Since paid holidays are few and they have to be rationed with care, we put a lot of thought into bundling places together to fully utilise the leaves. So Kazakhstan was an obvious choice to include in our central Asia trip. Uzbekistan has stunning islamic architecture and a rich history all the way from Fergana in the east to Khiva on the west. Tajikistan had amazing road trips along the Afghan border with barren mountains and beautiful valleys en-route. Kazakhstan complimented this holiday with serene lakes and a relaxing end to the otherwise adventurous trip.

Reaching there:

-Flights: They are very frequent and connect both Almaty and Astana with the rest of the world. Air Astana is also coming up as a preferred international flight with these cities becoming major transit hubs. From New Delhi Almaty is a quick 3.5 hours journey.

-Road: Almaty is also a few hours drive from Bishkek, Tajikistan and you can cross the border by road.

Visa: There are several visa options that you can explore depending on your length of stay and mode of journey.

–Free Visa: If you are flying all the way by Air Astana and want to stay for less than 72 hours in Kazakhstan then it will be counted as a transit. In this case the airline will give you a document before boarding the previous airport which allows you to cross immigration and visit Kazakhstan. There is no fees here.

–Transit Visa: This is what we used. If your days of travel are less than 5 then you can go ahead with this. The cost is $30 and you have to apply at the consulate. They need basic travel documents and the sticker visa was issued in 3 days.

–Tourist Visa: This one requires more documents and an invite letter. The cost is $60. But it gives you much more time to spend in Kazakhstan.

Accommodation:

–Almaty: The airport is on the northern periphery of the city. So its better to book a place inside the city centre as Almaty offers quite a good night life. You can get very comfortable accommodations at $30.

–Saty Village: This village will be your hub for visiting the lakes and canyons. It has a lot of guest houses and home stays managed by the village people. We stayed in Temirkhan’s guest house. They served amazing food and the rooms were very warm and comfortable. They have modern fittings in the bathroom as well. You can book it on the spot or ask your guide to give them a call beforehand.

Things to do:

–Issyk Lake: This lake is 70 kms from Almaty and can be done as a day trip from the city. It is a very popular destination for locals also and during weekends a lot of people come here for picnic. So if you want a very quite time then go on a weekday and if you want to mix with locals then go on a weekend. There is also the option to enjoy a speed boat ride on the lake. We skipped it as we preferred sitting in a corner enjoying the beauty of the lake. There is a short walk on stairs from the parking to reach the lake.

–Kolsai Lakes: This is 120 kms from Almaty. To fully enjoy the beauty of the lake in different shades of day light you have to stay in Saty village for couple of days and visit it at different times. This lake is huge. There were lot of people doing barbecue, reading books and doing wedding photoshoots. We got invited by few locals to join them for lunch as well. This place is also popular for its trek from the lower lake (Lake 1) to middle lake (Lake 2). Different sources claim this distance to be anywhere between 6 to 10 KMs. We think the later is more accurate. The trek is difficult and can take 3-4 hours. The route has uphill and downhill terrains all along the way. But it offers some pretty sights through out. The ideal planning will be to start as early as possible from Saty and reach Lake 1. It will take around 20 mins in car. First do the trek and reach Kolsai 2 by 11 AM. Rest for couple of hours ( you will need it 🙂 ). Come back to Kolsai 1 and enjoy the sunset view. You can go back again the next day to enjoy Kolsai 1 in full day light.

–Kaindy Lake: This lake was formed around 100 years back. Nature played its tragedy of earthquake and left this beautiful mark on the planet. This lake is unique for the dead trees that it accommodates. The water is very turquoise in colour and provides mirror like reflection of the landscape. This is less crowded and you can enjoy one complete afternoon here. The lake is a good 20 mins walk from the parking lot.

–Charyn Canyon: This canyon is around 200 kms from Almaty. It is closer from Saty village so should be clubbed with the Kolsai trip. If you haven’t been to the grand canyons in the US then this will act as a proxy till you do that. We visited one part of the canyon called Valley of Castles and this stretch did look like castle. The total length was around 2 kms and at the end there was Charyn river. There were Yurts (traditional central asian hut like accommodations ) as well as cottages close to the river. They were non-functional when we visited in October. There are several good places for photos all through the way. We also met a guy who stayed inside this canyon for 10 days riding his bicycle, building his tent and cooking his own food.

-Almaty City: It is a very modern city with amazing eating places. All through the road we were finding trendy bars, fine dining restaurants and clubs. The roads are very wide and less people all around. It will be a good idea to spend a day in the city.

Food: Our discovery of good food continued here in Kazakhstan as well. Apart from the standard Kebabs which are very popular in all countries of Central Asia, thick noodles is something that we found to be different here. It was a hybrid of spaghetti and noodles. And once again, food is very cheap and very tasty.

People: As we moved from south to north crossing different borders, we were getting close to Russia as well as its culture. Kazakhstan had the most Russian influence compared to the 5 stans in this region. Almost 30-40% of the population are Russians. People were quite hospitable here as well but they were a bit reserved compared to the cheerful folks we met in their southern neighbours.

Overall a highly recommended trip from India. Most of the time you will be just absorbing all its beauty and taking pictures through your eyes and store it forever in your mind. You need to have a good english speaking guide/driver with you as it is hard to find many people who speak english. We sent a query in Indy-Guide and got several responses from people. We went ahead with Igor. He was a very old guy and knows every bit about this region. What he lacks in physical energy, he more than makes it up with his passion.