It’s about my personal experience of the country and how I went about exploring these amazing places with some important information and a guide to these places. 🤗

Kazakhstan

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan-Almaty 🇰🇿  A 7 day Itinerary 

A 7 day Itinerary of Almaty Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 

Here’s a personal itinerary followed by me during my trip to Almaty 

I arrived Almaty at around 15:30 hrs and settled down after converting cash and buying a SIM card. After a quick meal at the Russian McDonald’s outlet, I went for a walk around the city and called it a day. 

Tip: Carry US dollars as they have good exchange rates here and make sure you get a SIM card as it’s needed when you travel around. 

First thing after waking up I tried some Samsa (A bun stuffed with meat) and a nice cold bottle of Fuse Tea, which is amazing. 

As I had planned to do the lake tours tonight, I headed to Onyx tours office to book the same as they require cash or Kaspi (Similar to Google Pay) After securing a spot I hopped on a bus that took me to Kok Tobe. Kok Tobe hill is where you can enjoy panoramic views of the city. Don't miss the opportunity to ride the cable car and explore different activities at the top. I would suggest you to book the cable car trip for just one way and the other way you can hike back down and enjoy the breathtaking view of the city. 

Later I took a walk to Panfilov Park,  Zenkov Cathedral, Almaty Central Mosque and Green Bazaar which is quite famous in the city.

After a hike to the viewpoints of the lake, we got back to the village of Saty for some lunch and some rest. 

We then headed to our second destination for the day, Kolsai Lake. Thought of Taylor Swift cause “This scene feels like what I once saw on a screen” 🙌

After a long trek to the end of Kolsai lake 1 ( We didn’t have time to trek to Kolsai Lake 2 as it required approx 4-5 hours back and forth but if you have time it’s a must) We then headed back to Saty village and to our surprise we were invited for a bonfire and some music organised by the tour operator (Join Me Asia). We enjoyed few drinks and some snacks and slept off to a tiring day. 

Eat sleep trek repeat, we woke up to another amazing day where we see the canyons. After breakfast we headed to our first destination the Black Canyon - Valley of Death.

We then took a rocket to the moon 🚀Just kidding this canyon looks like a moon.

The final and the most beautiful destination was the Charyn Canyon - Valley of Castles and a trek to the Charyn River.

After a 40 mins hike, we enjoyed some packed lunch at the riverside. 

Tip: The tour for 2 days was around 24,000 Tenge for the standard package and the premium one costed 30,000 tenge ( With personal Washrooms). You can contact Onyx tours or Join Me Asia to book these tours which would save you a lot of money as compared to private tours.

After a packed 2 day trip we were on our way back to the city of Almaty where we fell off to sleep and after saying goodbye to the awesome people I met I booked a hostel and crashed after dinner. 

After a heavy breakfast, I took a bus to Shymbulak to experience some snow. 

Tip: Carry warm clothes as the temperature turns to minus when you ascend to the second level. 

I booked a cable car both ways as it was too cold to trek for 4-5 hours. (Cable car both ways + the chair lift both ways to the second level costed me 7,000 tenge) 

After descending, I still had the rest of the day to explore the city when I thought let’s do this!!!! As suggested by Courtney and Koen( the people I met during the lake tour)…. If you’re going back to the city you have to try Arasan Welness and spa. I was clueless at first thinking it’s a massage place but boy oh boy before I tell you what’s this about you have to have an open mind and just visit this place. 

After a long day I had a hot shower and reached the meeting point of the tour that started at 21:00 hrs. Saty village was around 4-5 hours away from the city so took a nap, interacted with strangers and enjoyed the ride to the village. We then arrived at the village around 2 am and had a sound sleep in one of the villagers house.

Pictures and videos can’t do justice cause you have to be there to experience the breathtaking view of nature. 

This place has 2 floors with pools, saunas, ice baths. Unfortunately you can’t record due to privacy reasons. When you enter you gotta pay for a towel, slippers and a bedsheet. They then give you a locker and a wrist band to track your expenses.

It’s an Ala Carte menu haha. Once you’re in you have a variety of options to choose for like massages, facials, scrubs and a wide range of Turkish baths too. But here’s the catch, you gotta enter naked 🫣 You’re conscious that people will stare and judge you but no one gives a F***k. They are all open minded people who give you a bath and massages and are quite friendly too. 

Once you’re done with the treatments you head out scan your wrist band and pay the bill. 

I experienced a lower body massage and a face scrub but once its done and you’re out you will long for more. It’s a shy experience but a must try. 

My expense - I spent around 18,000 tenge for everything which is quite reasonable as compared to the standard of a famous spa.

I was in touch with a guy named Roman who organises these electric bike tours from the checkpoint of Big Almaty Lake. Electric bike? Don’t get me wrong these are heavy duty electric bikes that go around 80-90 kmph that have different modes like ECO and Sport.

I then got back to my hostel with body pain and sore muscles had some noodles interacted with a beautiful lady from Aktobe who runs a business and got to know a lot about the countries culture. Post a long conversation I fell off to sleep 

Check her page out on Instagram @anel.collection_ 

So it’s the day of some adventure. It’s time for Big Almaty Lake!!!

Headed to Doners for some breakfast but you can never expect only breakfast as the wrap was my breakfast, lunch and dinner haha 😛 

Not only the ride up was challenging but it was soo cold I was literally freezing. I couldn’t feel my hands and legs as the snow had covered my shoes. 

At first I thought it’s gonna be a chill ride up to the lake but the weather that day made it difficult for not only riders but for tourists who were trekking to the lake too. It was snowing like hell on that day and the ride was slippery and difficult. 

After riding uphill for like 90 mins we reached the point where you can get a clear view of Big Almaty Lake but unfortunately we couldn’t see a thing. 

After taking few stops while returning back we finally made it to the check point fully covered in snow and my fellow riders ( A sweet couple) offered to drop me back to my hostel as the weather was really bad.

After getting warm I went out to get some famous Kazakhstan chocolates as I was leaving to my next destination in the morning. 

Found a fancy street bar Friends Pub so stopped for a glass of beer 🍻 

1) Carry US dollars as you get a good conversion rate at money exchanges or local banks. Local Currency - 1 USD is 473 tenge 

2) Carry multiple debit and credit cards as ATMs are easily available in the city of Almaty

Kazakhstan-Almaty 🇰🇿 A 7 day Itinerary

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