Friday 24th May - Charyn Gorge

Friday 24th May

Up at 7.00, breakfast and onto the minibus by 8.00. We had another long drive today.

We followed the road eastwards initially crossing grassland where there were more animals grazing, including a lone camel. The sun was shining giving us a view of the mountains in the distance, some with snow on still.

As we travelled the scenery changed and became more barren, almost desert like in places. Initially the roads were quiet and you could go for some miles without seeing another car. Our driver didn’t have to negotiate any rough roads like yesterday. Eventually we were on a dual carriageway which was well maintained and also not too busy. We drove for about 3 hours 30 with a couple of brief stops before arriving in a small town that was where we were to have lunch. The main street was lined with market stalls, many selling fruit and vegetables, some plastic blow up rings that you would see children using at the beach. Kazakhstan is a landlocked country so I assume it is for using at a lake, although the nearest one is still quite a way away.

Lunch was a kebab barbecued outside the restaurant, with bread and salads. All very tasty again. Janybek had bought fruit from a stall holder so the meal finished with strawberries, cherries, apricots and nectarines 😋

Back in the minibus and we were off to Charyn Gorge. 2.5km of spectacular cliffs formed 40,000,000 years ago.

We walked the length of the gorge in

blistering sunshine and little shade and then on our return walked along the rim to a viewpoint.

It was a spectacular sight.

Then more driving to our hotel for 2 nights and the first opportunity to see what we had packed in the suitcases and do some washing!

The drive took us closer to the mountains across vast valleys. These were much greener than earlier in the journey and seemed to be grazing land. We have seen almost as many herds of horses as we have cows and flocks of sheep, but fortunately horse has not yet been on the menu. It is usually saved for special occasions 😬