Asia

[Visited: November 2023]

While driving always east from Turkistan, we see a line of snow-capped mountains in the distance. That is what we are heading to; we take a turn right from the highway and drive through some small villages and straight into the mountain folds. We have booked a homestay right at the end of the dirt track, and are welcomed with hugs. We are next to the border of the Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve, the oldest such reserve of the former Soviet Union. After a tasty vegetarian meal (pretty hard to come by in Kazakhstan) and a cosy night, we get ready for a day of hiking Aksu Canyon. Our host takes us through the crisp autumn air in his Lada Niva, and drives up a road that ends at the last village, where it becomes a dirt track. We see a herd of camels grazing the mountain slopes. The driver steers our car further up the track, until we reach the end. He parks, we get ready, and are off for a 10km hike alongside the top of Aksu Canyon.
The weather is absolutely perfect: blue skies, no wind, and a pleasant temperature. After hiking up to the edge of the canyon, we already take one layer off. When we look into the abyss, we see hundreds of metres below us, and far, far down, Aksu river snaking past the vertical walls. Towards, the west, the canyon gets less deep, until the Aksu flows towards Shymkent through less spectacular landscapes. But we turn west, and follow the edge of the canyon. The further west we hike, the more dramatic the views become. There are steep cliffs dropping down hundreds of metres into the dark canyon. When we stop walking, we hear the rustling of the river far below. When asked, our guide says that no, we cannot descend into the canyon and walk its bottom. The advantage of staying at the edge is that it is undoubtedly more comfortable temperature.
The views ahead get better almost every step we take. The mighty Tien Shan mountains with their fresh layer of snow on top, the ones that we had seen the day before from far away, are getting closer and closer. That is where the Aksu originates, and that is where the water starts to flow, the same water that for many thousands of years has created the deep Aksu Canyon below us. We see eagles fly in the sky high above us, circling and looking for prey - although we never see them dive. We see a hare running and jumping. Our guide tells us there are many more animals here, which can be seen in other seasons: bear, snow leopards, wild sheep, marmot, and many more. Furthermore, he shows us the dried out remains of tulips: in early spring, the fields are covered with red tulips. We reach an outcrop with juniper trees, and sit on a rock to have lunch. The view is stunning, and we soak in the pristine air, the spectacular mountain range, and the silence of it all. Then, it is time to hike back, along the same edge of Aksu Canyon, past the row of trees in autumn colours, back to our Niva, and then, back to our guesthouse, and off to Shymkent where we will catch the night train back to Almaty.

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Aksu Canyon (Kazakhstan)

Aksu Canyon > Kazakhstan > Asia

[Visited: November 2023]

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