Charyn Canyon

After a hefty lunch, we had a long ride ahead of us towards the actual Charyn Canyon.

Here, we were able to do a long trek down towards the canyon. It was highly impressive seeing all the layers of the past in grand display on the rocks of the surrounding cliffs. We walked towards the Valley of Castles, where there were amazing rock formations. Really solid shapes reminiscent of castle ramparts.

As we progressed, the landscape kept on becoming even more rugged and ancient. All these colors of past bed rocks, all these strange shapes, it felt like we were on another planet.

At the end of the trail was the Charyn River, where we were able to dip our feet in which was so refreshing after a long walk under the sun. I explored a bit more before finding some shade and talking with the rest of the group. Tia and Erewan from Indonesia and Malaysia, and Mennon and another dude from India.

Going back, we used a van which was a very welcome option. I asked our tour guide if we could stop by somewhere on the way back to watch the sunset as I haven't seen a sunset yet in Kazakhstan.

He did make do of his promise as we did stop by somewhere on the open fields to watch the last bit of sun dip over the horizon. Another long road ahead until we finally got back to Almaty where we all went our separate ways.

Back at my capsule hotel, I was surprised to see Mennon again who was literally staying on the room beside mine. I went for one last hammam before going to bed. Mennon tried to invite me for dinner but I was going to wake up early tomorrow to catch a flight to Shymkent. My Kazakhstan adventure was far from over.Read more