3 day tour to Altyn Emel National Park and Charyn canyon

^from$ 750

Duration	3 days
Category	NATURE
Season	Year-round

During this tour you will visit Altyn emel national Park and - best safari destinitaion in Kazakhstan and Charyn National Park

During this tour you will visit Altyn emel national Park and - best safari destinitaion in Kazakhstan and Charyn National Park.

"Altyn-Emel” is a state national park located in the valley of the Ili River on the territory of Almaty region. You will be able to observe amazing landscapes "Martian hills" and relic willows.Here is history as well, with ancient burial mounds and petroglyphs. You may also see the wild animals living in national park: persian gazells, argali, Przewalski's horses. You will see unique singing sands, chalk Aktau and volcanic Katutau mountains. Aktau mountains could surprise you by its red, green, pink or even pale blue coloured stony slopes. Another attraction of Altyn-Emel Nature Park is Besshatyr – a complex of five royal burial mounds, Scythian rulers of VI-III centuries BC. Just 260 km north of Almaty, Altyn Emel is one of the most accessible places to experience a piece of the great under-discovered Kazakh wilds.

Charyn Canyon is a canyon of 154 km long. The canyon is located 195 km east of Almaty, not far from the border with China. The canyon isincluded into the territory of the Charyn National Park.
Charyn Canyon -is a natural monument, built of sedimentary rocks, the age of these rocks is about 12 million years. The height of the steep canyon mountains reaches 150-300 m.
The most interesting place for tourists is the so-called Valley of castles, which is about 2 km long and 20–80 m wide.
In the bosom of the canyon there is a grove of relict species of ash, which survived the epoch of glaciation - Sogdian ash. There is another similar grove only in North America. Since 1964, Ash Grove has been declared a natural monument.

1 Day

07:00 Trip to Altyn Emel National Park (300 km from Almaty).

11:00 Arrival to "Basshy" village. Check-inat the guesthouse (DBL/Standard accommodation) and departure to Singing dunes (40 km from village).

12:30 arrival to so-called Singing dunes (also called whistling sand or barking sand). The dune is composed of light-colored sand and has a length of about 3 km and a height of 150 m. In dry weather sands emit a sound similar an organ melody. Since ancient times this place was considered supernatural. The legends explained the sound by the activities of the desert spirits, mythical animals, the bells of buried towns, underground rivers etc.

13:00 Lunch boxes - outdoor picnic. Free time

18:00.Returning to the guesthouse. Dinner & night stay at the guesthouse (Baschy village).

2 Day

Breakfast at the guesthouse.

09:00 early breakfast andtrip to Aktau and Katutau mountain range.

10:30 Aktaumountains are located 80 km from the village that takes approximately 1,5 hours to reach them.

The Aktau hills look supernatural. You will observe rock layers of white, red and orange colors across the range, known as a unique paleontological deposit with an estimated age of 25-30 million years.

13:00 Lunch boxes - outdoor picnic.

14:00 Katutau hills are less spectacular, but certainly interesting since it’s a good place to see argali.

18:00 Return to the guesthouse and dinner. Overnight at the guesthouse (Baschy village)

3 Day

09:00 breakfast anddeparture to Charyn canyon. Check out of the guesthouse.

10:00 Charyn canyon. The canyon has been described as the Grand canyon’s little brother and is considered to be thefloor of the ancient ocean Tethys. The erosion made by the river Charyn below and the elements created a dramatic and impressive landscape. The Charyn canyon itself is approximately 150 km and in some places up to 300 m deep.

13:00 Lunch boxes - outdoor picnic. Free timefor your own.

15:00 Departure to Almaty

18:00 Arrival and transfer to the hotel. End of services.

Accommodation in guesthouses on TWIN / DBL sharing basis (2 nights)
Meals: day 1 – lunch and dinner, day 2 – breakfast, lunch and dinner, day 3 – breakfast and lunch
Transport with professional driver per itinerary
Professional English-speaking guide for all excursions
Entrance fees for all mentioned national parks (except photo and video charges)
Visa costs and processing
Photo and video charges
International air tickets
Alcohol + Beverages
Portages at airports and hotels
Tips and gratuities
Any personal expenses
Any services not included in the above itinerary

Cancellation policy

Payments & Cancellations

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If you wish to cancel a reservation made via the Website, the supplier's cancellation policy contained in the applicable product listing will apply to, and govern the terms of, your cancellation and any refunds. When canceling a booking, you will be notified via email the total refund amount you will receive, if any.

The standard cancellation policy for Customers is:

a 90 % refund for cancellations made at least 15 days in advance of the start date of the experience. (Except for the tours to Baikonur Cosmodrome, see point 1)
a 60% refund for cancellations made later than at least 15 days in advance of the start date of experience. Unless the Customer could not inform the Steppe and Sky travel due to the force-majeure reasons.
Cancellations made within 48 hours of the start date of the experience will receive no refund.
In case of no-show the Customer will receive no refund.
For the tours to Baikonur Cosmodrome the following penalties apply:

1 a 90% refund for cancellations made after the payment is made before the permission from Roscosmos State Corporation is received.

2. a 80% refund in case of cancellation of the tour after receiving permission to visit the Cosmodrome Baikonur by Roscosmos , regardless of the time.

3. a 0% refund for cancellations made 14 days prior to the tour start.

4. a 80% refund in case when Roscosmos refuses the Customer in permission to visit the spaceport (Cosmodrome Baikonur),

5. a 80% refund is applicable when Roscosmos either transfers or cancels the launch of the spacecraft, unless the Customer chooses to use the tour package of ‘between launches’ period, in this case the cost of the tour is recalculated and the difference is transferred to the account of the Customer.

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