Charyn Canyon is one of the most unique places in Kazakhstan. It’s takes one of the first places in the rating of the best tours in Kazakhstan!
The canyon is located at 190 km from Almaty and takes 3-4-hours driving from the city. It is very amazing place on the Earth planet. It is similar to the world Grand Canyon which is located in the USA and has second place by the size but its beauty conquers the hearts of thousands of tourists who visit this fabulous place every year.
Charyn is a monument of nature and 12 million years old.
The Natural Park was established on February 23, 2004. The park area is 93150 ha and locates in the Ili intermountain hollow. Charyn Canyon is one of the most interesting and picturesque places in Kazakhstan. Water, wind and sun built a quaint clay-stone city here. It’s unique monument of nature – a relic ash-tree grove, has the age about 5 million years. The fauna includes 24 species of mammals, 48 bird species, 3 species of amphibians, 14 species of reptiles. In order to fully enjoy the beauty of these places you need to visit here personally.
The length of the canyon is 154 km. The depth is about 250-300m.
The most attractive route is the valley of the castles, which makes up the total walking route about 2 km and the width of 15-90 meters. The valley of the castles is a wide dried canyon adjacent to the main river bed. The river now flows itself along a different path and millions of years ago this place was simply a gulf of a giant ancient sea stretching from the modern lake Alakol to the Caspian Sea. This explains the rather mild the structure of the walls of the canyon which consist the stones, firmly pressed with clay, but easily changing their shape under the influence of wind and water. The great sculptor – Nature creates fantastic giants and very small sculptures from this material.
Now this place is very popular in the movie industry. People come here to make the movies from different countries both neighboring states and far abroad.
There are observation platforms at the top of the canyon from which you can take the photograph of a good panorama. There is an amazing beauty both from above and from below that you must see with your own eyes.
It is possible to walk in the valley of the castles both on foot and on a bicycle.
Inside the castle valley there are cafes, yurts, bungalows. It is possible both to spend the night and taste national dishes.
Temirlik Canyon is described as a river that has transformed into a canyon located at 10 kilometers from the Valley of Castles. In Temirlik there are rocky clamps and murmuring waterfalls, and the canyon stretches along the bottom of a bright green forest belt. Poplars and ash trees occupy among the trees a special place in Temirlik. The latter grow in fairly large sizes in the valley. Also you can find in the canyon saxaul reptiles and thickets of barberry. You can collect the ripe fruits of barberry in Temirlik in autumn – from September to October. You can often see the flowers of medicinal ephedra of the herbaceous plants here. You can also find a large number of “scaleless osman” fish in the flowing narrow river. The animal world here is represented by hares, goats and gazelles. There are also the birds – chukars and pheasants on the territory. People who arrived in Temirlik can make a walking tour from the stop to the confluence of the Temirlik and Charyn rivers. The tourists can meet on their way the oldest burials of 2000 years of age.
Day 1:
| 07:00 | departure from Almaty City |
| 11:00 | arrival to the national park of the Charyn canyon |
| 12:00 | walk through the canyon in the valley of the Castles |
| 16:00 | departure to the canyon Temirlik |
| 17:00 | arrival to canyon Temirlik |
| 18:00 | Dinner and free time |
| 22:00 | Going to sleep |
Day 2:
| 08:00 | Wake up! Breakfast, travel arrangements |
| 10:00 | Departure to the confluence of two rivers Charyn and Temerlik |
| 11:00 | departure to home through Bartogai Lake |
| 12:00 | Arrival to the lake, photo |
| 13:00 | Departure to Almaty |
| 17:00 | Arrival to Almaty |
