Nursultan Nazarbayev was at the time the First secretary of communist party in Kazakhstan, so he made all the shots. The water submerged the forest and formed a magical looking lake that is now nicknamed ‘The Sunken Forest’.The cheapest way to go independently is by taking a local shared taxi to Kegen, which departs from Sayahat Station and costs 3,000TEN (9USD). If the driver asks for money, it shouldn’t be more than 1,000TEN (3USD).There are several accommodation options, including camping sites and homestays. For this, when you arrive in Zhabagly, you should go to the headquarters office, where you can arrange your ranger and transportation for the next day.When I went there, I said that I wanted to go there on my own and, unexpectedly, they took it in a very bad way and told me to leave. There were loads of horse farms and that is because this village is famous for its horse meat.Marshrutkas leave for Zhabagly from Aina bazaar, located here: However, since I went there on a Monday, the only day of the week that the bazaar is closed, I remember that I waited for almost 3 hours for the marshrutka to be filled.There are quite a few homestays in Zhabagly, so you should be fine if you just show up there. The next day Belarus followed. It’s an 8-kilometer walk from the first lake to the second one, around 3 hours of hiking. Ukraine declared independence the same day Gorbachev resigned. I think that, unless you really want to explore the north or do some serious trekking, backpacking in Kazakhstan can be done all year round.For more information, including how to buy tickets, types of trains, routes, etc., read: Kazakhstan is a very safe country, with crime rates much lower than European countries.However, regardless of where you go, you must be properly covered with the right travel insurance. You said you eventually ended up in Georgia.

All former Soviet embassies became Russian embassies, and the few remaining Soviet institutions that had not been taken over by Russia ceased operation. Welcome comrades! How Kazakhstan Became The Entire Soviet Union For 4 Days 1991 was a notable year in the geopolitical history of the world. Instead of going all the way to Saty, you have to turn left at the intersection, about 1km before the village. Bacteria played a role in the saigas’ mass demise, but the exact cause is still unknown. From there, it’s another 10 km of walking or you could always try to hitchhike.For more information, including accommodation options and other tips, read: For more inspiration, check this amazing video from my friends Cynthia and Nico from This is my suggested two-week travel itinerary for Kazakhstan. He is also the author of Against the Compass, an alternative travel blog, quite different from the rest, which aims at HELPING and INSPIRING you to do the same, always in a responsible way, with no rush, showing you the human side of the story and, above all, in a safe manner. Please note that, if you want, you could replace Turkestan and Aksau with Astana (Nur-Sultan), which I have added on the longer itinerary.I didn’t give it a priority because I am not a big fan of soulless cities (perhaps, because I If you are backpacking in Kazakhstan for more than a week, after visiting Almaty and its striking surroundings, you should get on a train going west, to the city of Shymkent.This is not the case of Shymkent though, one of the oldest cities in Kazakhstan, used as a caravanserai and a trading center during the Silk Road times, in the 12th century.In Shymkent, you will find the largest bazaar in Kazakhstan and one of the most important in Central Asia, consisting of loads of narrow alleys where it is extremely easy to get lost.In my opinion, Shymkent is a place worth spending 1 or 2 days in, as there is not much to do besides the bazaar.However, it is a great base from where to go to some very rewarding mountains, and home to the best homestays in the country.From glaciers to snow-capped mountains, alpine forests, canyons, and steppe, the Aksu Nature Reserve is an amazingly geographically diverse area, besides being the oldest Nature Reserve in Central Asia, established in 1929.The lovely tiny village of Zhabagly is the gate to the national park and a place where you will see a sort of evolved Central Asian nomadic life, in the way that they are still farmers who live from their livestock but, unlike the nomads you meet when you The biggest downside of Aksau is that you cannot visit it on your own but you must always go with a ranger.