Tour in the mountains of Almaty region
Jeep tours in the mountains of Kazakhstan –
Journeys through the mountains of Almaty region in jeeps –
The tour starts in the city of Almaty and then we will visit places such as the Shalkudysu valley, this is the first checkpoint on our way. Next we will visit Lake Tuzkol, the famous beautiful alpine lake in the Almaty region. After Lake Tuzkol we will go to the Buzunbay gorge and the Zhabyrtau mountains. Further, our route will look like this: Tekes village, Ulken-Kakpak valley, Buzunbai gorge, Tekes river, Tekes valley, Kuluk-Tau mountains, Kainatpatuz salt deposit, Kegen village, Zhenishke river, Zhenishke valley, Kegen river, Bestyubinskoe reservoir, Taban-Karagay valley, Assy plateau, Kyzylauz pass, Asy-Turgen observatory.
Route according to the program: Almaty – Shalkadysu valley – Tuzkol lake – Buzunbay gorge – Tekes river – Tekes valley – Kuluk-Tau mountains – Zhenishke river – Zhenishke valley – Taban-Karagai valley (tract) – Asy plateau, Asy-Turgen observatory – Almaty
A more detailed scheme of the route according to the program is presented below in the day-by-day schedule, there are all control points, distances and altitudes prevailing on the route. This tour consists of 9 days and passes through the Almaty region, we move along the route in 4x4 jeeps, since the main part of our trip will take place in the mountains.
- Distance of the route:
1041 km
- Season time:
Summer time
- Best time:
June, August
- Group size:
1-25
- Days & nights:
9 nights. 8 nights
Tour itinerary:
Transfer: Almaty - Kuldzhinsky tract - Guldala village - Panfilovo village - Baiterek village - Baidibek bi village - Karaturyk village - Shelek village - Baiseit village (140 km). The path from Almaty to the village of Baiseit along the Kuldzha highway is a little longer than along the "concrete", but much more interesting and informative, the villages stretch in a continuous series one after another. In the village of Baiseit, a stop, a visit to the local bazaar, they sell any vegetables and fruits, hot cakes with onions, pies and much more, many different cafes where you can eat inexpensively.
Transfer: Bayseit village - Nura village (10 km). At the end of the eastern part of the village of Nura, 70 meters from the highway, there is a museum of berkutchi “Zhety Kazana” and a small farm of the Isabekov family. More than 10 golden eagles, dogs of the breed, live here. The owner of a large farm and museum is Dinara Isabekova. In Kazakhstan, this is the only museum of the golden eagle. The Isabekov family offers small services for visitors and tourists, for a small fee you can take a picture with a golden eagle, see hunting dogs in the enclosures - tazy, visit a museum, see a demonstrative hunt with a golden eagle in the vicinity of the village.
Transfer: Nura village - Kokpek village - Sharyn river - Chundzha village - Chundzha hot springs - Ketpen village - Ketmen mountains - Ketmen pass (203 km). The distance from the village of Ketpen to the Ketmen pass is 20 kilometers. The Ketmen pass with a height of 3045.6 meters above sea level is located in the central part of the Ketmen ridge, which stretches from west to east for 240 kilometers, of which 120 kilometers of mountainous terrain is located on the territory of Kazakhstan, the rest of the mountains are located in the Republic of China.
The ascent to the pass is picturesque, as the ascent changes the altitudinal zonation, which is represented by flora from hot steppes to alpine meadows. From the pass, a view opens to the north, to the valley of the Ili River, in the south, the mountains of the Central Tien Shan are visible.
Transfer: pass Ketmen - gorge Ketmen - valley of the river Shalkudysu (12 km). Stop for the night on the foothills of the left (eastern part) of the Ketmen gorge with a view of the Shaldkudysu valley, dinner, overnight in tents.
Breakfast. Transfer: river and valley of Shalkudysu - settlement Tuzkol - lake Tuzkol (45 km).
