We arrived at the train station at 7:47; our landlord met us directly in front of our wagon and took us to our apartment. We quickly showered and by 10 am were ready to head to the canyon!
My friend's father works for the Indian Embassy and has connections in Almaty; he managed to connect my friend with some Kazakh girls who had studied Hindi (and thus knew Indians in Almaty) and who were super-friendly. They found and hired a driver and a van to take us to the canyon--and they went along too, explaining that they had been planning all summer to go to the canyon, but hadn't made it yet. The driver charged 80,000 Tenge, which the 8 of us split. MUCH cheaper than any tour I'd found on the Internet (charging over $100 per person).
Charyn Canyon is located 300 kilometers from Almaty, and if Kazakhstan has freeways or highways, they are not along this route. The road was small and bumpy the ENTIRE way, getting far worse the last 10 kilometers when we turned onto a dirt road, not much different from the flat dusty land alongside it.
But we got to drive through many villages, and it's always fun to look at different towns and wonder what it's like to live there, in the shadow of the mountains, living such a simple and different life than my fast-paced Western-style life in the funky and new-age Astana.
We passed by a livestock bazaar--where people go to sell livestock. We saw several people walking home, with a cow or donkey at the end of a rope. We saw a man with a sheep he'd just bought.
Then, we saw a donkey pulling an old-fashioned wooden cart. Actually, we saw several donkeys pulling carts. I felt pulled out of the 21st century and back in time a century or two.
The driver had to stop for a cow who was standing in the middle of the road. The cow didn't move, so we went around it.
We stopped in the center of a village where people were outside selling all sorts of things (food mostly). We managed to find the bathrooms--two stinky outhouses, for 25 Tenge. I'd rather go behind a tree, but there were too many people there, I probably would have gotten in trouble.
We bought some water and continued our drive.
The hills reminded me of eastern Washington state, a place that's very dry, with mostly dirt and some not-very-green shrubs, where the hills look like cardboard paper that's been bunched up several times. Very fascinating to someone like me, who grew up in the very green South Carolina.
Finally, we stopped and paid the entrance fee--211 Tenge. Why 11? Who knows. (And I can't really remember if it was 211 or 611, I just remember the 11.)
We drove a bit more - the land was flat and reddish. We got out and the driver said, be back in 3 hours. At that point I wasn't sure what we'd do for 3 hours.
A sign said "Descent" in Russian, Kazakh, and English, and so we went down.
It was rather steep, and the wooden railing wasn't very sturdy. But we made it to the bottom and began a several-kilometer-long hike to the river. On our sides were tall, reddish rocks, and I later learned we were in the place called the "Valley of the Castles," due to the strange and elaborate rock formations.
We took plenty of pictures and took our time getting to the river. Along the way the rocks changed color and texture to a dark color. Later I learned that these are the oldest rocks, volcanic rocks.
Sophia was the first to notice the rodents that lived there. There were rodent-holes everywhere and these little guys were scampering about. They are probably a Kazakh relative of the prairie dog. They had long rat-like tails and according to Sophia, who got close enough to notice, monkey-like heads.
The river wasn't large but it was moving quite fast, and it was a beautiful aqua color. On our side there was grass and areas for picnicking; on the other side, just cliff walls.
The Kazakh girls had brought quite a feast, even a portable camping stove, and they set up camp and we picnicked. Sophia enjoyed walking alongside the river's edge (with an ever-worried mom making sure she didn't fall in!)
We left with less than an hour to spare, and realized then that the way back was all up-hill. Plus, Sophia was exhausted. So we took our time--and took more photos!
It was a wonderful trip, a good hike, and such interesting rocks! A friend from Arizona said that it looked a lot like Arizona, and it definitely doesn't compare to the Grand Canyon, but it still was a great trip!
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