Kazakhstan recap...

“Why Kazakhstan!?” All our friends and family asked when I mentioned that was where we were going for our vacation vacation after the huge China tour.

Welp. Silly us. Pretty much because we willingly ‘fell’ for the social media ads.

Originally it started as a joke—we kept seeing these IG reels panning stunning views of mountains, deserts, fields with the caption, “This is NOT … Switzerland. This is NOT … USA. This is NOT … Canada. This is NOT … Holland. This is NOT … Mars (lol?) This is NOT … Iceland. This is NOT … Mongolia. This is NOT Himalayas.

This is …

KAZAKHSTAN.

Boom.

And so, we just tossed the idea into the hat. Why don’t we go somewhere completely random — why NOT … Kazakhstan. When/why else would we go.

Welp. From there, somehow the more we joked about it, the more excited we got. And one day, ta-dah. Harbin to Almaty ticket—BOOKED. I guess we’re going to Kazakhstan!

And, I’m so glad we did. I knew no matter where we went it’d be an adventure. But there’s always the magical, strange, wildly unexpected. The challenges, the dangers (quite literally, rental car with a popped tire in the middle of the desert…), but also the awe— those insane, transfixing long drives—that sense of timelessness, hours on end, suspended, transporting through the expansive open fields, wildflowers, gorges, canyons between colossal mountain ranges, all against the backdrop of the sunbeams peaking through the clouds, wild horses roaming free on top of lush green rolling hills, little boys riding their donkeys through the village dirt paths, and finally arriving at our cozy cabin tucked away behind the neighbours who played mandolin and sang full-heartedly deep into the small hours of the morning.

But on top of the beautiful landscapes, the cow friends strolling outside our yurt, the fermented mare milk (kumys) and horse meat dumplings (manti) and noodles (beshbarmak), there was the cultural shock. Not only being North American, but having just come from China—such a wildly different social, cultural, political system. How contrasting the cities functioned in so many ways (transportation, infrastructure, technology, security/surveillance, the exchange in goods, convenience and efficiency), it was all incredibly eye-opening and fascinating to observe. And of course, there was also the jarring disparity between the bougie touristy fine dining restaurants and the bantering at the street side vegetable vendors, the shiny, glamorous, perplexingly empty rolls of palace after palace, grand hall after grand hall outside the Almaty airport region, and the tiny ‘villages’ with barely a few standing mud huts and collapsing rooftops .

Almaty is a beautiful, fun city. Did not give us the most pleasant welcome when we first arrived (trouble with finding car rental, finding cash, finding a place to stay, or anything on Google Maps being what they promised )…but once we came back from our roadtrip exploring the land/national parks, we found our groove, got rid of the car (was awful to drive inside the city), and spent more time to just wandering the whole town at our leisure, taking in its vibes—so much green, such beautiful urban design/landscaping with gorgeous pedestrian streets, lots of bike/scooter paths, modern/lavish malls, cute fancy restaurants … definitely a great, affordable destination for a getaway. Perhaps for young party-goers, perhaps for brand-name shoppers. But perhaps not somewhere we would come back to, for the time being.

Nonetheless, it was absolutely worth visiting once. Visiting especially at this moment in Time. A deeply memorable, personal journey. For many reasons, many non-reasons. I will treasure, and remember dearly. Deeply. Perhaps, bitter-sweetly.

Thank you, Kazakhstan. Until next time~

xoxo,

Skye

Day 1 Charyn Canyon National Park, lunch at Tary (horse-meat burger, horse-meat soup), drive to Sary

Day 2 Kolsay Lake National Park, lake 1 and 2 hike (10h, 24km), dinner at Kolsay Village, stay in yurt!

Day 3 Altyn-Emel National Park, Shonzy, Basshi, traditional yurt! horse manti

Day 4 Singing Dunes, Kok Tobe Hill

Day 5 Almalty, shakshuka at Nedelka, Ascension Cathedral, Central Mosque,

Day 6 Ile-Alatau Nation Park, lunch at AUYL, concert