. In winter, they ride the Shymkent (trails up to 3,200 m, one of the longest night trails in the CIS), in summer they climb the Great Almaty Lake, a space–colored reservoir at an altitude of 2,500 m directly above the city.

Astana (now Nur Sultan, but everyone still calls Astana) is a city from the future in the middle of the steppe: glass balls, a giant tent Khan Shatyr, Baiterek, which glows like a Christmas tree. 25 years ago, there was only wind and wolves here, but now it is one of the most unusual megacities in the world.

Traditions are alive: yurts are set up in Nauryz right in the center of cities, nauryz-kozhe is brewed, assik ata and kokpar are played. Real toy weddings for 1,000 people are still held in the steppe, where 20 horses are slaughtered and they sing until morning.

Anything for tourists:

• horse and camel safaris in Mangystau,
• rafting trips by Ili and Tour,
• bird watching in Alakole,
• expeditions to the Baikonur cosmodrome (you can even watch the launch!),
• winter heli-skiing in the Dzungarian Alatau,
• food tours of beshbarmak, kuyrdak and baursaks.

Kazakhstan is a country where you can see the desert, mountains, lakes, steppe and space in one trip. Where will they feed you meat, give you koumiss to drink, and ask: "When are you coming back?" And you're definitely coming. Because there is a huge sky, huge distances and huge hearts.