A Postcard from Kazakhstan

We spent 10 days exploring the southeast region of Kazakhstan, from Almaty to Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes, Charyn Canyon to the Singing Dunes & Aktau Mountains in Altyn Emel National Park.

Almaty is a sprawling, modern city with a vibrant, younger population. We visited Ascension Cathedral, the Green Bazaar and the Almaty Museum of Arts.

Charyn Canyon felt like a mini Grand Canyon with centuries of erosion via wind and water to form these magnificent rock shapes in the red rocks. We camped at the bottom with a few other folks and were treated to a magnificent night of stargazing.

Kolsai Lake 1 (didn’t hike to 2) is a stunning turquoise blue color surrounded by lush, green forests in the mountain foothills. The lake was dotted by people on peddleboats. If you didn’t tell me we were in KZ, I’d have guessed somewhere in the Alps or Austria.

Kaindy Lake was rainy for us but combined with the fog & clouds it was quite a moody visit.

The Aktau Mountains are beautiful and quite colorful; filled with reds, greens, beige and browns.

The Singing Dunes are really awesome and one of the more unique things we’ve experienced. We saw it during golden hour; the light/shadows were amazing. We spent an hour just sitting on top of the dune taking it all in. Best of all, when you slide down on your bum you’ll learn why its named singing dunez.

Between the aktau mountains & singing dunes (all inside altyn emel), we got 2 flat tires and had to get rescued by an old soviet 4x4 truck (photo 13) so we had quite an adventure.

All photos taken on Fuji XT30ii + Tamron 17-70mm + Fuji 55-200mm.