KAZAKH NATURE AND CULTURE ( Almaty Region) Almaty –Altyn-Emel National Park -Kolsai lakes – Canyon Charyn –Almaty 8 days /7 nights

Days

Itinerary

Transport

Htl

Meal

Day 1

Almaty

Early arrival in Almaty , transfer to Htl , rest, breakfast, 1400-1800 pm  city tour with visiting of  Zenkov Cathedral , central museum , Kok-Tujbe hill , dinner

Minibus, funicular

 Hotel 3*

B,D

Day 2

Almaty

Excursion to the mountain area –excursion to Medeo ice-skating rink , 1691 m , Chymbulak ski-resort , 2200-2800 m , dinner in local café

Minibus, gondola

Htl 3*

B,D

Day 3

Almaty-AltynEmel National Park

After breakfast departure to Altyn Emel national park - steppe and semi-desert area with rich wildlife, wandering dunes, Scytian barrows/timuli and rock carvings. On 130 km- excursion to the most important kurgans -31 mounds of Beshshatyr (Five Tents), erected by the Sak between the 6^th and 3^rd centuries BC. Excursion to Singing Dunes, 150 meters high, 180 meters broad, more than 3 kilometers long in the middle of the steppe. Overnight in the village Basshy in guest house.

260 km

Guest house

B,L,D

Day 4

Altyn Emel –Kolsai lake (Satty village)

Excursion to Aktau (“white mountains” composed from white gypsum crystals) and Katutau (red-violet) mountains. Lunch in Basshy. Excursion to “Relic Forest”. (Ash-trees, which have been there since before the last Ice Age and survive only here. The ecosystem of this 48-square-kilometre primeval forest, which consists of Sogdianian ash and Turanga poplar,is more than 10,000 years old. Overnight in guest house in the village Saty.

240 km

GH

B,L,D

Day 5

Satty-Kolsai

Hiking to Kolsai lake-1-2, Lunch boxes. Overnight in guest house in the village Saty.

8 km

GH

B,L,D

Day 6

Canyon Charyn-Almaty

After breakfasts drive to Canyon Charyn. (The canyon extends 154 km along the Charyn River, one of the deepest rivers of the northern Tien-Shan (200 km east of Almaty).The Charyn Canyon is a long narrow gorge featuring steep sheer rocks with a rushing river flowing between them. Under the influence of wind and water the sandstone rocks have assumed fanciful shapes reminiscent of exotic figures and fairy-tale characters. That is why the canyons are also called the Valley of Castles, the Devil's Gorge and the Ghosts Gorge Picknick. Return to Almaty , overnight in Almaty

90+200

B,L

7

Free time , shopping , gala dinner

GH

B, D

8

Transfer  to the airport , flight home