Shalkude or Chelkudinskaya Valley is a beautiful mountain valley stretching for more than 100 km at an altitude of about 2,500 meters above sea level.

The valley of the Shalkudysu River, also known as Kegenskaya, is the most extensive valley in the Kazakh part of the Tien Shan. The Shalkodysu River gives rise to one of the largest waterways of the Almaty region – the Charyn River. Photos by: E.W.Shestakowa.

summer in the valley

Tags: Almaty oblast

A Happy New Year to you and yours;
May bounteous riches reach your shores!

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The Ili River is the largest and one of the longest rivers in Central Asia (1,430 km). The river originates in the Chinese part of the Tien Shan and flows into Lake Balkhash located in southeastern Kazakhstan.

The delta of the river is known for its unique microclimate. Here you can find some relict plant species. Autumn in the delta of the Ili River is very picturesque. Photos by: Grigory Bedenko.

fly over the Ili River

Tags: Almaty oblast

Nursultan Peak (until 1935 – Malyy Almaty, until 1998 – Komsomol) is a mountain peak (4,330 meters) located on the northern slopes of the Tien Shan mountain range.

This is one of the most popular peaks located near Almaty, the largest city of Kazakhstan. It was named after the first President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Photos by: Anna Gornostayeva.

go hiking in the mountains

Tags: Almaty oblast

Chilik (Shelek) is one of the largest and longest rivers of the Northern Tien Shan separating the mountain ranges of Ile Alatau and Kungey Alatau.

This river is located in the Almaty region, in the vicinity of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border. Recently Shelek has become a popular destination for adventure tourism. Photos by: Grigory Bedenko.

fly over the river

Tags: Almaty oblast

In the past few days, Almaty experienced an unprecedented snowfall. Snow depth reached 32 centimeters, in the foothills – 60 cm (normal level – no more than 15-20 cm).

The snow removal involves all municipal and emergency services of the city, thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles. You can see how it looks through the following photo report made by the photographer Timur Batyrshin for voxpopuli.kz

Almaty covered with snow

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Kazakhstan, known as the land of steppes, has in reality a quite diverse nature that also includes deserts, semi-deserts, mountains, forest-steppes, etc.

The border of the country passes through the natural landscapes of the Caspian Sea, the Volga steppe, the southern foothills of the Ural Mountains, the West Siberian Plain, the Altai Mountains, the Tian Shan Mountains. Photos by: Alexandr Kuznetsov.

beautiful scenery

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September 30, 2016, an exhibition of arts and crafts, objects of everyday life of Kazakh people of the 12th-19th centuries opened in the State Museum of Arts named after A. Kasteyev in Almaty.

All exhibits are part of the collection of the famous Kazakh collector and antiquarian Azat Akimbek. You can see examples of folk crafts – weaving, embroidery, leatherworking, wood, pottery, jewelry and blacksmith art. Photos by: voxpopuli.kz

visit the exhibition

Tags: Almaty city

You can see the following stunning views while climbing Molodezhnyy (Youth) Peak (4,147 m) in the Ile Alatau (Trans-Ili Alatau) – a mountain range located in the northwest of the Tien Shan, on the border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, is located in the northern foothills of this mountain system. The famous sports complex Medeo, the observatory of Assy-Turgen and the alpine ski resort Shimbulak can also be found here. Molodezhnyy Peak on Google Maps. Photos by: Olga Kulakova.

let’s go hiking in the mountains

Tags: Almaty oblast

Borovoe is one of the lakes of Burabay group of lakes located in the north of Kazakhstan, in the Burabay district of the Akmola region.

The entire shore of the lake is covered with pine forests, hence the name – Borovoe (“bor” means a coniferous forest in Russian). The historical name of the lake is Auliekol, which means “Holy Lake”.

very picturesque lake

Tags: Akmola oblast