If you are thinking about a trip, here is what it looks like to visit Kazakhstan for nine days with WeRoad, a social adventure tour operator. If you’re interested in adventure group travel with strangers who are looking for the same adventure as you, I highly recommend you give WeRoad a go and make sure you tell them that I sent you!
The tour navigated from red canyons and alpine lakes to ancient Silk Road cities and desert camps only accessible via 4×4 off-road vehicles. The locations we visited felt far from mass tourism and truly unique.
With low expectations and a blank slate, I took a chance on somewhere new and I’m glad I did. I returned with a whole new outlook on why I would recommend Kazakhstan and a camera full of photos to back it up.
Charyn Canyon, by @Maxoutthere
Canyons and a Sunken Forest Near Almaty
We started east of Almaty at Charyn Canyon, where slopes reach 150 to 300 meters that surrounds you as you hike further inward. The wind and water have carved the rock into natural towers known as the Valley of Castles. It reminded me of a smaller but still impressive Grand Canyon because of its similar red striped walls with years of history embedded within. The canyon’s features are truly remarkable.
Next came Kolsay Lakes State Natural Park, a chain of three lakes called the pearls of the Northern Tien Shan, ringed by a spruce forest. That night we reached the village of Saty for our first family dinner at a local guesthouse.
A forever memorable sight was Kaindy Lake. A powerful earthquake in 1911 triggered a landslide that dammed the valley, and the bare trunks of Asian red fir trees remained rooted and proceeded to grow out of the water. We cut through the cool mountain air on horseback and experiencee the lush forest of the area before seeing our first glimpse of Kaindy Lake.
Kaindy Lake by @Maxoutthere
Following the Silk Road South
A night train carried us from Almaty to Shymkent, a city founded in the 12th century as a caravanserai. From there we visited the ruins of Otrar, destroyed during the Mongol invasion of 1219, and finished in Turkestan at the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. It was Kazakhstan’s first UNESCO World Heritage site, recognized in 2002.
Mangystau’s Canyons and Strange Landscapes
A short flight to Aktau set up the stretch I still think about most. Our 4×4’s took us to Zhygylgan, a crescent-shaped cliff, and Kapansay, a chalk canyon with walls up to 70 meters tall. At Torysh, hundreds of stone spheres, each about 3 to 4 meters wide, sit scattered across a barren plain.
On the last day, Boszhira Valley delivered white canyons and rock towers, along with Bokty Mountain, which appears on the 1000 tenge banknote. We ended with a picnic at the Tiramisu Hills, named for their stripes of pale pink, burgundy, gray, and white.
Bozzhyra Tract of the Mangystau Region by @Maxoutthere
Nights in Yurts and Under the Stars
The days were packed with adventure, but the nights are what made it feel like experiencing the lifestyle of Kazakhstan. We slept in traditional yurts in the village of Kogez, and later at a tented camp near the Tuzbair salt lake, after a walk across its salt flats. A number of us decided to skip the tents and sleep on the salt flats and under the stars and milky way. The lack of light pollution left this night sky one of the best I’ve ever seen.
Why Visit Kazakhstan
Between stops we spotted golden eagles, short-eared owls, tolai hares, and a steppe wolf, plus camels and horses wandering open fields beside empty roads. The food was a far bigger surprise than I expected, and it kept me fueled for all the walking.
For travel photography in unexpected places, Kazakhstan gives you variety without the crowds. I shot everything on a Canon R5 with an RF 24-240mm and an EF 50mm f/1.8, split between a ThinkTank Photocross Sling V2 and a Wandrd PRVKE 31L.
Which of these places would you most want to see? Tell me in the comments, reach out through my contact page, or DM me on Instagram. If you are planning a trip or a project and want a Bay Area and Sacramento based photographer who works worldwide, I would love to hear about it.
See you out there,
Max
