Almaty region, 200 km east
Charyn Canyon
Red rock towers above a river that is still cutting them.
Three hours east of Almaty the steppe simply opens. The Valley of Castles is the part everybody photographs: a two-kilometre corridor of red sandstone towers, walkable from the rim down to the riverbed in about forty minutes. Below it the Charyn river runs green between the walls, and that water is what carved all of this.
What you actually see
The canyon runs for about 150 kilometres, but visitors see one stretch of it: the Valley of Castles. A path leads from the car park along the rim, then down between the towers to the river. It is not a climb (children walk it), but there is no shade at all, and in July the rock radiates heat until the evening.
Getting there
Three hours on good asphalt, through steppe that looks empty until an eagle sits on a post beside the road. Most people combine the canyon with the Kolsai lakes and stay a night, because doing both in one day means nine hours in the car.
When to go
April to June and September to October. Spring gives green grass against the red rock, autumn gives the best light for photographs. Midsummer is hot enough that we start at dawn and are back at the car by noon.
Tours that go here
Prices are per group, not per person, and include the guide, the driver and the car.