What started off as a little misadventure became an unforgettable breathtaking trip.
Almaty was a place I wanted to visit as I always heard about this from my sibling and as well as thanks to Airasia, flying direct from Kuala Lumpur to Almaty in just 8 hours.
I had planned this trip to 3 days before my annual leave in late June and expected to depart from Singapore via Kuala Lumpur and Delhi on Malaysia Airlines and transferring on to Air Astana. The excitement soon became short lived, when I found out two hours before departure that I did not have an Indian visa and I couldn’t transit via Delhi. Nonetheless, I went ahead and took the first leg of my trip, Singapore to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines.
I was looking for an alternative solution as I was onboard and thought of heading to Hong Kong instead. In this confused state of mind, I misplaced my passport at the seat pock however I missed the last Malaysia Airlines and Cathay Pacific flight from Kuala Lumpur. Dreading the idea of staying in Kuala Lumpur for a night to figure things out, I frantically looked for the last option and it turned out to be on Qatar Airways. Took the flight to Doha at 8.20pm, did a 1.5 hour transit at the airport, sorting out my itinerary and I got to Almaty by morning.
The view from the flight was breath taking, catching a glimpse of mountain caps covered with melting snow.
Cleared immigration smoothly and went to get a local sim card, just to realise there were many options and the SIM card activation took more than an hour. In the meantime, I was grabbing a costa coffee and sorting out my itinerary for the day. Since it was a short 3D2N trip with the second day at a full day tour.
Itinerary
Day 1
- Check-in to Hotel
- Lunch Shymbulak Ski Resort
- Dinner and strolling around Almaty
Day 2
Almaty is known as the Switzerland of Asia. In order to visit all the different scenic spots, I joined a tour from Getyourguide. It was a 17 hour guided trip which started off at 5am and ended at 11pm. The tour does a 4 hour drive to Kaindy Lake. There are three options to get to the lake – by hiking 3km up, on horse or hop on to a taxi.
I opted the hike and dragged four other tour members along. It was fine at the start, however almost halfway through the road became more steep. Nonetheless I persevered through and made it in in 80 minutes to the lake! The views while hiking was rewarding and could have been missed if you’re taking a taxi.
The water was clear with a bluish green tint due to the limestone, algae deposit. I heard you could swim but didn’t see any tourist swimming on that day. This lake came about due to an earthquake and the spruce trees were submerged without decomposing! Being curious, I tried touching the water and it was really cold even in the summer! I meant less than 10 Degrees Celsius cold!
Talking about earthquakes, Kazakhstan is prone to earthquake and I felt a tremor when I checked-in to the hotel.
After the Kaindy Lake, it was Kolsai Lake, a much walkable lake with more places to sit and just watch the day go by. The waters had a dark blue hue to it and the waters were flowing from the glaciers.
Black Canyon was not much of an attraction in my opinion but found Charyn Canyon to be stunning. The latter is dubbed as the Grand Canyon of Asia, thanks to its lookalike features.
You can opt to do a 5km hike within the canyon and for those who are not able to, you could enjoy the view from the starting point.
I hiked through and the view with the sun setting was spectacular with the orange hues making it an extremely instagrammable spot for the influencers wannabe!
Do remember that not all tour operator provide the Charyn tour within their itinerary! Fret not, you could join the same tour which I found value for money right below by Panda Travels on Get Your Guide!
Day 3
It was my final day and I had planned to visit The Big Almaty Lake on a tour. However I found out from my tour guide that the road to the lake was closed and I had to hike 14km up a tunnel. As a non-seasoned hiker, it sounded like a night mare and decided to visit the city’s touristy spots with my new found friends from the Day 2 tour!
Exploring the city’s central attractions : The famous Green Bazaar, Almaty Central Mosque(if you’re a female and not intending to pray, skip it), Ascension Cathedral and Central State Museum.
Wrapped up the afternoon with a cup of coffee and cake at Travllers Coffee. Yes there are quite a few cafes in Almaty and you should give it a shot if you’re into cafe hopping!
Since I had about 7 more hours to my flight back to Singapore, I decided to head down to Kok Tobe Hill. The view was overseeing Almaty City and it was different from Shymbulak which was focused on greenery and mountain range.
Get a round trip ticket and enjoy the view from the top! If you are bringing young kids, there are some play areas and entertainment (with additional entrance fees) that could keep you occupied for the entire afternoon.
I rounded by my evening and headed down to the airport to catch my 12.10am flight to Singapore via Phuket on Air Astana!
Overall thoughts
This was just the tip of the iceberg. Almaty has more to offer when it comes to nature, probably getting the right tour would help. I had jam-packed my trip as I wanted to make this a short weekend getaway. Combining this with Uzbekistan or with Astana (capital of Kazakhstan) might be more holistic.
I’m glad I had chosen to head over in June as the temperature was not too hot or cold, and got to see the beauty of the country. Nonetheless in winter, Shymbulak ski resort would be an affordable venue for skiers!