The valley of the Shalkudysu River, translated from Kazakh as a “beautiful place”, is located at an altitude of 1908 meters to 2650 meters above sea level, located between the Ketmen ridge in the north and the Karatau mountains in the south. The length of the valley is 55 kilometers, the western end of the valley is located south of the village of Karasaz, the valley begins in the eastern spurs of the Ketmen ridge at the confluence of the Shalkudysu river with the Aygatas river. On our way to Lake Tuzkol, we will meet a large number of campsites for shepherds and shepherds, where yurts are installed, sometimes there are real yurt villages, in which up to 10 yurts are installed. We will observe a huge number of grazing horses, sheep, cattle in the river valley and on the slopes of the Karatau and Ketmen mountains. If you wish, you can visit the yurts of shepherds to get acquainted with the nomadic life of the Kazakhs.
Arrival at Tuzkol Lake, setting up tents. From the dominant hills that rise in the northern part of the lake, magical panoramas open up to Lake Tuzkol, which encircles the hills from the northeast, east and south. In the central part of the panorama rise the mountains of the Central Tien Shan - the Meridional ridge with the highest peak Khan-Tengri 6995.2 meters above sea level, to the west and south the highest peak of the Kokshlal Too ridge - Pobeda peak 7439.3 meters above sea level. In the hours of sunset, if we are lucky, and mountains will be open and we will see a magnificent picture of our journey. Dinner. Walk around the neighborhood, dinner, overnight in tents.
Breakfast. Transfer: Tuzkol lake - Zhabyrtau mountains (11 km). From Lake Tuzkol we move along the southeastern edge of the Elshyn-Buiryk mountains and then go around the lake from the southwestern side and bypassing the Togyzbulak tract we head south to the Zhabyrtau mountains.
The clayey hills of the Zhabyrtau mountains stretch from the southwest to the northeast for 10 kilometers, the maximum width in the central part of the ridge is about 4 kilometers. The highest unnamed point of the mountain range, which is located in the eastern part of 2292.4 meters above sea level.
Transfer: Zhabyrtau mountains - Zhabyr mountains - Zhanatekes village - Tekes village (17 km). The village of Tekes was founded in 1912, the former name is Krasnoyarsk, at present more than 7,000 people live in the village.
Transfer: Tekes village - Kyzylush mountains - Karatogan village - Ulken-Kokpak valley - Ulken-Kokpak gorge and river - tourist center - Buzunbay gorge (56 km). After the Tekes village, we pass the Kyzylush mountains and our path lies along a new asphalt road to the Karatogan village.
From the village through low grassy hills we go down to the valley of the Ulken-Kokpak river. The river starts from the Kokpak pass, 3482 meters above sea level on the northern slope of the Terskey Alatau ridge. At an altitude of 1835.8 meters above sea level, the river between the villages of Tegistyk and Kakpak is disassembled in the summer months for irrigation of agricultural land.
Only in the spring months and the flood season does the river reach the Tekes River. The length of the Ulken-Kokpak River is 50 kilometers. A motor road with several bridges is laid along the gorge along the river.
The upper part of the river is very picturesque, along the way there are cozy meadows, the river flows framed by Tien Shan firs, herbs, mixed forest. On the right side of the Uzun-Kokpak River at the mouth of the Buzunbai River there are several cottages of the camp site.
In the vicinity of the camp site, we turn left into the Buzunbay gorge. The length of the gorge is 22 kilometers, above Lake Karakol the gorge becomes narrow, and 10 kilometers above the mouth of the river it reaches its greatest width, where yurts and tents of shepherds and shepherds are concentrated.
The middle and upper parts of the gorge are very picturesque. Tourists are attracted by fabulous and unique places. A motor road has been laid along the Buzunbay gorge, in the upper part it is within the power of all-terrain vehicles. By car, you can drive just above the last shepherd's camp, here you can set up tents. Walks in the vicinity of the gorge, dinner, overnight.
Breakfast. After breakfast, walk to Karakol Lake (2.5 km). Fresh, flowing lake Karakol is located at an altitude of 3102 meters above sea level, located in the upper reaches of the Buzunbai gorge on the northern slope of the Terskey Alatau ridge.
The length of the lake is 1704 meters, the largest width in the northern part is 456 meters. Walk in the vicinity, return to the camp.
Transfer: Buzunbai gorge - Ulken-Kokpak gorge - ford across the Ulken-Kokpak river - Orta-Kokpak gorge - Kurykokpak river - ford across the Tekes river - left bank of the Tekes river (eastern slope of Basuly-Tau mountains) (59 km).
