The Golden Ring Almaty

The Golden Ring Almaty

Day 1
Meeting in the airport, transfer to the hotel, resting. After accommodation and little rest starts sightseeing tour round Almaty, the First capital of Kazakhstan with population about 2 million people. And still Almaty is economic, cultural and educational center. We will visit the Republic Square with the monument of Independence, Central State Historical Museum learn a little more about history,Panfilov park with its wooden Cathedral and Museum of national musical instruments.
Dinner in a traditional restaurant.

Day 2
Today we visit the high mountains just south of Almaty, part of the Northern Tien Shan Mountain Range. Approaching from the city, after some 15 kms we reach at 1,600 m the legendary ice-skating rank Medeo, where until the mid-eighties almost all worldrecords in speedskating were established and broken.
Even higher we go, to the ski-resort Shymbulaq, a favourite of President Nazarbaev and the city's new elite, especially in the winter-weekends. You can take the lifts all year long, bringing you to aan altitude of 3,200 m with excellent views on the glaciers and opportunies for hiking. 
Late afternoon we return to the city for dinner.

Day 3
We leave Almaty, drive to the north and start with an excursion to the valley Tamgaly Tash on the bank of the Ili River, seeing the Buddha images on the rocks. Go up on the panorama point, the view of Ili river from the altitude of bird flight. 
After lunch (from prepared lunch-boxes) we leave for the national park Altyn Emel, to the north of Lake Kapchagai. In this large park there's lot of different phenomenon to explore and enjoy: wildlife, and you stand a good chance to see wild donkeys (kurgan) and steppe antilopes (djeiran). Nature has created here, far and away from any sand desert, an enormous sanddune that you'll be given a chance to climb.
History has left its marks in this park as well, with thousands years old rock carvings and the necropolis Besshatyr from the Scythian Period.
You'll have dinner and spend the night in a guest house in the mountains.

Day 4
We drive through the national park, located about 300 km. north of Almaty on the opposite side of the Ili River, towards the Aktau ('White') Mountains, and explore its canyons, followed by a visit to the Katutau mountains.Katutau translates to rugged mountains. This is a very ancient ruined mountains with preserved something where volcanic outputs. The breed is very fragile and breaks down the physical impact. Water, time and wind vytochili bizarre shapes in the rock. Preserved sedimentary rock bottom of the ancient Tethys Ocean, which adopted from the effects of the above factors, natural form of intricate figures and landscapes.
Dinner and night are spend in the same guest house.

Day 5
On the way to the Kolsai Lakes - in the border area with Kyrgystan- we enjoy an excursion at the wonderful canyon of the river Charyn, where we'll have a picnic. Charyn Canyon is one of the unique natural monuments of Kazakhstan. The canyon is about 12 million years old and surprises with its vertical cliffs, reminding the ancient castles, created by wind, sun and rain.
We continue to the village of Saty, nearby the first Kolsai Lake, system of three lakes in the northern Tien Shan. Lakes called the "pearl of the Northern Tien Shan." Lake surrounded by coniferous forests of Tien-Shan fir. The depth of the lake is 50 meters, including fauna - trout. We spend the night in a guesthouse here.

Day 6
From Saty we drive to the first (and lowest) Kolsai Lake. Lake is located at an altitude of 1818 m, its length - 1 km, width of 400 m, the depth of 80 m. This is where we'll spend the night in a guesthouse. At the lake everyone is free to hike, ride a horse, collect mushrooms or try to catch a salmon in the lake.
On request you may hike or ride a horse to the second lake (14 km) and spend the night there in a tent.

Day 7
Today we hike or ride a horse to lake Koyandy through the forests and over the mountains (14 km). Lake in Kazakhstan, a popular tourism in one of the gorges Kungei Tau. Despite the low temperature of the water, the lake is popular among diving.At the lake we'll stay in a guesthouse.

Day 8
Today we cover a larger distance, leaving Saty and the Kolsai lakes behind us and heading for the Turgen Gorge, direction Almaty. In the gorge we hike up to the 28 meter high waterfalls of Medvezhy, and after returning have a rest at a trout farm. Here you can easily catch your own trout and have it prepared.
At the end of the day you will be transferred back to the hotel in Almaty.

Day 9
You'll be transferred to Almaty Airport for your flight back home. Most international flights leave Almaty in the early morning.