It’s probably the biggest country in the world that people know almost nothing about. Much of Kazakhstan is covered in wide open steppes, where the odd run-down town serves the gas and oil industry and a rocket launch-site for the Russian space agency.
In the south, however, in areas bordering Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan tours will reveal a very different landscape. Mountains rise up with green pastures and flower meadows, gorges and lakes. This region also encompasses one of the branches of the historic Silk Road across Asia, while the country’s biggest city, Almaty, is more akin to its European counterparts than Asian ones thanks to leafy boulevards and a café culture. Holidays to Kazakhstan definitely offer the curious traveller a lot more than Borat would have us believe.