In the lower reaches of the Ulken-Kokpak river, we overcome the ford and turn west, to a low pass that divides the valley of the Ulken-Kokpak and Orta-Kokpak rivers, descend into the valley of the Orta-Kokpak river. About 12 kilometers we move along the left bank of the Orta-Kokpak River and again climb the clay pass 2200 meters above sea level and descend into the valley of the Kurykokpak and Oykain rivers. After overcoming the Oikain River, we again climb the pass with a height of more than 2000 meters, for some time we drive along the hill and soon the descent into the valley of the Tekes River begins. We move to the place of lodging for the night on the right bank of the Tekes River, overcome the ford and stop for the night on the eastern side of the Basuly-Tau mountains. Dinner, overnight in tents.
Breakfast. Transfer: Tekes river - Tekes river valley - camp site - Left Tekes river - Gazhayyp Sarkyramasy waterfall (26 km). From the place of lodging for the night, we move up the left side of the wide valley of the Tekes River, soon the gorge narrows, we pass the cottages of the camp site, and we are at the mouth of the Left Tekes River. We cross the ford on the Left Tekes River and climb from here 1.5 kilometers along the right side of the Left Tekes River. Soon we are at the Gazhayyp Sarkyramasy waterfall (translated from Kazakh - “Amazing waterfall”). The waterfall is located at an altitude of 2627 meters above sea level. From the right bank, a narrow path leads to the waterfall, which ends with a rocky platform, from where it is good to observe the waterfall.
Transfer: Gazhayyp waterfall - upper reaches of the Left Tekes gorge (3 km). After a walk to the waterfall, we will continue our journey and climb to the upper reaches along the left side of the river. Walks in the vicinity.
Transfer: the upper reaches of the Left Tekes gorge - the upper reaches of the Tekes river (8 km). We return to the mouth of the Left Tekes, cross the ford of the Tekes River and climb up along the river on the right side. Walks in the vicinity. Lunch on the way.
Transfer: River Tekes - Koksay river - Akbeit river - Akbeyit village - Zhana Tasashi village - Tasashi village - Sarykol village - Kainatpatuz salt deposit (55 km). We descend along the left side of the river to the vicinity of the right tributary of the Tastybulak River and climb to the pass that divides the rivers into the Tekes and Saryzhaz basins.
We descend along the right side of the Akbeit River to the Kegen-Narynkol highway. Before reaching the village of Akbeit, we turn left and move towards the village of Zhana Tasashi. We are moving towards the village of Karkara along the intermountain valley, in the north are the Sholadyr mountains in the south of Basulytau. Before reaching 4 kilometers to the village of Karkara, we will visit the deposit of natural salt outcrops on the right side of the small Kainatpa-tuz stream, which is located at an altitude of 1965 meters above sea level.
The deposit is 308 meters long and 73 meters wide. A little further downstream, on the left bank of the stream, there are also salt outlets. There are beautiful crystals here. Walk around.
Transfer: Kainatpatuz salt deposit - Karkara village - Kegen village (19 km). Shopping in Kegen village.
Transfer: Kegen village - Kuluk-Tau mountains (15 km). From the village of Kegen we move along the road to the north-west, not reaching 2.5 kilometers to the Kegen pass, we turn left towards the village of Zhalauly and here in the foothills of Kuluk-Tau we will stop for the night. Dinner, overnight in tents.
Breakfast. Transfer: Kuluk-Tau mountains - Zhalauly village - Kegen river (18 km). From the place of lodging for the night, we leave for the road that leads to the village of Zhalauly and then we move along the right bank of the river. Stop at the picturesque ravines near the Kegen River. Walks in the vicinity. On the way visit the Malay Batyr mausoleum.
Further transfer: Kegen river - Bestyubinsk reservoir (21 km). Panoramic views of the reservoir from the right bank are very picturesque, indented right banks with blue bays and cone-shaped hills add a unique flavor to the perception of nature.
The Bestyubinsk reservoir is part of the hydraulic structures of the Moinak hydroelectric power station. It is formed by a rock-fill dam with a height of 94 meters, the length of the dam is 515 meters, the width along the crest of the dam is 12 meters, the width of the dam along the sole is 310 meters.
