ASTANA – A new video by Kazakh Tourism national company featuring Kazakhstan’s best nature sites near Almaty, Astana, and Turkistan offers a glimpse of what awaits the visitors arriving in Kazakhstan through the eyes of two foreign travelers Cederique de Coster from Belgium and Anas Abouqamer from Qatar.
Photo credit: Screenshot from the video by Kazakh Tourism.
Videographer Adilet Rakhmetolla captured Coster and Abouqamer hiking the mountains, enjoying the food, and marveling at the richness of Kazakh nature.
The footage, including off-road trails, fishing and wildlife photography opportunities, camel riding, galloping herds of horses, watching the Kazakh kokpar game of nomads, and the generous hospitality of Kazakh people, showed off Kazakhstan’s potential as a tourist destination.
What does it take to amaze two experienced travelers who have visited over 100 countries and seen the highest mountains, the flattest valleys, and the hottest deserts on this planet? Kazakhstan, offering diverse landscapes, could serve as an exceptional destination even for veteran travelers.
Holidays do not always have to be associated with the sea and sandy beaches. One can ski in the picturesque Alatau mountains at Shymbulak mountain resort near Almaty and enjoy the purity and tranquility of the Kolsai Lakes just a few hours’ ride from the city, as the footage shows.
Flying through the markets and narrow streets resembling ancient bazaars, the drone captures the scenery of Turkistan, sharing the true sense of what it means to live in a city which is over 1,500 years old.
One of Central Asia’s most important architectural landmarks, the Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Mausoleum, is in Turkistan. Owing to its historical significance, the mausoleum became a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site in 2003.
Tourists started arriving in significant numbers in 2018, when the Turkistan Region was created, giving a powerful impetus to the economic development of the entire region.
The video also gives a rare glimpse at the historical treasure site south of Turkistan – the ancient city of Otyrar.
Otyrar, situated on key trade routes along the Silk Way, flourished for over two centuries, and at its peak was a large city with palaces, bathhouses, and mosques.
It was destroyed by the famed Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan’s troops in 1219, and today its ruins are spread over a wide area. Among the ruins are the remains of Hanaka, a shelter for Central Asian Sufism followers, and the recent discoveries of a dwelling house and pottery.
The video also captures more of Kazakhstan’s natural wonder in the Mangystau Region – the diverse and spectacular natural landscape of the Bozzhyra tract and the Karynzharyk hollow.
It is a vast desert of limestone sediments, ornamental rocks, and canyons over 200 meters high that arose on the site of the ancient Tethys ocean, as evidenced by the numerous petrified remains of sea urchins and extinct mollusks. It is home to rare species of flora and fauna.
At the center of Coster and Abouqamer’s adventure is the hospitality expressed by the Kazakh people through their delicious cuisine.
