Set off early today to visit the Charyn Canyon, a deep ravine carved out of the flat and barren steppe some 200 km east of Almaty.

I spent today hiking up in the mountains south of Almaty. The scenery is like Switzerland, valleys lined with pine trees, grass lands and flowers with the snow crowning the mountain tops.

I decided to visit the site of one of the Karlag camps at Spassk

Back in Astana after going in search of flamingos

The long distant trains are really comfortable and this one was brand new.

Aralsk, was once a thriving fishing port on the coast of the Aral Sea.

We have had the first rain for days and its poured down in Turkistan

Turkistan was also a very important trading post on the silk routes

This morning I visited the Secondary school in the village.

Today  I went on a school trip with Ashok, the youngest son of the family, his 15 class mates and his teacher.

Today I decided to head out to another village in the Sayrum-Ugam National Par

I have spent the last few days camping at the Ruslan's homestay further up in the mountains at the edge of the nature reserve

I had breakfast today in front of an elaborate oil painting and sculptured rock formation of the Kazakhstan countryside. I hope to be able to get to the real thing later today.

Spent this morning doing the cultural bit in Almaty - visited the central museum which has a brilliant area dedicated to the lifestyles of the Kazakh people and features a very informative section about life and times along the silk road.

Crossed the border in Kazakhstan

I have spent today getting to know Almaty which was once a major trading spot on the Silk route. Now it is a modern city with tree lined streets and a mix of new shopping areas and older markets.

Crossing the border to Kazakhastan