The length of the reservoir is 4.5 kilometers (08.2021), the largest width in the central part of the reservoir is 386 meters. The maximum depth is 80 meters. Walk around. Lunch on the way.
Transfer: Bestyubinsk reservoir - Kensu village - Orta-Merke river - Shet-Merke river - Toguzbylak village - Zhalanash village - Zhanatalap village - Algabas village - Zhenishke river (78 km).
Today we will finish in a cozy clearing on the left bank of the Zhenishke River. Here you can admire the thickets of barberry, tall poplars, observe and photograph interesting nests of the Remez bird. Walks in the surroundings, dinner, evening fire, overnight in tents.
Breakfast. Transfer: Zhinishke river - Biesuimes gorge - Taban-Karagay forestry - jaeger post - Tuyme river - Taldybulak river - tourist base - Kayrakty gorge (53 km). After spending the night on the left bank of the Zhinishke River, we move along the road towards the village of Zhinishke, cross the bridge, turn left and go up the right side of the Biesuimes gorge. Our path lies along a vast watershed upland between the valleys of the Zhinishke in the north and Shilik in the south. Then we pass a small pass with a height of 2476.2 meters above sea level and descend into the Taban-Karagai forestry, which is located on the right bank of the Zhinishke River.
The Taban-Karagay tract is located in the eastern part of the Zailiysky Alatau ridge at the junction with the western tip of the Sarytau ridge. The tract is located on the northern slope of the Zhenishke gorge, it stretches for 15 kilometers from west to east. 18 kilometers to the west of the Jaeger post is a tourist base of 4 cottages.
The tract is very picturesque, on the northern slope grow Tien Shan spruce, mountain ash, willow, abundant herbs. We pass the Jaeger post and continue moving along the road, which is laid along the northern slope of the Zhinishke River. Along the way, south of the road, there are several cottages of the tourist center. We pass the fords across the Tuime and Taldybulak rivers. The end of the road at the western slope of the Kairakty gorge. Walk around. Return to the interfluve of the Tuime and
Taldubulak (9 km), dinner, overnight in tents.
Breakfast. Transfer: Taldybulak river - watershed plateau between Zhinishke and Shilik rivers - Biesuimes gorge - Zhinishke river - Zhinishke village - Kindyksay river mouth (41 km). We return to the Zhinishka river, passing the watershed plateau between the Zhinishke and Shilik rivers and the Biesuimes gorge, passing through the village of Zhinishke and just above the village at the mouth of the Kindyksay river, we stop for lunch. This is a very picturesque place, on the right bank of the Zhinishke River there are red remains, which were formed in the process of weathering. In the meadow of the left bank we will have a picnic.
After lunch transfer: Kindyksay mouth - Zhambas river - river - Kyzylauz - Sulysay river - Kyzylauz pass (24 km). From the Zhinishke River we climb northwest along the southern slope to the crest of the Sarytau ridge. After a ford across the Sulysay River at an altitude of 2566.7 meters above sea level, the road becomes much worse.
From here begin steep serpentines with large and small and numerous stones, a track washed out by rains. Soon we are at the Kyzylauz pass with a height of 3077 meters above sea level. From the pass there is a magnificent view of the valley of the Zhinishke River, the Taban-Karagai tract. From here, the Jaeger post in the Taban-Karagai tract is clearly visible. The Kungei Alatau mountain range with snow-capped peaks and northern exposure glaciers stretches before us, stretching from the southwest to the east. In the north of the mountains Zailiysky Alatau.
Transfer: Kyzylauz pass - Karaarsha river - Koktobe mountains - Asy river - Asy pass - Asy-Turgen observatory (21 km). We descend from the pass to the north-west to the Karaarsha River, wade it to the left side, pass the Koktobe Mountains, at an altitude of 2357.8 meters above sea level, move to the left side of the Asa River.
From here we go up to the Asy pass 2510 meters above sea level, from which a mountain road leads to the Asy-Turgen observatory. Walks in the vicinity, dinner, overnight in tents in the vicinity of the Asy-Turgen observatory.
Breakfast. Transfer: Asy-Turgen observatory - Kiishi-Turgen river - Turgen river - Turgen gorge - Turgen village - Issyk village - Baiterek village - Panfilovo village - Almaty.
Arrival in Almaty, end of the tour.
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