Tour Route: Almaty Region (Kazakhstan)
Season: April-October
Best Period: April-May, August-September
Route Complexity: The route will be interesting for beginners as well as for experienced mtb riders. Almost whole route will be going along well-groomed ground road with small elevation and dropping. Sometimes you will have to ride down the hill for many kilometers!
Height Difference: About 500-700 meters per day
DAY BY DAY ITINERARY
Day 1. Almaty - Kokpek Pass - Boguty Mountains
Departure from Almaty at 08:00. Transfer to Baiseit village. Light breakfast in a local cafe. Transfer to Kokpek pass. Beginning of cycling part towards Boguty mountain range. This day you will overcome about 30 km by bicycle.
Fantastic and extraordinarily red mountains of Boguty are two massifs - Ulken Boguty and Bala Boguty, located east of the city of Almaty. These mountains are the foothills of the mountain system of the Trans-Ili Alatau and stretch between Charyn and Chilik rivers. The unusualness of these mountains is the fact that they do not need to be climbed, on the contrary, they must be descended along the road. And only descended into the steppe, you can get to the mountains. In these places in the distant past there was an active volcano. This is indicated by the numerous lumps of petrified volcanic ash. A real basalt, which is a volcanic product. But, according to geologists, 250 million years ago volcanic activity on this territory was stopped. Also here, a long time ago there was a large lake, traces of which in the form of sedimentary rocks occur literally at every step. These mountains allow you to feel your presence on Mars planet.
Arrival to an overnight site, setting a camp. Rest or cycling around canyons of Boguty mountains on request. Overnight in the tents.
Day 2. Boguty Mountains - Confluence of Temirlik and Charyn Rivers - Temirlik Canyon
Breakfast at 09:00. Disassembling the camp. Cycling part till the highway (16 km). Transfer to the town with fancy name Chundja. Delicious dinner in a local cafe in the best traditions of Uyghur and Chinese cuisine. Transfer to the next part of the cycling route -confluence of Temirlik and Charyn rivers (about 10 km). There you will have a rest and enjoy the view. Then, you will continue cycling part till the canyon of Temirlik river. Setting a camp.
Temirlik Canyon got its name from a small Temirlik river flowing along its bottom and originating in the valleys of Ketmen ridge. At the shady bottom of the canyon grows Semenov maple, Barberry, Karagan, Halimodendron, Tamarisk, Haloxylon, and rare representative of the Earth flora - the relict Sogdian ash-tree. This unique tree has survived the relict period. In 1964 Ash-tree Groves were declared monuments of nature. Such compact Sogdian ash-tree growth were noted in Kazakhstan and in North America only. Here was noticed a rare representative of the avian world - the black stork. There are also numerous nightingales, turtledoves, cave swallows.
Dinner and overnight in the tents.
Day 3. Temirlik Canyon - "Valley of Castles" of Charyn Canyon
Breakfast at 09:00. Disassembling the camp and starting the route. This cycling part will be interesting and not difficult. Short ride to the plain valley of Toraigyr to less-known view point, from where opens an amazing view to the "Valley of Castles" of Charyn canyon.
Charyn Canyon is a natural complex, unique of its kind not only in Kazakhstan, but also throughout the world. It was formed in the epoch of the Paleogene and reminds Colorado Grand Canyon in North America, though inferior to it in size. The height of the steep canyon slopes is 150-300 meters. The extreme ruggedness of relief impresses: numerous gullies and ravines form a dense, disordered network. Wind and water has created the beautiful "Valley of Castles", where you all the time are surrounded by bizarre towers, built of sedimentary rocks. Valley length is more than 2 km, the width - 20-80 meters. Over millions of years the nature has been creating a unique architecture, carefully and deliberately erecting magnificent castles. You can spend hours wandering among the strange towers and poles, marveling at the lush imagination of nature.
Rest and lunch with wonderful view to "Valley of Castles". Transfer to the beginning of "Valley of Castles" where you will stay for the night. Rest, dinner, overnight in a yurt camp.
Day 4. Charyn Canyon - Bartogai Reservoir - Almaty
Breakfast at 09:00. Packing stuff and starting the last part of the cycling route. You will ride about 30 km by car till the turn to Bartogai reservoir. There the cycling part begins - about 20 km by asphalt road without traffic (usually only 1-2 cars drive on this road, sometimes nobody is met here). This road is going to Bartogai reservoir.
Amazing in its beauty Bartogai Reservoir is located in the gorge of the same name on the Chilik River, which is blocked by the rock-bulk dam, with height of 60 meters, length of 330 meters and with a set of culverts. The reservoir was created to store water in winter, and to feed the fields in the summer along the channel of 160 km length. Release of water through the dam at the Chilik River takes place from June to September for irrigation. In this time the spillway capacity reaches 100 cubic meters per second, due to which the height of the fountain reaches more than one hundred meters. Streams of water under great pressure get out into the open, and breaking into small particles form a cloud of sprays glittering in the sun.
A stop near shores of Bartogai reservoir and rest. Then, back way to Almaty by car. On the way you will make a stop in Baiseit village to have lunch in a local cafe. Arrival to Almaty at approx. 20:00.
