Kazakhstan, from the Caspian to the mountains
Nearly three weeks across Kazakhstan, from the salt plateaus of Mangystau to Almaty's Soviet concrete and the Tian Shan, with strangers who offered us watermelon.
From 10 to 28 August 2026 I crossed Kazakhstan with two friends, from the Caspian Sea in the west to Almaty and its mountains in the east. We travelled by plane, by bus, and where the roads ended, in an off-road 4x4.
Mangystau
We landed in Aktau from Istanbul. Aktau is where Kazakhs go to see the sea, not a place foreign tourists know, and people were curious, almost shocked, to see us there. They were very friendly with the little English they had. The rest was Kazakh or Russian, and a translator app.
Then the 4x4 took us into Mangystau, and the nature there is raw: a bare plateau, a dead sea that is really a sea of salt, mountains standing in the desert with dunes at their feet. We drove through the Karakiya district, around Bozzhyra and the Tuzbair salt flats, before heading back to Aktau for the flight to Almaty.
Almaty
In Almaty, the mountains are so high and so white, and still so far away. Everything is big.
I am a huge fan of architecture, Soviet modernism and brutalism above all, so I arrived with buildings in mind: the Palace of the Republic, the Wedding Palace, the Arasan baths, the cathedral in its park. The rest of the time we got lost in the city on purpose, looking for what was beautiful, a restaurant or a shop. Soviet-era blocks stand next to modern and traditional buildings everywhere. I shot them in black and white, trying to reproduce what a +720nm infrared filter would see: a blue sky turns dark grey, shadows go heavy, and the concrete keeps its highlights.
AlbumBrutalism in Almaty
We went to the Green Bazaar at golden hour, with the light coming down through the skylights onto dried fruit, spices and meat. Most sellers didn't care about the camera; a few curious eyes looked back. Prices were too high for us, and there were a lot of scams.
AlbumLiving KZ market
Almaty has more tourists than Aktau, and more Chinese visitors too, as the Xinjiang border is close. We also went up Kok Tobe and spent time at the Almaty Museum of Arts.
Lakes, canyons and rivers
From Almaty we headed into the mountains: Saty village, Kaindy Lake and Kolsai Lake one day; the Black Canyon, the Moon Canyon and Charyn Canyon the next. High mountains of raw rock, arid plateaus between them, and heavy rivers. Near Malybay we went rafting.
Three moments
Twenty-five kilos. Taxis weren't allowed to drive up one of the mountains, so we came down on foot with 25kg on our backs.
Horses, eagles and watermelon. Riding in the steppe near Almaty, eagles above us, nothing but nature and mountains all around, and a storm cloud throwing lightning far away. We were the first foreign tourists the place had ever had; they were really friendly and offered us watermelon.
Dirt bikes. We befriended a group of Russian girls and rode off-road dirt bikes with them up to Big Almaty Lake.
Food
We tried every meal we could. The horse and the lamb were awesome, the local spices really good, and so was the local kind of kebab. And the chai, awesome everywhere.
Practical tips
- Bring a lot of cash.
- An offline translator for Russian and Kazakh is mandatory. English is rare.
- 5G is everywhere, even on the roads, except in the steppe, the desert and the mountains.
- At the Green Bazaar, check prices before you buy.
