{"id":1222,"date":"2021-02-04T18:45:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T18:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dostartrips.com\/?page_id=1222"},"modified":"2021-04-20T12:22:14","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T12:22:14","slug":"altyn-emel-national-park","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dostartrips.com\/destinations\/altyn-emel-national-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Altyn Emel National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Altyn Emel national
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Altyn Emel National Park<\/a> is one of my favorite places in the Almaty region! I love it for endless steppes, mysterious dark old mountains and feeling that it never changes \u2013 someone three hundred years ago could stay at the same place and see completely the same fantastic landscape! So let me show you what you will see at one of the largest national parks in Kazakhstan covering an area of about 4600 square kilometers. Hopefully, we will have a chance to show you this park on our 2-day tour.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Its southern boundary is formed by the Ile River and by Lake Kapchagai. The northern boundary of the park is marked by a line of hills, a western spur of the Dzhungar Alatau range, whose name changes from west to east: Degeres, then Altyn Emel, then Koyandytau. It is said that the name ‘Altyn Emel’, which means ‘golden saddle’, was given to the hills by Genghis Khan when he passed this way in 1219 and saw them covered with sun- yellowed grass. I guess it happened after the rain, when the sun suddenly goes out of heavy black clouds and all grass scorched by merciless steppe heat starts to shine like liquid gold against a background of a black cloudy sky and accompanied by a surrealistic rainbow (sometimes even two!). I wish all my guests would see it with their own eyes! In the east of the park are two further ranges, Katutau and Aktau. The rest of the park comprises a dry plain.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The way from Almaty to the main village Basshy takes around three hours. There is a great highway till Saryozek, Saryozek the road is ok, with some potholes. On the way, we will pass Kapchagay \u2013 a city in the Almaty region that appeared due to the start of construction of the Kapchagai hydroelectric station. It’s famous now for casinos and giant artificial lake built in Soviet times. It’s forbidden to gamble in Almaty and all playful dudes can satisfy gambling hunger in this little town not far from Almaty. However for most of locals, Kapchagay is more familiar for cheap \u201csea and beach\u201d experience just one hour away from home \u2013 reservoir was built in the 1970s, it stretches for around 100 km from East to West, the maximum depth is 45 metres, but mostly it’s shallow so you need to walk a bit if you want to swim. At the site of the reservoir was the village of Ili. Due to flooding, residents were resettled in the villages of Novoilisk and Zhetygen and the newly formed collective farm Arna.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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After Kapchagay we will pass Saryozek village and few other tiny villages, the landscape will be enriched by the Altyn Emel mountains range. On the final stage of the way, we will drive through again Altyn Emel mountains pass and enter the territory of the national park.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Accomodation in Altyn Emel National Park.<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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So after arrival at AENP, the first thing we need to do is to visit the central office of the park in Basshy village in order to pay entry fees. The positive part of that event is a nice little museum where you can discover the history, flora, and fauna of the park. There is a lunch break from 1 to 2 pm when the office is closed. You won\u2019t be allowed to visit other parts without the paper permission you receive in this office.<\/span><\/p>

Most of all visitors of NP stay also in the same Basshy village. There are few options: Aigay Kum hotel, another hotel managed by NP staff, and homestay at Zhanka\u2019s home. Aigay Kum is the most popular choice because of the great level of comfort \u2013 impeccably clean twin rooms with shower and toilet inside of the room. But in terms of food, it’s always better to choose a less comfortable homestay \u2013 no logical reason, but the food is just tastier!<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Also, we can do camping on these four points: <\/span><\/p>