DAY 6 (1st September 2024)
Kazakhstan (Charyn Canyon National Park)
After spending the last two adventure-filled days in the Altyn Emel National Park, it was time to move on. We could hear the kitchen sounds outside as our hosts started preparing breakfast for us. We would meet that Kazakh family again (the one with the two boys) and after breakfast, we bade our farewells. Then it was time to leave, as we had a long 225km drive to Charyn Canyon National Park, taking an easterly route before turning southwest at a town named Koktal.
Once we arrived at the National Park, we opted to walk on the canyon floor, which was called Valley of the Castles and followed the trail all the way to the end where it meets Charyn River. For a small fee, the tourist van would bring us all back to starting point. We would end the day at Saty, a small village very close to the Kyrgyz border.
Journey to Charyn Canyon National Park
Not long after we entered into Route A353, we came across a caravan of camels, which for peoples like us, is something we have never seen in real life other than in zoos. We were genuinely surprised because for the most parts we only saw horses, cattle and sheep. To see these majestic creatures in their natural environment, totally oblivious to our presence and just chilling in the cool of the morning was amazing for us.
Now We Know
There are three main species of camels (genus Camelus) in the world. 94% of the total are the familiar one-humped dromedary camels which are found mostly in the Arab Peninsular, hence its more popular name, the Arabian camel. The balance 6% of the world’s camels are the two-humped Bactrian camels, which are found in Central Asia. The last species is the Wild Bactrian camels, but unfortunately, there are less than 1000 Wild Bactrian camels existing today, roaming the desert wilderness of northwest China and Mongolia. They are listed as critically endangered. In Kazakhstan, there are farmers who breed the Bactrian camels for meat, hide and milk.
After the early morning camel adventure, it wasn’t so eventful thereafter – just more rolling hills, white-capped mountains in the distance and barren plains in almost every direction. We eventually reached the town of Koktal for some fuel, and then we would travelled south-westerly towards Shonzhy, a village with about 20,000 people, and had our lunch there.
On the way out of Shonzhy, just outside the town, there was a huge monument built in honor of a Kazakh hero (Bro Ray: I have search far and wide, high and low, but I cannot seem to find out who this statue is supposed to be dedicated to), just by the roadside. He must have been someone meaningful to this town, as there was a nice garden surrounding the statue with fences and gates, which was locked. We only took photos from afar. And then further down, again just by the roadside, a statue of an eagle. My only guess is that the eagle is symbolic and almost synonymous with the country, hence its “appearance” by the roadside.
Charyn Canyon National Park
And finally, after the long drive, we arrived at the entrance to Charyn Canyon National Park at about 1:45pm, and then the weather turned for the worse as it started to drizzle. We hid inside the visitor centre for some time, which afforded us an opportunity to understand the layout of the national park before the weather relented and was replaced by a bright sunshine. After some confusion, we finally understood the paths around the national park.
Charyn Canyon National Park was established in 2004 mainly to protect, preserve and offer tourists a view of the unique geological formations of the valley. Some of the plants here, particularly the Sogdian Ash, are a relic of the past, an ancient vegetation that used to cover a wide area, but now only in sporadic places.
The visitor centre can be used as the reference point, where you could rent bicycles to roam around, but we chose to walk. The two main “paths” takes you to two different views of the canyon. The upper path allows you to look down into the canyon as you walk along the ridge. There are gazebos along the way, where you could take a break in. The path is easy to traverse, and some of the braver souls would walk out onto the edge of the ledge, or at some places, could hop onto any of the outcrops of the rocks. The valley isn’t very deep though. The disadvantage of walking the ridge path is that it doesn’t go all the way to the end. The path just stops at a vertical drop off.
We walked this path for a bit, but realised that the better view (Bro Ray: that’s our opinion anyway) was from the valley floor. So, we retraced our steps back to the visitor centre and down a long flight of stairs to the valley floor. The start of the stairs is actually right next to the car park, which means that you could bypass the visitor centre and head directly into the valley.
There were many groups of people, in small clusters of various nationalities and ages, walking along the canyon floor, like us. From the canyon floor, the rock formations carved by centuries of erosion forces made the walls of the canyon look like walls of medieval castle, hence its famous name, Valley of the Castles. Some sides were steep vertical walls, while others formed otherworldly shapes… There was even a huge rock that sorta look like a certain Donald….
The sights were just simply amazing. The walk was easy and offered many opportunities to take photos. While some people made detours into some smaller sections of the canyon, we mainly just kept to the path as it meandered through the valley until we reached the end, where there was a wide, spacious recreational area and where Charyn River roars pass.
There was a kid who was fishing from the banks of the river, but it didn’t look like he caught anything! We took the opportunity to rest our tired feet by the river and chatted about our lovely walk. I believe the distance we covered was about 3.5 to 4km. We found out that the park had prepared vans to take us out, for a fee, of course. The alternative was to walk the way we came, but we decided that that van was the better option. Conserving our energy for another long drive to Saty.
The Drive to Saty
We left the park at around 5:00pm, and it was getting pretty windy and cold. We hadn’t planned on stopping anywhere else, but we chanced upon a spot barely ten minutes outside of the park entrance. We saw a number of tourist vans and buses (some looked familiar, like they just left Charyn Canyon National Park as well) were parked at this huge open air parking lot. So, we too turned in to have a look, and we discovered that the place was called Black Canyon.
We could only view it from the top, and the river below was the same Charyn River. There were wooden platforms with security ropes to cordon off the area, as a misstep will send you down the ravine into the canyon below. It was a detour worth stopping, in my opinion, but the cold winds which swept past meant we couldn’t stay out too long!
We arrived at Dzhalanash, a small village along the way, just as the last lights of the day were disappearing and the mercury continuing to drop. We found a charming restaurant in the main part of the village, and had our dinner inside a yurt. We learnt that the dumpling is also one of the traditional foods of Kazakhstan, and we got to taste what looked like briyani rice.
A few mountainous and winding roads later, we arrived at our ‘home’ for the next two nights. It was located immediately beside the huge signboard welcoming people into Saty, a small village with so much to share with the world. Saty is the launch pad to so many of the attractions and interesting places to visit in the area – see Day 7 and 8 for that!
Summary of Day 6
This was one of the longest driving days in our trip, a total of 317km. The last leg of the journey before Saty, the roads were dangerous as they were poorly lit, and some sections were steep climbs and had sudden hairpin turns. The road was also somewhat in disrepair with many potholes. We could not go fast even if we wanted to.
But nonetheless, this day was fantastic. Actually, for this day, it was basically just one location that we went to – the Charyn Canyon National Park. We did plenty of walking and hiking, and there was so much to soak in. Although it isn’t exactly as grand as the Grand Canyon, the Valley of the Castles has its own unique charm. Such unspoilt beauty and the well-managed park – the park rangers and caretakers of the place have done a fantastic job.
Ah, the camels…. Another highlight of the day.
