Charyn Canyon

8am bus ride to Charyn Canyon meant I had to get up extra early today. Nothing revelational for breakfast, just cereal, coffee, and a sandwich with the cottage cheese from the market yesterday. Taking the metro to Avezov theatre, the bus stop was a mere 50m away from the station. Initially I thought I was the only non-Kazakh/Russian on board.

Indeed the bus guide spoke Russian exclusively throughout the entire journey. Most of it flew right pass me although what I did make out was a description of the surrounding mountains and the peaks such as Bug Almaty Peak at 3,681m high. There was also the Russian habit of telling many anecdotes and stories and every few minutes were interrupted by an energetic applause. After a couple hours there was a pitstop in the middle of nowhere. Aside from an imposing eagle monument, and a burnt out car, there was nothing except for a convenience store. I took a couple of snaps, bought my favourite Kazakh cocktail, and a quick stop in a pretty terrible bathroom. Onboard I met a very young French couple, who were actually on their first trip together outside of France. They were absolutely thrilled to meet another English speaker. As it happens, they didn't know a word of Russian, and were having a challenging time getting around. Im crossing my fingers for them.

Charyn or Sharyn Canyon is a canyon situated on the Sharyn River in Kazakhstan, about 200 kilometres from Almaty. This canyon has been commonly described as the Grand Canyon's little brother. However it is no less marvelous or spectacular. The canyon is about 150km long, and in some places 300 metres deep. Today I explored only a small fraction of the canyon. the section known as Valley of the Castles. Yet still it was nature at its finest, with many millennia worth of corrosion and desert conditions sculpting a landscape of pillars, columns, and walls. The formation consists of sedimentary red sandstone that has been subject to atmogenic process of water and wind region. The Valley of the Castles is about 3km long with a depth of 100m.

I think the photos say more than I can write here.

It was a pretty intense hike in this heat, definitely bring an ample amount of water (and sunscreen) and watch for heatstroke which I almost had. Haven't been this rooted for a while, but it was definitely worth the exertion. Whatever you do, don't rush it.

At about 4pm it was back on the bus to Almaty. I arrived an hour and a half later and afterwards decided to call it a night.

Next: Last day in Almaty