Following our plane ride from Osh to Bishkek, we took a taxi to the border to cross into Kazakhstan via the Korday border crossing. Once we'd crossed into Kazakhstan, we took one of the private buses - a Marshrutka (they ply every half hour, or whenever they get enough people) into Almaty. We were staying somewhat centrally at a youth hostel, since we were going to make a day trip to various places, before deciding to explore Almaty.
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| Interesting toys that the kids were playing with |
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| Felt an immediate urge to dine at this restaurant. Sadly, they didn't serve dinner at 4:00 pm in the afternoon |
Our first day tour covered the Charyn Canyon, Kolsai Lake, and Kaindi Lake.
Charyn Canyon
Our tour started early in the morning from Almaty, taking us to the
Charyn Canyon, a national park situated close to the Kazakh-Chinese border, about 200 kms away.
We walked down the canyon to the valley of Castles with our guide, before climbing back up. Now, we've been to the Grand Canyon, and while that is massive and awe-inspiring, we didn't get to walk through its valleys - and that is an experience that is altogether unique.
The walk was a short one, but we stopped so often to click pictures that it took us about 1.5 hours to cover the distance.
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| The winding Charyn river |
There are refreshments and restrooms at the top of the canyon, and if you ever decide to take the tour, I'd strongly urge you to make full use of the facilities, because the places we visited later were woefully short of toilets.
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| A serendipitous visit to the washroom |
Kayindi Lake
We then went on to Kayindi lake - by went on, I mean we went there part of the way, after which, we were loaded into a dodgy-looking 4 x 4 which looked like a relic of the soviet era, with a bus driver who looked barely out of his teens, and completely in love with Bollywood music. The chap played the Kazakh translation of every Bollywood song you could think of, all with a huge grin and a complete disregard for the rear ends of his passengers.
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| You've got to admire the change of colours |
We reached a river crossing, where you get on a horse (yes, another adventure with horses who have absolute scorn for me) to get to Kayindi. Kayindi, or Quayindi , meaning the "birch tree lake", has a wonderful blue-green hue, with trees jutting out from the water.
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| The birch trees jutting out of the water |
The trees are part of the forest that was submerged during a 1911 earthquake. It was one of the most beautiful sights and of course, like all tourists, we went slightly nuts clicking pictures of the lake from various angles.
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| Here's another view |
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| And another |
Another death-defying ride atop a wayward horse back to the 4x4, and my rear was thanking all the fat I'd consumed during the trip, which had helped form a decent cushion.
This horse with a deathwish, that chose to walk at the very edge of the cliff, occasionally stopping if he felt I was getting too comfortable.
Kolsai Lake
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| We had to walk down to lower Kolsai, which wasn't half bad, except for the crazy fellas proposing to their girlfriends, complete with balloons, photographers and an army of event managers |
Our next stop was Kolsai Lake, but not before we stopped for lunch in the local village. The food stop was absolutely chaotic - people shouting out orders, struggling to get a decent table, and the less we talk about the toilets, the better. If you're planning to take this trip, come armed with toilet spray, wet wipes, tissues, and a strong bladder (start practising those kegels, ladies). But all of this was completely wiped out from memory once we got to Kolsai Lake.
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| Hello blue skies |
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| The waters were too tempting not to dip our feet. We unlocked a new level: Retractable toes. Bloody freezing waters. |
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| Also, pretty windy. But oh-so-pretty |
These lakes, fed by glaciers, are beautiful bodies of water surrounded by Spruce trees. We walked down to lower Kolsai, but decided against the trek to middle and upper Kolsai - it was a good 2-hour trek, we were told (and I had had enough of horses for the day). We did, however, walk along the shores of the wonderfully clear waters, where you could feel like you were the only two people on the riverbank.
We headed back to Almaty, tired, but SO glad we decided to take this day trip.
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| The national circus building was close to the stop where we got off. Looks like it would be an interesting watch if we ever came back here. |
Almaty and Medeu Valley
The next day, we decided to cover Medeu Valley rather than stay in Almay, so we made a quick trip to Ascension Cathedral (Although Kazakhstan is largely Islamic, it has its fair share of churches.
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| They wouldn't let us in the church the first time. Clearly, we didn't look Christian enough. The second time around, we passed muster. |
The Ascension Cathedral, or the Zenkov Cathedral, is one of the tallest wooden structures in the world. It survived the 1911 earthquake (yes, the same one that gave Kaindi its in-house trees) despite being built without any nails. The recent restoration seems to have returned the church to its former glory.
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| Such a pretty wooden structure! |
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| Here's another view at night. It really is a very pretty building |
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| Beautiful on the inside too |
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| It was just after easter, so some of the easter decorations were still up |
We caught the local bus to Medeu on the outskirts of Almaty. It is the world's largest high-mountain speed skating and bandy rink- but since we were visiting in April, there was snow in the upper two levels, and the ice rink was more concrete than ice.
The stages are connected by a cable car, rising to a height of 3200 metres. I have never seen these many desis congregating at any one place outside India. There was even a large gaggle of aunties in chiffon sarees, with their pot-bellied spouses in colour-coordinated jumpers, fulfilling their Shah Rukh dreams of posing in the snow. I promise you, there were more pictures taken by the Kazakhs of the aunties than of the surroundings. We ended the day with a metro ride around Almaty (can Indian metros please take a leaf out of their book and pretty up our stations?)
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| Got to love the subways of Almaty - they even have book vending machine |
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| Also loving the subway staff's uniforms. And the murals and floor mosaics |
We did do a quick round of the supermarkets and parks. Nice. Pleasant. The president's park was a bit worse for wear.
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| Some local tipple. Didn't try them but they looked interesting |
The trip ended far too quickly for our liking - would we visit again? Definitely! Would I want to have samsas again? Not for the next decade or so, thanks.
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| That's the entry to the President's Park. Massive, but the insides were a bit run-down. |
