Almaty

13 jUNE 2012

Set off early today to visit the Charyn Canyon

This is a deep ravine carved out of the flat and barren steppe some 200 km east of Almaty. Getting there involved sharing a taxi with people traveling to the nearby town of  Kegen. I was dropped off near a battered sign post in the middle of the steppe, which indicated a dirt track heading east into the distance. It was a long walk but luckily a family offered me a ride for some of the way and we travelled together to visit this incredible sight. Positioned in the middle of the steppe this is not the Grand Canyon, but the fact that you can walk through the canyon and freely explore the strange rock formation almost alone, is great. Today the weather was fantastic and it felt like being on a film set.

I was not looking forward to the long walk back to the road. Again, I was lucky and a family offered to give me a ride all the way to Almaty. Andre, Olga and their young son Misa, were visiting Kazakhstan for the first time from their home on the Sakhalin Islands of eastern Russian, close to the Northern coast of Japan. It was great to learn more about this part of the world and to hear about their family stories. Andre, explained that he had lost contact with his father when he was younger and had managed to track him down via the Internet four years ago. They had been reunited in his home town, an hour before he married Olga. They were in Kazakhstan to visit his father's home town and to introduce him to his grandson.