Is it just me, or does Kazakhstan barely register on anyone’s travel radar? Every time I bring it up with people, they either picture endless empty steppe or draw a total blank – neither of which does the place any justice, and neither of which is why I ended up there in the first place.
I must have been on a different algorithm compared to my friends – to me, Kazakhstan has always been a fantastic travel destination because of its stunning nature and landscapes. And yet, it seemed none of them had gotten the same memo… it was really so fascinating to observe. Either way – after years of dreaming about it, back in May I finally booked the flight and took off for my first Kazah trip. After about one month in the country, let me share with you some of my insights.
Almaty is where I’d tell you to start – in fact, it used to be the capital for a reason. Most places you’ll want to visit are reachable from here, and the vibes are immaculate. With a stunning background over the Tian Shan mountains from nearly every street, Soviet-era buildings and some of the nicest coffee shops I’ve ever been to, you can be on a hiking trail within twenty minutes of leaving your hostel or get lost in countless parks sprinkled all over the city to relax and take it all in. From the city, you can also easily go on day or multiple day trips to places like Charyn Canyon – a miniature version of the US one – as well as Kaindy Lake, Kolsai or Big Almaty.
I do have to say though that, despite having a great time in the city, somehow I felt something was missing here. Although I was truly mesmerised every time I woke up staring up into mountains, I felt like the city lacked a concrete center: as a European, I am used to cities always having some sort of main square or spot that sets the heart of the city. Yet in Almaty, I couldn’t find this place, which to be frank was a bit unsettling. Other than that though, it’s definitely a great location and city to enjoy, even long term! mostly because it doesn’t feel like a city anywhere in particular – it feels like a mountain town that happened to grow into a city.
One place that tourists normally skip is the current capital Astana: never trusting other people’s opinion and kind of entrusting the fact that I am very easily entertained by most places, I didn’t buy into the whole “skip Astana” propaganda and still decided to pay it a visit and check it out for myself. Well, ladies and gents… people were right. Being a very recently built city, there is literally nothing to see or admire as everything is new and has no actual history. on top of this, perhaps reminiscent of soviet times, everything is built majestically, meaning while it may be beautiful to look at, buildings are all so excessively big that you end up walking kilometres without actually seeing anything. As a big lover of walking, I can tell you I was EXHAUSTED, and yet felt like nothing was really worth the effort.
As a side note – the reason the capitals as moved is Almaty was too close to the border and thus presented security issues; Astana, on the other hand, is built in the middle of the Kazakh plains, meaning it gets extremely hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter. Despite my trying to find positives about the city, I truly couldn’t, so if you have limited time to travel through Kazakhstan, I recommend a skip. One cool thing though was the rocket exhibition in the south of the city – that was pretty awesome!
What truly surprised me, on the other hand, was Karaganda: I only found out about it as I was looking for places to stop by on my way from Astana to Almaty, and this was the top recommended one so off I went. Yet, whenever I told locals that I was going there, I was constantly met with surprise as they kept asking why I would want to visit a “soviet looking factory city.” Well, it turns out Karaganda might have been my favourite stop in the whole trip. Perhaps because my expectations had been set extremely low by locals, or perhaps because I had just been traumatised by Astana, as soon as I set foot in Karaganda I felt truly at peace.
With its tree lined streets, slow pace and peaceful vibes, I truly fell in love with how soothing the city was. It didn’t hurt that I happened to visit during a weekend where the country was celebrating Children’s day, which turned the city park into a giant amusement park with food, music and people filling it up with life and laughter. I was also invited through Couchsurfing to have dinner with a local Kazakh girl and her family, which made the experience all the more special. While her husband couldn’t really speak English, it turns out she is an English teacher, meaning her two kids – a three year old little girl and an eight year old young boy – could actually speak with me and understand, which made the experience so much more magical. I truly had the best time in Karaganda and could rave about it for hours.
On top of this, a really cool day trip from here is to KarLag museum – a former soviet gulag turned into historical centre to document and narrate all the happenings during Soviet Union times in the country, where I was surprised to learn that many people from across the world were imprisoned, even as far as Korea. This might be a historical knowledge mishap on my end, but I had no idea about the huge influx of Koreans into Kazakhstan during soviet times.
Overall, I had an amazing time in Kazakhstan learning more about the local nomadic culture, getting to know its people, its cities and hiking through some of the most incredible nature I’ve ever seen. I will be posting more blogs about specific places and experiences I would recommend, but until then, I hope this post was useful to introduce you to this stunning country and make you curious to visit!
Have you been to Kazakhstan, or is it on your list? I’d love to know!
As always, wishing you a lovely day wherever you are,
Elena
