Trip from Ust-Kamenogorsk to mausoleum of Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-Sulu.

“Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Brief description of route of excursion trip to mausoleum of Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-Sulu:

Almaty - Taldy-Kurgan - Sarkand village - Usharal village - Sasykkol lake - Aktogay railway station - Akshiy aul - Ayagoz river - Kozy-Korpesh mausoleum and Bayan-Sulu - Almaty.

Distance of route: 860 km.
Season: May - September.
Best time for tour: June, July, August.

Detailed program of tour from Almaty to town of Ayagoz:

Trip from Ayagoz to Almaty.

Day 1. Almaty - Usharal town (573 km).
Early departure from Almaty. Transfer: Almaty - the town of Kapshagai - Taldykorgan - the village of Kyzylagash - the village of Zhansugurovo (390 km). After we pass the town of Taldykorgan, our path lies to the north-east and only after we pass the Akesh reservoir, the road turns east.
We pass the small village of Kyzylagash, which became famous on the night of March 11 to 12, 2010, when a dam broke through upstream of the Kyzylagash river, killing 45 people. The village as a result of the breakthrough of the dam was destroyed by 70%.
In the south side of the village is a monument to those killed in March 2010. Arrival in the village of Zhansugurovo, lunch in a roadside cafe. Until 1965, this village was called Abakumovka, founded as a postal picket by Colonel Stepan Mikhailovich Abakumov in the 1850s of the XIX century.
Subsequently, she became a village bearing the name of lieutenant colonel. Abakumovka was renamed in 1965 in honor of the classic of Kazakh literature born here, Ilyas Dzhansugurov, a local museum in the village of Zhansugurovo is dedicated to his life and work.
Transfer: Zhansugurovo village - Sarkand village - Koylyk village - Usharal town (183 km). Soon we will bypass the large village of Sarkand, the administrative center of the Sarkand district of Almaty region. After Sarkand, the road turns to the north-east, after the village of Kolbai we again head east and only after the village of Kabanbai the road goes north-east to the town of Usharal.
After the village of Sarkand, on our way we will meet a small village Koylyk, this is the former village of Antonovka. Behind the village, on the west side of the road, there is the Koylyk settlement (Kayalyk (Antonovskoe)). In the VIII - XIV centuries, the largest trade, craft and cultural center in the north-east of Semirechye, the headquarters of Karluk jabgu.
The territory is surrounded by a fortress wall up to 4 meters high. The city was famous for its bazaars, and in it, except for Muslims, Christians lived who had their own church. This is reported by Wilhelm Rubruk, who visited the town, the ambassador of the French king Louis IX to the Mongol Khan Munch.
Archaeological research on the site was carried out in 1964. Buddhist and Manichaean temples, objects of Muslim culture of the XIIth - XIVth centuries, a cathedral mosque, a complex of mausoleums and a khanak have been excavated. Arrival in the village of Usharal, hotel accommodation, overnight.
Usharal, the former village of Stefanovskaya, since 1918 was renamed Үsharal, the district center of Alakol district of Almaty region. The town is located on the Tentek River, 40 kilometers west of Lake Alakol.
Day 2. Usharal - mausoleum of Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-Sulu (287 km).
Breakfast. Transfer: Usharal town - Sasykkol lake - Aktogay railway station - Akshiy village - Ayagoz river - Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan-Sulu mausoleum (182 km). After the Usharal town at 52 km, we turn off the main road and head to the large Aktogay railway station, which is located on the Almaty-Semey railway line.
In the east, 10 kilometers from us is the large lake Sasykkol. After Aktogay station, we will move along the steppe roads, bypass the small village of Akshiy, cross the Ayagoz river and we are at the mausoleum of Bayan-Sulu and Kozy-Korpesh. Arrival at the mausoleum, visit to of the mausoleum, walks in the vicinity.
The mausoleum of Bayan-Sulu and Kozy-Korpesh is located 800 meters, on the right bank of the Ayagoz River and 4 kilometers east of Mount Karaaba, which is 459 meters above sea level. This famous tomb, associated with the names of the heroes of the lyric-epic poem, is one of the oldest in Kazakhstan, extant to our time with some change in its original appearance.
Saint tomb has a pointed dome, made of stone, gradually tapering up. Reliable data on in which century the monument was built is still not available. It is assumed that it was built before the spread of Islam in Kazakhstan. Four stone sculptures were installed in front of the mausoleum.
In 1856, they were sketched on paper by Chokan Valikhanov. The figure shows three women and one man. According to popular legend, one of the women is Bayan-Sulu, the second is her younger sister Aykiz, the third is the daughter-in-law, the man is Kozy.
Transfer: Bayan-Sulu and Kozy-Korpesh mausoleum - Tansyk railway station - Kogildir village - Bozai village - Ayagoz town (105 km). Arrival in Ayagoz town, hotel accommodation, overnight. The town of Ayagoz is located in the extreme southeast of the Saryarka steppe and in the southern part of the East Kazakhstan region.
The modern name of the town comes from the name of the Ayaguz river flowing through it. The name of the river, according to scientists, comes from the Turkic tribal name ay and the ancient Türkic uguz “river”, that is, “river of the ay kind”; according to popular folk etymology, the name of the river and the town comes from the Turkic ay - “beautiful” and Goz/Kozy - “eyes”.
The town  was founded in 1831. In 1831 - 1860 was a district city and was called Ayaguz. In 1831, the Ayaguz district was created an administrative-territorial unit in Tsarist Russia, in connection with the formation of the Ayaguz District as part of the Omsk Region.
The head of the military district controlled the Ayaguz distroct. In accordance with the reform of 1867 - 1868 and the new administrative-territorial division of Kazakhstan, Ayaguz volost was abolished. Obeyed the head of the military district.
Day 3. Ayagoz - Almaty.
Departure by train to Almaty.

Travel Note:
It should be noted that in 2018, the reconstruction of the highway from the city of Taldykorgan (Almaty region) to the village of Kalbatau (East Kazakhstan region) began. There are 267 kilometers of excellent road from Almaty to Taldykorgan, and after Taldykorgan you will have to go along the road that is being repaired.

Note:
The author program is Alexander Petrov. Copying and introduction -  from the sanction of the author.

Alexander Petrov
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