Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
three meals a day for 2000T, or you can
cook yourself in the well-equipped kitchen.
If you prefer to camp, they'll rent you a
two-person tent for 5000T per day includ-
ing sleeping bag and mat.
Karkara Valley
КАРКАРАНСКАЯ ДОЛИНА
The beautiful, broad valley of the Karkara
River is an age-old summer pasture for
herds from both sides of what's now the
Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border.
From Kegen, 250km by road east of
Almaty, a scenic road heads south up a val-
ley to Karkara village, and then to the border
post about 28km from Kegen. The border re-
opened from June to October 2013 after
being closed for several years, and it is likely
that it will open again for a similar period in
future years. From the border the road veers
west towards Tüp and Lake Issyk-Köl in
Kyrgyzstan. No public transport reaches the
border from either side, but a minibus leaves
Almaty's Sayakhat bus station between 7am
and 9am daily for Kegen (1000T, five to six
hours). From Kegen you can get up the val-
ley to the border by hitching or by taxi. You
may also be able to find shared taxis to Ke-
gen from Sayakhat.
At San-Tash, 19km into Kyrgyzstan, you
can find a bus or shared jeep to Tüp or Kara-
kol, but the easier way onward is to organ-
ise a car pick-up at the border to take you
to Karakol (US$60) through CBT Karakol
(p263).
From late June to late August, mountain-
tourism company Kan Tengri (p68) main-
tains a summer
base¨camp
(Karkara Valley;
per person full board €50)
at 2200m on the
Kazakh side of the international border. Pri-
marily a staging post for treks and climbing
expeditions to the central Tian Shan, the
camp offers tent accommodation to all com-
ers, with hot showers, a cafe and a bar. A
three-day trip from Almaty, including a heli-
copter flight to Mt Khan Tengri, costs about
€300 per person; contact the company at
least one week in advance.
8
Getting¨There¨&¨Away
A small bus to Saty (2000T, eight hours) nor-
mally leaves Almaty's Sayakhat bus station
between 6am and 7am. Alternatively, take a taxi
to Saty for around 12,000T from Sayakhat, or
ind a shared taxi to Zhalanash (2000T; ask at
Sayakhat a day or two before you plan to go),
then take a taxi to Saty (25km) or the irst lake.
Taxis from Saty to the irst lake cost 1000T.
many people visit the lakes on two-night tours:
Jibek Joly (p68) does trips leaving Almaty on
Friday evening and returning on Sunday evening,
for 15,000T to 21,000T per person including
most meals and a hike to the middle lake.
Charyn Canyon
ЧАРЫНСКИЙ КАНЬОН
The swift Charyn (Sharyn) River has carved
a 150m- to 300m-deep canyon into the oth-
erwise flat steppe some 200km east of Al-
maty, and time has weathered this into some
weird and colourful rock formations, espe-
cially in the branch canyon known as the
Valley of Castles (Dolina Zamkov). This is no
Grand Canyon, but it's worth a trip. You can
take a long day trip from Almaty for around
40,000T per carload through the less ex-
pensive agencies, or 4000T per person on
weekend bus trips through the Ecotourism
Information Resource Centre (p68). April,
May, June, September and October are the
best months to come: it's too hot in summer.
There's a 600T-per-person national park fee
to enter the canyon area, which is not always
enforced.
Getting here by public transport is pos-
sible, but you may not be able to get back
the same day. Take the morning minibus
from Almaty's Sayakhat bus station head-
ing to Kegen, and get off at the signposted
turn-off to the canyon about 190km from Al-
maty, just before the road starts descending
into the Charyn valley. From here it's 10km
east along a fairly flat dirt road to a parking
area and then 3km (about one hour) down
through the Valley of Castles to the river. If
you're lucky you might get a taxi or a lift to
the parking area; if not, it's a walk!
Don't try to swim in the river, which is
deceptively fast.
Central Tian Shan
ЦЕНТРАЛЬНЫЙ ТЯНЬ
ШАНЬ
Kazakhstan's highest and most magnificent
mountains rise in the country's far south-
eastern 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
