The Wild Beauty Of Central Asia
Beverley Watts discovers nomadic Silk Road magic in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Ancient traders once travelled Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in camel caravans with fabric, jade, gunpowder and spices from China to the West. The Great Silk Road crossed this rugged landscape until the 14th century.
Over quarter the size of the USA, Kazakhstan has vast desert steppes, lush valleys, a Caspian Sea coast and is joined to Kyrgyzstan by breath-taking mountain peaks. The dramatic terrain and fascinating history of these ex-Soviet countries is little known.
Fly to Kazakh former capital Almaty (Apple Tree
City) via Istanbul. Now a modern metropolis in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau Mountains, the area was once renowned for its primeval forests of fruit trees. The native wild Malus sieversii apple is the ancestor of most current cultivars, including Golden Delicious.
Learn about the country’s nomadic culture at the Central State Museum. The traditional felt yurt has a flexible frame of willow and can be put up or taken apart in less than an hour – an essential part of life in “the land of the wanderers”.
Today’s families gather in the leafy gardens of Panfilov Park on a day out and admire the Tsarist-era Zenkov Cathedral, an ornate yellow wooden church made without a single nail.
An hour’s ascent above the city, the pristine azure Big Almaty Lake, 2,511 metres above sea level, looks inviting but it’s not for swimmers. A natural reservoir, it’s a crucial supply of drinking water.
Motoring towards the Kyrgyzstan border, visit the
Tamgaly Petroglyphs, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Tamgaly Gorge, dotted with tiny Kazakh tulips. The original species of the genus has been in the foothills of the Tien Shan Mountains for millions of years. This is the birthplace of our much-loved spring flower.
There are over 5,000 carvings chiselled out of the rocks including sun-head
deities, with sacred images dating back to the Middle Bronze Age. Husbandry was key to nomad life and many long-horned animals are depicted. The stone altars suggest this was a spiritual location for sacrificial offerings. Before you reach the Kyrgyzstan border on the bumpy Kazakh roads, you’ll pass herds of camels and crowded bus stop shelters – it won’t be human passengers shielding from the sun, it’ll be horses standing in the shade.