Kazakhstan Map

 

 

         Map of Central Asia

latest picture: August 20, 2016

• click a picture to see details

001  8/9/2016: Border crossing

Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan: Right after

the border town of Korday we enjoy

already the picture that belongs to

the Kazakh steppe: Horses

002  A wind farm of silvery shining

wind turbines near Kurday, 28mi [45km]

after the Kyrgyzstan border. Kazakhstan

has an enormous potential of wind power

thanks to its mainly flat steppe

003  The yellow shining sunflower

field adds some beauty

to the landscape

In the summer months horses and sheep are herded to pasture in the fertile plains

004

005

006

007  Our LandCruiser is approaching the

Charyn Canyon, lying about 140mi

[220km] east of Almaty and 58mi

[100km] north of the Kyrgyzstan border

008  The entry point down to the Charyn

Canyon. For a first view, Liliana already

steps out of the LandCruiser. It is part of

the Charyn National Park

009  In the otherwise flat steppe, the

up to 1'000 ft. [300m] deep and

roughly 56mi [90km] long

canyon is a unique feature

010  The Charyn Canyon consists of

five canyons. The "Valley of Castle" is

the main gorge besides the Temirlik

Canyon, Yellow Canyon, Red Canyon

and the Bestamak Canyon

011  The cute ground squirrel

[Tien Shan Ground Squirrel

(Spermophilus relictus)] belongs

to the Charyn Canyon occupants

and gives us great pleasure

012  Bizarre pillars of the Charyn

Canyon and down by the river the

bungalow hotel. Depending on the sun

exposure, rocks start gleaming intensively

red, particularly in the evening

013  How small Emil looks at the

foot of a high wall of rock of the

Charyn Canyon!

014  Also part of the beauty: A

blooming yellow flower with black

dots (Arnebia pulchra) on the dry

canyon soil; also called prophet-flower

015  For 5 million years wind and

water have sculpted the red sand-

stone of the Charyn Canyon to

its fantastic shapes

016  We encounter Christoph who is

 traveling on foot with a "pushcart" and

writing for the German "Piper-Verlag"

017  Another world traveler at Charyn

Canyon: Karl-Heinz with his dog Kali in a

Magirus Deutz. We swap many stories

018  Peaceful and relaxed: Our

camping spot at the Charyn Canyon

019  Blooming snapdragons

(Antirrhinum) flourish on stony soil

020  A bush of golden yellow kingcups,

also called marsh-marigold (Caltha) –

a splash of color in the steppe

021  Blooming daisies

(Leucanthemum) stick out in

the bleak landscape

022  A rare example of a mosque built in

Islamic/Chinese building style in the city

of Zharkent at the Chinese border .....

023  ..... detail at the Chinese

wooden pagoda .....

024  ..... the main gate to the Chinese

Mosque is built in Islamic style, the

"minaret" in form of a Chinese pagoda

025  Colorful bushes reflect in a

pond near the Charyn river

026  One of the little salt ponds that

appear near Lake Sasykkol, about halfway

between Almaty and the Russia border

027  A group of mushrooms

(Agaricus)

028  Kotyrtay mountains north of the

road A353 from Zharkent along the

China border to Saryozek

029  A male "banded damselfly”

(Calopteryx splendens) shows itself

in its full beauty

030  A small blue shining pond

embedded into the Kazakh steppe

near Lake Sasykkol

031  Passage through the Altyn Emel

National Park. In the background the

Kόngφy Ala-Too range that forms the

border with Kyrgyzstan

032  View over the green plain

towards the ragged peaks between

Qalbatau, former Georgiyevka,

and Ust-Kamenogorsk

033  Stately trees line the

shore of a dammed pond

034  A final resting place

with mountain view

035  Another imposing mosque:

Islam is by far the largest religion in

Kazakhstan, with more than 70% of the

country's population being Muslims

036  A mosque in its perfect white –

possibly still under construction. Mosques

belong always to the most distinctive

buildings, even in the smallest villages

Monumental beautiful necropolis adorn often the landscape. Mostly they are built on hills, but always at nice locations

037

038

039

040  The Muhamadi Mosque with its

impressive minarets in Ust-Kamenogorsk

(Φskemen in Kasakh). Ust-Kamenogorsk

is the capital of East Kazakhstan

041  The beautiful "Central City

Mosque" in Ust-Kamenogorsk. It was

opened on 8/22/2012 and offers

space for 3'000 worshipers

042  View across the Irtysh River

to the sparkling 131ft. [40m] high

azure blue dome of the "Central City

Mosque" of Ust-Kamenogorsk

043  A wedding on its way to "Central

City Mosque" in Ust-Kamenogorsk .....

