Tamgaly Tas in Kazakh language means “stones with the signs”. Here on the rocks a large number of petroglyphs are preserved, among which the most famous image is the picture of the three Buddhist deities. Under the figures the sacred text is carved in Sanskrit, dating from the 12th century.

The rocks are located near the Ili River, 120 km north of Almaty. Today this place is popular with tourists, including rock-climbers, who gather here in spring and fall. Arid and semiarid landscape of the valley is one of the most picturesque places in Almaty region.

Tags: Almaty oblast · drawings · rocks · Tamgaly Tas

The tradition of hunting with tame hawks and falcons appeared very long ago. Today it is preserved only in a few countries including Kazakhstan. February 12, near the village of Nura (Almaty oblast), the 4th hunting tournament of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held.

There were competitions in several disciplines, starting with grades for the appearance and quality of equipment of a hunter, checking out how well the bird was trained, and finally the main event – hunting for hares and foxes. The winner was determined by the results of this last contest. Photos by Svyatoslav Antonov.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · falcons · hawks · hunt

Almaty oblast is one of the most beautiful and fascinating regions of Kazakhstan. Nature here is so amazing and full of contrasts that there are almost no repeating landscapes.

During one day trip you can visit the snow-capped mountains, wander through the pine forests and after a couple of hours journey walk among the dunes and sands of the endless steppes, feel the power and strength of ancient canyons and get lost in a maze of limestone mountains. Photos by Constantin Kikvidze from voxpopuli.kz.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · horses · landscapes · mountains · steppes

Zailiyskiy Alatau is a mountain range in north-western Tian Shan extending for 360 km (on the border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan). The prevailing heights are 4000-4600 meters; the highest point is the peak Talgar (4973-5017 m).

Kazakhstan’s southern capital Almaty is located in the northern foothills of the mountains. Also the mountains are known for famous sports complex Medeo and high-altitude ski resort Chimbulak. Photos by prostoi_pacan.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · mountains · Zailiyskiy Alatau

Singing Dunes is a mountain of sand of light colors, has a length of 3 km and a height of 150 m. The dune is located in the National Park Altyn-Emel in Almaty oblast of Kazakhstan, 182 km north-east of Almaty.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · Singing Dunes

Medeo is a sports complex built at an altitude of 1691 meters above sea level, near the former capital city of Kazakhstan – Almaty. Medeo is the highest mountain range in the world for winter sports with the largest area of artificial ice field – 10500 square meters. The following photos were captured by Stepanov Slava.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · Medeo ice rink

Nice photos captured on the way from Almaty to Shymkent by Armen Atanes.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · landscapes · railway · South Kazakhstan oblast

In addition to the post devoted to Charyn canyon also known as Castle’s valley we offer you several beautiful pictures of it that can be nice wallpapers. The photos were captured by Roman Barelko and are all clickable. Also there are several versions of every picture for the screen resolution you need on the site of the author.

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Tags: Almaty oblast · Charyn canyon · wallpapers

Charyn canyon is unique natural monument of Kazakhstan formed about 30 million years ago located about 200 km from Almaty city. The photos by tengry.net (all pictures are clickable).

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Tags: Almaty oblast · Charyn canyon

Kaindy Lake (Almaty oblast) appeared as a result of earthquake happened in 1910. Today the area surrounding the lake has the status of Kazakhstan national park. The water of the lake is cold but it is especially popular among the divers because of the picturesque views of underwater trees. The photos by tengry.net (clickable).

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Tags: Almaty oblast · Kaindy Lake