7/15
Departed for Almaty early in the morning, and stopped along the way to marvel and hike for about 4 miles (2 each way) in Charyn Canyon. Boasting stunning shades of red, orange, and brown, the Charyn Canyon is a natural wonder. I read the kiosks along the way, and they describe how the Charyn River is a spirit to these tribal people. They believe in the dual nature of the universe and have a calendar that begins the year in the spring. The signage emphasized that these nomadic people follow these natural laws as they travel the changing seasons and steppes and highlands.
The above photo is on the way to the Charyn canyon, actually.
The photo above and the one below show bunkers. This is the border of the Kazakh region and during Soviet times, these were stationed to watch China in the east, though I was a bit confused because there are still the mountains of Kyrgyzstan in between.
The photos below are all of our hike in Charyn.
I will let this description above from one of the kiosks explain how the duality of philosophy shows up with chicken taking their first steps. It is interesting.
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There is also a legend about a hero named Raymbek who put his staff into the ground to make the gorge and the river appear. He also drove out a group of nomadic people to divide the Kazakh people from them.
Hiking into the canyon was quite nice, but hiking out was hot. I was happy to get to the last 212 steps to the parking lot.
We enjoyed grabbing street food and fruit in a market on the way to Almaty. I washed some fresh apricots, which are famous around here, and they were sweet and refreshing.
The former Kazakh capital of Almaty. Is a beautiful modern city at the base of the mountains. We stopped at the hotel for a quick freshening up before a walking tour with an Almaty guide.
The Church of Holy Ascension was a highlight on our walk. It is in the oldest part of the city that has been preserved. It is a gorgeous Russian Orthodox sanctuary and was built after Russians gained influence in the 19th century from what became the “great game” between the British and the Russians for Central Asia.
Our guide for the city walk, the woman in the blue dress, used to be an English teacher.
We also saw a large memorial park to the those who served in WWII or the Great Patriotic War. 1.25 million Kazakhs served in the war, and half of them died. Kazakhstan was also the place of gulags, including one for women where today’s capital of Astana is. Solzhenitsyn and Dostoyevsky were both in exile here in different places.
A music museum we walked past, which would have been amazing to visit.
Soviet style building in decent order. Many of these look quite dilapidated now.
At the top is the Golden Man atop a flying snow leopard. His body was found with clothing made of gold.
We walked through Panfilov's Park and the historical part of the city. We stopped at Rahat, a huge chocolate factory. If it had been the end of the trip, I would have packed up my bags , as the chocolate was delicious, but we are heading into plus 100 degree temps.
Of course another stop was a market, this one the Green Bazaar, and it is right where the Silk Road came through. Once again all senses were enticed by our surroundings of spices, dried fruits, nuts, and meats, including again, horse meat varieties.
This neighborhood has been here for centuries and was the heart of trading in this city along the Silk Road
These are sweets made from cheeses. I did not try. We really had no time to shop.
At a huge public square we were introduced to Golden Man, who was perched on a tall obelisk atop a flying snow leopard. He was a Saka warrior found in a burial mound by archaeologists in Kazakhstan whose clothing was covered with gold. The Saka were some of the earliest inhabitants of Kazakhstan.
We ate at the Kazakh version of the restaurant we ate at two nights before in Kyrgyzstan. Delicious food and nice company were had in our last meal with our guide. We watched the staff do a Kazakh dance for us. Saying goodbye to Kazakhstan tomorrow. We are not staying long here because of the expense of this country and also because there is still so much to see in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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