Self-Drive Trip to Altyn-Emel, Charyn, Kolsai, Assy

You can combine a visit to the Altyn-Emel National Park with other attractions of the region by choosing the following locations: the city of Zharkent that borders on China, Chundzha with hot springs, Charyn Canyon, Kolsai Lakes, Assy Plateau, etc.

In a self-drive trip around the region you can visit all 5 national parks of the south-east of Kazakhstan: Altyn-Emel, Ile-Alatau, Zhongar-Alatau, Charyn and Kolsai Lakes.

The Singing Dune, or Aigaikum ("singing sands"), is the main attraction of the Altyn-Emel National Park.

Monument of nature of republican significance. It is considered one of the 7 natural wonders of Kazakhstan and entered the list of nominees for the world competition "7 new wonders of nature", held in 2007-2011.

The cretaceous mountains of Aktau ("white mountains") are one of the main attractions of Altyn-Emel.

This is a unique natural open-air geological museum about 400 million years old, thick sedimentary deposits of an ancient ocean in the form of banded rocks of various colors: green, red, blue and white.

The volcanic mountains of Katutau ("severe mountains", "frozen mountains") are the most extensive and highest desert mountains of Altyn-Emel.

There is a large extinct volcano here. The products of its powerful eruptions occupied a large area and subsequently eroded, taking on bizarre shapes. You can still see the remains of the frozen lava here.

The sacred 700-year-old willow, 20 meters high and 15 meters girth of the trunk, is the main attraction of the Kosbastau post, a green oasis in the middle of the Altyn-Emel desert.

The longevity of the willow and other old-timers is explained by warm underground springs with healing radon water, which, according to medical indicators, is in no way inferior to the famous Saryagash water in the south of Kazakhstan.

The village of Chundzha (Shonzhy) is known for its year-round thermal springs of the Karadalinsky deposit, located 50 km east of the village.

The water here has therapeutic and prophylactic properties; the temperature in the pools varies on average from 30 to 60 degrees in different places.

The largest river in Semirechye, Charyn (Sharyn), at the exit from the mountain ranges flows through a deep 5-kilometer gorge called the Valley of Castles. This is the famous Charyn Canyon with a unique landscape of bizarre shapes reminiscent of tall statues and ancient castles.

Downstream of the Charyn river there is a unique relict grove of the Sogdian ash.

The picturesque Kolsai Lakes, Lower, Middle and Upper Kolsai, as well as Lake Kaindy, are located between the Kungei Alatau and Zaili Alatau mountain ranges.

Kolsai Lakes are called the pearls of Tien Shan. Lake Kaindy was formed as a result of a landslide and is notable for the spruce trees that drowned in it, the bare upper part of which sticks out of the water, while the lower part retained branches and was overgrown with algae, thereby forming a unique underwater landscape.

The picturesque high-mountain Assy plateau in the Zaili Alatau mountain range serves as a summer pasture for grazing livestock (jailau). The Assy-Turgen high-mountain observatory is located here.

A few kilometers from the observatory is the Kairak waterfall, the highest of the waterfalls in the Turgen gorge.

The Dzhungarian Alatau mountains have a widely branched river network and numerous lakes. Of the most accessible routes, you can visit the picturesque gorges of the Small and Big Baskan rivers, the dam of the Sarkan river, stone slabs at the bottom of the Terekty (Topolevka) river and the sacred stone Auliye Tas.

The Zhongar-Alatau National Park is the largest in the Jetysu region. It is located away from the common loop route Almaty - Altyn-Emel - Zharkent - Chundzha - Charyn - Kolsai - Turgen - Almaty.

On the way from Altyn-Emel to Zharkent you can see the Tigroid Mountains. This is part of the Katutau mountain range, on the other side. Here, the Katutau foothills, made of clayey rocks, differ from the volcanic remains more familiar to tourists inside the Altyn-Emel National Park.

The brindle-like appearance of these rocks gives the name to this unusual area.

The ancient town of Zharkent was known at the end of the 10th century; the Great Silk Road entered the territory of Kazakhstan through it. Located just 29 km from the Chinese border.

The main attraction of this small town is a wooden mosque in the style of a Chinese pagoda, built in 1895.

In the village of Auliyeagash near the town of Zharkent, there is a place of pilgrimage, the 700-year-old sacred tree Auliye Agash with a trunk of 6.5 m in girth. The tree is believed to grant wishes.

The uniqueness of this place is that the ancient elm grew so large in a single copy, and the neighboring trees surround it, leaning towards it in a circle in the center, which looks very mysterious and unusual.