HIGHLIGHTS – LOCATION – ITINERARY – SERVICE COST – PREPARE FOR THE TOUR – OPTIONAL SERVICE
Charyn canyon is located about 200 km East of Almaty city in South-East Kazakhstan on the territory of Charyn National Park formed in 2004 (see map below). Canyon lies along the Charyn river for about 154 km. The area of the canyon is narrow and stretched from South-West to North-East. The geological formation of the canyon consists of different sedimentary rock layers. Some of rocks are about 12 millions years old. Rocks were subjected to the wind and water erosion through time resulting in rare and colourful formations in the form of sculptures. Canyon has steep slopes reaching 100-300m in height in some places.
The most famous and visited part of the canyon is called Valley of Castles because of its multiple rock sculptures of different forms and sizes. Its length is only about 3 kilometers with a depth reaching 100 meters. Walk through the valley allows to see various rocks layers and enjoy the art of nature. The valley ends on the left bank of Charyn river – oasis place where you can relax in sunny day under the shadow of ash trees.
There are multiple adjacent valleys and places to the river which are very attractive but less known and undervalued: Relict ash groove, Lunar canyon, Yellow (Bestamak) canyon, Temirlik canyon and much more. The area is big and it’s impossible to cover everything within 1 day.
Interactive map tips: Use button on the top-left corner to customise visible layers. Click on any icon on the map to get more information about the place – linked to google maps.
Note: The basic program of daily tour is presented on interactive map above with waypoints and places of interest described. All times are approximate and depends on stop lengths, road conditions etc. The program can be altered depending on guests preferences and should be discussed separately. Driving time takes significant part of tour because of distant location of sight and we recommend to combine this tour/ extend for several days with visit of other sites (Kolsay-Kaindy, Altyn Emel, Canyons of the region, Assy plateau).
Total tour duration – 13 hours (driving: 8 hours, hiking: 2.5 hours)
Total distance by car – 510 km (asphalt road – 470 km, off-road – 40 km)
The service cost are calculated for daily tour with basic program described above. Cost can alter depending on places of visit, guests preferences and length of trip. Cost are stated in national currency – tenge (KZT). Current exchange rates can be looked at national bank webpage.
Number of adult people* | Total price for group / price per person, (KZT) |
1 person | 120.000 |
2 people | 130.000 / 65.000 |
3 people | 140.000 / 47.000 |
4 people** | 150.000 / 37.500 |
> 4 people*** | to be discussed separately |
*apart from adult people, kids can comfortable sit on the 3rd row of the car. Boosters are provided. Kid full seat can be installed on the 2nd row and will occupy 1 adult seat place.
** 4 adult – in this case 3 adult people will sit on 2nd row and it can be less comfortable during long trips, mostly depends on people constitution.
*** More than 4 adult people will require taking the second car and cost should be discussed separately for such groups.
The cost of service includes:
The cost of service doesn’t include:
Weather in the canyon is usually very hot in summer and windy on the top. There are almost no trees and places to hide yourself from the sun except for small oasis near the river at final destination. Recommendations for comfortable and safe journey:
If you want to get maximum from the tour and to capture best moments on the photo we highly recommend you professional photographer service. This service will cost 30.000 KZT per day and require 1 adult seat space in the car. After tour you will be provided professionally processed digital copies of photos through the link in the cloud. Photo album can be formed based on the photos from the tour for additional cost.
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