Tourist Attractions

Almaty, Astana, Taraz, Aksu Zhabagly Nature Reserve-Buarabai, Turkesitan

Almaty
Almaty is the former capital of Kazakhstan and still its largest city. Being a financial and cultural center of the Central Asia, Almaty boasts a large tourist and expatriate communities.

A small mountain range borders the city to the east and in the far south on a clear day you can see the snow capped mountains. The city, in general, slopes from south to north. It means that you are going south, if you are travelling uphill.

Almaty is in top 50 most expensive cities worldwide. Even if Almaty has jumped from 30th place in 2007 to 44th in 2008, it's still more expensive than Toronto, Los Angeles or Hamburg. However, it is a wonderful gateway to the undiscovered and distinctive country. Kazakhstani people are very kind and welcoming and you will be pleasantly surprised by the hospitality

Astana
(formerly Aqmola and Tselinograd), in the north of Kazakhstan, is the second largest city in the country. It took over the role of capital city from Almaty (the largest city) in December 1998. Now, it is undergoing a transformation costing billions of dollars, where top international architects assist in trying to make Astana a worthy capital - not only of Kazakhstan but of all Central Asia.

Taraz
Taraz is one of the largest tourist centre of Kazakhstan with population of 310,000 people. The town's past as the 6th century Silk Road settlement of Taraz was discovered by archaeologists in 1938. In the 11th century it was a capital of the Karakhanid State, which also ruled Bukhara for a while. In 1220 Taraz was conquered by the hordes of Genghis-Khan and was razed to the ground. At the end of the 18thcentury near the ruins of old city it rose again under the name Aulie-Ata ("holy aged man") as a northern frontier fort of the Kokand khanate. Its first settlers were Uzbeks, those who came from Namangan. In 1864 the city was occupied by Russian forces.

  In 1938 the town was renamed to Dzhambul after the name of the Kazakh poet Dzhambul Dzhabayev. In 1997 the old name - Taraz was given back to the town. On the territory of Dzhambul province there are more than 450 archaeological monuments.
   Here one can meet the sites of primitive man of the period of paleolith and late Stone Age, monuments of the Bronze Age (numerous burial mounds, rock paintings), dozens of ruins of medieval towns and fortifications.

Taraz achieved its violent growth in the 10-12th centuries, the testimony of which is the forked network of water pipes made of clay, remains of architectural structures, pavements and paved streets, numerous handmade items of skilful masters, which were found during excavations. The town's bathhouse is referred to that time. The bathhouse had inside fresco murals. 

Aksu Zhabagly Nature Reserve-Buarabai
Lying at the foot of the West Tien Shan Mountains, Zhabagly is the gateway to Aksu-Zhabagly State Natural Reserve. It is located in the western extremity of Talasski Alatau ridge and ranges at elevations from 1100m to 4236m. The oldest protected area in Central Asia, Aksu-Zhabagly nature reserve is home for 1279 species of plants, 51 species of mammals, including the rare snow leopard, and tien-shan white-clawed bear, and many species of birds.

Turkestan
A small, but ancient city in the Kazakh Desert. Kazakhstan largely lacks the kinds of Central Asian historical towns that make Uzbekistan a popular travel destination, but the exception is this one, relatively well preserved, 1600-year-old city. In the 11th century AD, the great Sufi Sheikh Khoja Ahmad Yasavi turned the city into the region's principal center of learning, drawing scholars from across the steppe. In the late 14th century, Timur commissioned the creation of a massive mausoleum in his honor, which is to this day Kazakhstan's most prominent historical attraction, a major Muslim pilgrimage site, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.