044  ..... group picture at the

entrance of the mosque .....

045  ..... and the newlyweds

with their marriage witnesses

046  Saint Andrew Orthodox Cathedral

[Андревский Кафедральный Собор] in

Ust-Kamenogorsk. It's about 78mi [125km]

south of Shemonaika, the Russian border

047  The Svyato-Troitskiy Monastery

[Свято-Троицкий храм] in the Strelka

district of Ust-Kamenogorsk .....

048  ..... the splendid main altar

049  Stas approaches us in Ust-

Kamenogorsk and invites us to a

dinner at a Georgian restaurant .....

050  ..... musicians and a group of

Georgian dancers are entertaining us .....

051  ..... spreading a

cheerful atmosphere

052  At a supermarket in Ust-Kameno-

gorsk we exchange tips with Andrea and

Achim (Paulchen on Tour) with

a Mercedes 1017 truck

053  A pair of Kazakhs: 66% of the

17 million inhabitants are Kazakhs,

21% are Russian and the remaining

13% are from other countries

054  Do the colorful cloth stripes

hanging on tree branches and its adjacent

stone figure point, like in Russia, to

ancestor honoring? (see pic. #136)

055  Our LandCruiser on partly

extremely bad paved roads from the

Southeast to the Northeast of Kazakh-

stan: Totally 1'164mi [1'874km]

056  A beautiful camping spot in the

emptiness of the Kazakh steppe

057  A glorious sunset announces

the glorious end of a day in the

glorious Kazakh steppe

Next website of our 2nd Central and North Asia trip 2016 to Russia:

Russia Part 2a – from Tretyakovo at Kazakhstan border via Lake Teletskoye to Gorno Altaysk – Aug. 21st to Sept. 26th, 2016

The African trip 2013-16:

CapeVerde: Santiago/Praia part 1 – November18th to December 13th, 2013

CapeVerde: Fogo – Dezember13th to 23rd, 2013

CapeVerde: Brava – December 23rd to 26th, 2013

Cape Verde: Santiago/Praia part 2 – December 26th, 2013 to February 28th, 2014

Cape Verde: Sγo Nicolau – February 28th to March 13th, 2014

Cape Verde: Sγo Vicente/Mindelo part 1 – March 13th to 20th, 2014

Cape Verde: Santo Antγo/Eastern side part 1 – March 20th to April 7th, 2014

Cape Verde: Santo Antγo/Western side part 2 – April 7th to 10th, 2014

Cape Verde: Sγo Vicente/Mindelo part 2 – April 10th to 29th, 2014

Namibia Part 1 – from Walvis Bay to Windhoek

Angola Part 1 – September 26th to October 4th, 2014

Angola Part 2 – October 4th to 22nd, 2014

Namibia Part 2 – from Windhoek to the Angolan border, back again and on to South Africa

South Africa Part 1 – from Namibia border to Capetown – January 22nd to February 23rd, 2015

3rd Major Repair of our LandCruiser FJ60 - 1982  (due to two broken sideshafts)

South Africa Part 2 – from Capetown to Tsitsikamma National Park – February 24th to March 13th, 2015

South Africa Part 3 – from Addo National Park to the Lesotho border – March 13th to April 7th, 2015

Lesotho – April 7th to 15th, 2015

South Africa Part 4 – from the Lesotho to the Swaziland border – April 15th to 23rd, 2015

Swaziland – April 23rd to 28th, 2015

South Africa Part 5 – from the Swaziland to the Botswana border  – April 28th to May 15th, 2015

Botswana

Zimbabwe

Mozambique

Malawi

Armed Robbery in Malawi on July 31st/August 1st, 2015

Tanzania

Kenya

Ethiopia Part 1 – from Kenya to Djibouti – October 25th to November 18th, 2015

Djibouti – October 18th to 27th, 2015

Ethiopia Part 2 –  from Djibouti to Sudan – November 27th to December 9th, 2015

Sudan – December 9th, 2015 to January 8th, 2016