Mangystau
Kazakhstan
October 17, 2018
My driver Vladimir must have a GPS embedded in his skull.
We drive across the desert floor.
No road signs.
No markers assist us along the multitude of dirt tracks that veer off in all directions.
Yet we find our way through the mountains and to Vladimir’s “secret locations.”I have no idea where we are.
Vlad’s secrets are safe with me.
I’ll share the scenes, the outcrops and the colors.
But not the coordinates.
Southeast of Aktau
Mangystau Region
Kazakhstan
October 16, 2018
Hello,
What a day! What a beginning for my journey in Mangystau!
My driver Vladimir picks me up at my hotel and off we go, out of town. We detour for a bit of shopping at the “last stop” before the desert.
Always the desert!
But what a desert!
The Karagiye Depression reaching 132m (433 ft) below sea level at its deepest point is the lowest place in Central Asia and the fifth lowest place in the world. It occupies a large area, with a length of 40km (25 mi).
We wander along the rim.
Then onward through the desert, mountains in the distance.
We make camp above the enormous salt-encrusted valley that Vladimir affectionately calls the “Valley of the Three Brothers.”
The official name is Karyn-Ustyurt chink of the Karyn-Zhark hollow.
Have a look!
Jan
Hotel Aigai Kum
Bashi Village
Altyn Emil National Park
Almaty Region
Republic of Kazakhstan
October 11, 2018
Nyet! and Da!
"Nyet!”
I refuse to drive the 50 kilometers (31miles) to the “Singing Sand Dunes.” I anticipate the “road” will be uncomfortable, uneven and rough. In addition to my back brace, I will need a dental mouth guard.
I am thinking, “How many sand dunes do I need to see? I have already climbed the dunes in seven countries. I don’t recall if any of them ‘sang’ or even ‘whistled.’ Regardless, enough is enough.”
“Ali,” I suggest to my driver, “Please take the afternoon off.”
Almaty Region
Kazakhstan
October 14, 2018
Hello,
On the way to Charyn Canyon, the final site on my South Kazakhstan tour, I make two additional stops.
Ali, a local man and my considerate guide and driver, pulls off the road to find two unmarked canyons that are not visible from the roadway..
Moon Canyon is the first unscheduled stop. Black Canyon is next,
The Three Canyons are the perfect finale for an extraordinary journey in South Kazakhstan.
Saty Village Guest House
Kungey Alatau Mountain Range
Near the Border of Kyrgyzstan
Saty, Kazakhstan
October 13, 2018
Hello Fellow Travelers,
The trip from the Guest House to Kolsai Lake is an easy thirty-minute drive over a lovely paved road.
Kolsai Lake lies about 1700m above sea level (5577 ft). It has an odd shape and the surrounding Kungey mountains provide a diversity of shadows and an attractive background.
Several young Kazakh visitors join me at the viewpoint above the lake. The more adventurous and energetic travelers hike up from the lakeshore below. (At 1700m - more than a mile high - I think I’ll just admire the view.)
As elsewhere in Kazakhstan, I like the colorful. sparkling clean footwear. Here, one of the young women is sporting a pair of pink shoes. I can’t resist: “I love your shoes. And they are not pink. They are hot pink!” The girl loves my comment and she immediately translates it into Russian. (I understand her because I have learned the Russian word for hot, as in hot water.) We all have a good laugh.
Not so laughable is to the road to Lake Kaindy. We start out on a paved road, but the route soon diverges on to a dirt track through the mountains. The track continues to deteriorate, and at times vanishes completely beneath a few inches of a rushing stream.
At a clearing at the end of the road I must decide to take a hike through the mountains to see the lake or to ride a horse. I opt for the horse.
Mind you I haven’t been on a horse in many years. And after a while the ride becomes uncomfortable. The stirrups are set too high and I develop cramps. The guide helps me down and I continue to walk, and walk, and walk.*
Finally, the lake appears.
Kaindy Lake Is a young lake that formed in the late 19th Century following a landslide. The submerged spruce trees have not yet decayed. They rise up from the waters like an apparition.
Was the agony of the trip worth the ecstasy of the site?
Check out the photos. What do you think?
Jan
*. The Kazakhs have a peculiar habit of what I call “positive exaggeration.” So for example if I ask my driver “how far?” he responds “we will soon be there.” After thirty minutes we have still not arrived. The guide leading the horse insists that the lake is very close. So as we hike up a hill I expect to see the lake. Nope. More hills to climb and more disappointing results.
This habit seems to be a cultural trait. Are they being polite? Or encouraging? Or are these “exaggerations” the reasonable “estimates” of time and distance from folks who live in a vast and boundless territory?
In any case, I have learned to be skeptical of any estimates in Kazakhstan and to adjust my expectations accordingly.
By the way, hot tea is served hot. Soup? Not so much.
The Steppe
Southern Kazakhstan
October 12, 2018
Here's a "Pop Quiz."
A camel with one hump is known as a Dromedary camel. (Camelus dromedarius found in Africa, Arabia and South Asia)
What is the correct name for the camel with two humps? (Found on the Steppe of Central Asia)
Prize for the first correct answer:
One liter of verblyuzh'ye moloko.
