Kazakhstan

The leafy city of Almaty (Alma-Ata; Алматы), with a backdrop of the snowcapped Zailiysky Alatau, has always been among the more appealing Russian creations in Central Asia. Today Almaty's new rich have expensive suburban apartments, large SUVs, glitzy shopping malls, Western-style coffee lounges, expensive restaurants, dance-till-dawn nightclubs and new ski resorts to help them enjoy life to the full. Meanwhile, others from the city's outer districts and the countryside squeeze into packed buses and rickety marshrutkas around the Green Market (Zelyony Bazar) or Sayakhat bus station.

Almaty is Kazakhstan’s main transport hub and a place many travellers pass through. Stay a few days and you’ll find that it is a sophisticated place – one for enjoying green parks and excellent museums, shops and markets, and for eating, drinking and partying in Central Asia’s best selection of restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs. And great mountain hiking and skiing are right on the doorstep.

Located around 12km by paved (from 2018) road from Saty village, these three spruce-and-mountain-hemmed lakes are Alpine-esque beauty at its best and a Kazakhstan highlight. As you hike between the lakes, graze on wild strawberries and raspberries in summer and take frigid dips in the clear waters. The hiking trails between the lakes are steep in places and can get very muddy. You need your own wheels to reach the lakes, or go as part of a tour from Almaty.

This beautiful 1319-sq-km patch of green valleys, rushing rivers, snowcapped peaks and high-level glaciers is the oldest (1926) and one of the most enjoyable of Kazakhstan’s nature reserves. Sitting at the west end of the Talassky Alatau (the most northwesterly spur of the Tian Shan), it stretches from the steppe at about 1200m up to 4239m at Pik Sayram. The main access point is Zhabagly village, 70km east of Shymkent as the crow flies.

The diversity of life here, where mountains meet steppe, is great for botanists, birders and nature lovers. Some of Kazakhstan's best nature guides live locally, making this a good base for visiting other regional attractions including the Karatau mountains (rich in endemic plants), steppe lakes, deserts and historical/cultural sites such as Turkestan and Otrar.

Wildlife you may see includes ibexes, argali sheep, red marmots, paradise flycatchers, golden eagles, Tian Shan brown bears and the elusive snow leopard.

A trip to the slowly replenishing Aral Sea is the main – the only! – reason to come to Aral. Near its northern shore rise the sculpted rock formations of a magnificent canyon, in shades of ochre and yellow, reminiscent of Utah or Arizona. Four Soviet shipwrecks still lie on the seashore amidst dense growth of samphire, and the medicinal hot spring near a fishing village draws visitors from afar. Other attractions include the dam and overnighting in a fishing village.

Kazakhstan’s highest and most magnificent mountains rise in the country’s far southeastern corner where it meets Kyrgyzstan and China. Mt Khan Tengri (7010m) on the Kyrgyz border is widely considered the most beautiful and demanding peak in the Tian Shan, and there are many more 5000m-plus peaks around it, including Mramornaya Stena (Marble Wall, 6400m) on the Kazakh–Chinese border.

Khan Tengri is flanked by two long, west-running glaciers: the North Inylchek Glacier on its Kazakh side and the South Inylchek Glacier on its Kyrgyz side.

Mountain-tourism firm Kan Tengri offers a variety of exciting one- to three-week trek trips and full-scale mountaineering expeditions in this area in July and August, using base camps on the Inylchek Glaciers at altitudes of around 4000m. Access is often by helicopter, using the Karkara Valley base camp as a staging post. A typical two-week trekking trip costs around €2500. Many trips include helicopter flights around the main peaks and glacier hikes to the foot of Khan Tengri and/or Pik Pobedy on the Kyrgyzstan–China border. Note that helicopter flights are often grounded if there is poor visibility. The major peak accessible to trekkers is Karly Tau (5450m), a three-day expedition out of the North Inylchek base camp.