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Talgar Gorge.
Mountain hiking in Kazakhstan.
«A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature»
Henry David Thoreau.
Comprehensive travel package Almaty and Astana.
The Talgar Gorge is another remarkable sight. There are some large gorge in the mountains to the South of Talgar city: the Right, Middle and Left Talgar; the Soldier's, the Kamenskiy and Osinoviy, Maralsai, and many other branches.
All of them begin from the Talgar Mountain Unit, the highest part of the Zailiy Alatau. The starting altitude at departure from Almaty city to the east along an old southern foothill road is 700 m above sea level. The asphalt road to Talgar, itself, brings the altitude up to 1000 m above the sea level, when entering the city.
Talgar city stretches along the foothills of the Zailiy Alatau at 1000 - 1200 m (Almaty is 700 - 900 m). Thus, it is cooler and less dry in Talgar, a lot more vegetation, houses are overgrown with gardens. The Talgar River, beginning at the Zailiy Alatau glaciation, is diverse in form from quick stream to the thundering roar of a raging torrent.
The river noise is heard far away, and clash of raging water and shifting boulders, stops neither day, nor night. The vegetation is diverse. A wide zone is occupied by the Sivers wild apple-trees, apricots, hawthorn, bird cherry-trees, barberry, and raspberry.
There are willows, birches with pink barks and small leaves in the river's floodplain. The wilderness is gradually regenerating with the creation of the reserve. Meadows have become green, the density of the fir-trees undergrowth has increased, the Tien-Shan seed birch has reappeared, kekliks, ulars, black-cocks, roe deer, wild boars and, tekes are repopulating.
The Tien-Shan bears, ounces and arkhars are found in the reserve, which existed in low numbers earlier.
Authority:
"Zhetysu is the Land of tourism”. A Tourist Guide-book. Almaty. 2003. 68 p. and the material for this page is taken from the printed edition.
Photos
Alexander Petrov.