Almaty & the Tian Shan
Altyn-Emel National Park
Home to the “Singing Dune”, which hums in the wind, and the striped Aktau mountains.
Landmarks
Showing 15 places
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Kyzylorda & the Syr Darya
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The world’s first and largest spaceport, where Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin launched from. Leased to Russia; visits require arranged tours.
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Astana
Baiterek Tower (Astana)
A 97 m monument shaped like a tree holding a golden egg, from a Kazakh legend about the tree of life.
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Almaty & the Tian Shan
Big Almaty Lake
A turquoise mountain lake at about 2,500 m in the Trans-Ili Alatau, just outside Almaty.
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Mangystau
Bozjyra (Mangystau region)
A surreal landscape of white chalk cliffs and pinnacles rising from the dried seabed of an ancient ocean.
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Almaty & the Tian Shan
Charyn Canyon
A red-rock canyon about 150 km long, its Valley of Castles section often compared to the Grand Canyon.
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Astana
Hazret Sultan Mosque (Astana)
One of the largest mosques in Central Asia, in white marble with gold-trimmed domes.
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Astana
Khan Shatyr (Astana)
A giant transparent tent designed by Norman Foster, housing a shopping and entertainment centre with an indoor beach.
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Almaty & the Tian Shan
Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes
Alpine lakes in the Tien Shan. Kaindy is famous for the sunken forest of spruce trunks rising out of the water.
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UNESCO World Heritage Turkistan
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (Turkestan)
An unfinished fourteenth-century masterpiece commissioned by Timur, with a huge turquoise dome. UNESCO-listed and a major pilgrimage site.
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Almaty & the Tian Shan
Medeu and Shymbulak
The world’s highest-altitude outdoor skating rink, connected by cable car to the Shymbulak ski resort above.
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Astana
Palace of Peace and Reconciliation (Astana)
A glass pyramid, also by Norman Foster, built to host interfaith congresses.
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UNESCO World Heritage Almaty & the Tian Shan
Tamgaly Petroglyphs
Thousands of Bronze Age rock carvings, including sun-headed figures. UNESCO-listed.
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Almaty & the Tian Shan
Zenkov Cathedral (Almaty)
A colourful 1907 Russian Orthodox cathedral built almost entirely of wood, which survived a major earthquake in 1911.