Kazakhstan for 11 days: truly INCREDIBLE

Went with a group of friends, and we kept repeating to ourselves that we couldn't believe there weren't more tourists. From Kazakh hospitality, delicious meat, but most importantly, the variety of landscapes and geology is truly amazing even for people who don't care about rocks... it was genuinely unbelievable.

Plus, perfectly doable in August, yes the desert was hot, but completely expected and manageable with AC in cars!

Budget: 2k USD

Itinerary:

Fly into Almaty - 2 days exploring the Green Bazaar, Mosques, parks, churches, shopping, pick up 4X4s

Day 3: Turgen Gorge, Charyn Canyon at sunset (had to hold back tears at its beauty)

Day 4: Kolsay and Kandiy lakes

Day 5: Black Canyon, arrival at Amtun Emel national park

Day 6: Aktau and Katutau mountains (once again almost cried)

Day 7: Singing dunes and return to Almaty

Day 8: Flight to Aktau (dip in the Caspian sea!)

Day 9-11: Redmaya 2-night camping tour in the Mangystau desert (highly recommend this agency!) - Tiramisu mountain, Bozzhyra Fangs, Mars Lookout, and so much more whose names I do not remember, absolutely no service most of the time!

Day 12: 02:00 return flight from Aktau

Images:

  1. Turgen Gorge lookout point
  2. Almaty Toboggan ride at sunset
  3. Charyn Canyon
  4. Kandiy Lake
  5. Black Canyon
  6. Aktau Mountains
  7. Singing Dunes
  8. Mangystau Desert
  9. Mangystau Desert
  10. Mangystau Desert
  11. Tiramisu Mountain
  12. Bozzhyra Fangs
  13. Mangystau Desert

(apologies for the multiple desert pictures, no location services mean I have no idea where they are in the desert - but can be found with any reputable tour operator - we went with Redmaya, I would not recommend going to the desert without a guide!).

Positives:

  • I was surprised by the food - Lagman, shashlik, samsa, baursak were all DELICIOUS and easily found everywhere (among others). We only had 1 instance of the meat not being good. Additionally I found my favourite salad of all time: fried aubergine, coriander, sesame oil, tomatoes, balls of cottage cheese (I can't remember the name!!).
  • Accommodation was very affordable, as was most food outside of Almaty. Also taxis!
  • Most Kazakh people don't speak english but were extremely hospitable and excited to have us. In restaurants (particularly outside Almaty) they asked us where we were from and welcomed us!
  • The landscapes are breathtaking. Feels like 50 other planets. Literally unlike anything I've ever seen before. Every hike was absolutely worth it.
  • Untouched: there really aren't many tourists at this time of year, even at the popular tourist destinations (the lakes outside Almaty, Charyn Canyon, etc.) it was never super crowded. In Mangystau there was basically nobody, we enjoyed these landscapes alone, which was unbelievable to us. It makes sense - some of them are hard to get to plus it was HOT! But totally doable and worth it.
  • The camping with Redmaya was SO well-organised, our drivers were LOVELY, the cars were setup perfectly, the food was excellent, and the tents/equipment was in great condition for the desert tour. Our guide told us so much about life in Kazakhstan. Plus, the stars were unbelievable at night.
  • Amazing for a big group: because there weren't so many tourists, in a group of 11 everything was perfectly doable, and so much fun!!

Negatives:

  • Koumiss (fermented horse milk) was.... not suited for my tastes.
  • I felt a lack of traditional and handmade products at the various markets. I did some research and found some shops in Almaty that fit what I was looking for, but I really wanted to see more traditional items for purchase to bring home (there were beautiful tablecloths, rugs with gorgeous Kazakh styles, ceramics that I saw around etc. that I would've died to see a real craftsperson make - I would have happily paid a premium price to support local artists!). A lot of the items felt low-quality, so I saved my money and went to a small art-focused shop in Almaty and didn't buy anything else. I guess you need a real local to tell you about these places, but something to keep in mind that you have to /search/ for these things.
  • Animals: I was quite uncomfortable with the state of eagles (blinded, tied to a stand) at some touristy spots - they were there as props and thinking about it now makes me cringe. Additionally, the horses to skip the hike at Kandiy lake looked in bad shape. The tourist-adjacent ones were sad to see (although all the cats/dogs/horses in various villages were obviously well kept and loved).
  • Not much for vegetarians/gluten-free - self-explanatory, we brought extra food from home. Also a general lack of understanding about gluten free - once our waiter got confused when we said no bread and no flour, and fed our gf friend a meatball that had breadcrumbs (luckily he spat out his only bite and then got something else).
  • (this is not necessarily a negative because we had a great time) but the roads to all the beautiful nature places need a REAL 4x4 which we didn't have - we got crap ones that vibrated like crazy. Still fun, but to keep in mind that it gets annoying fast and you need a positive mindset to deal with it - probably awful for a family.
  • This is also silly, but Aktau airport has NOTHING in it - I didn't buy any of the famous Kazakh chocolate because I knew it would melt in the desert, and I hoped to get some at the airport duty-free as we went straight there after our desert trip (literally straight there), but found nothing, so again really not many opportunities to bring home stuff to try.
  • The Caspian sea felt a little underwhelming, it smelled a lot like rotten eggs, and there was a lot of trash on the beach - but also we may have gone to the wrong part. I am sure there are more beautiful parts, we just didn't have much time so we went to the closest beach to us.

Anyways, an amazing trip with an awesome location, and I hope to visit again in the future. Raqmet!

Author: hamburgertheplant