In the summer of 2016, we drove to East Kazakhstan to experience the Kazakh Altai with its stunning nature and local legends. Despite its hard-to-get reputation, we found it quite accessible, developed and easy to travel if you have enough information about border permits, roads, and sights. But what about travelers who don’t have their own car and time for preparation? Who can organize logistics and tours?
We were lucky to meet Valeriya, the director of a well-known outbound tourist agency in Oskemen, who until then was mostly selling package tours to Turkey and Maldives.
With the increase in tourism from Expo 2017, she suddenly found herself arranging tours around her home region for local and foreign tourists.
She discovered a new passion in ethnography and history, collecting tales and legends from Old Believer villages, visiting the atomic testing grounds at Kurchatov, and spending a lot of time in the forests and hills she had failed to notice until foreign tourists pointed them out to her.
Valeriya is also a foodie who founded a local wine club and organises food tours around France.
What Valeriya says:
Our tours can be captivating for both nature and history lovers. We are happy to design your unique Altai holiday!
- Our guides are experienced professionals with passion and love to their region who are happy to show the best of Ust-Kamenogorsk and East Kazakhstan.
- Our transport is modern and reliable cars, minivans and buses with polite drivers.
- Food – we only work with proven cafes and restaurants in the city. We take into account your preferences before preparing food in guest houses and during treks. Guest houses serve ecologically clean home made products, fresh bread, dairy and precious Altai honey.
- Hotels and guest houses – you will always have a choice where to stay. But we prefer to work with village guest houses and purchase products from kind-hearted inhabitants to support local communities.
- We also organise Altai border permit for independent travellers. Click here to apply.
The trip was excellent – itinerary went exactly as Valeriya had planned; guide spoke outstanding English, and my special needs for the village stay, such as regarding dietary needs and to avoid woodsmoke while sleeping, were all taken into account.
I would definitely recommend her tours in Eastern Kazakhstan.
Valeriya, I had a great time at Rakhman Springs! I regret that I couldn’t stay longer, I was very sad to leave. The staff was so accommodating to me, I am so grateful for their kindness – especially the restaurant lady, the doctors who did my initial consultation, the lady who did my cellulite treatments, the girl who cleaned our dacha. Everyone I interacted with was very helpful and very kind. The language barrier was an issue but everyone tried to help me.
The restaurant lady gave me a packed lunch on my last breakfast, so I would have something to eat in the car. I was really touched by the thoughtfulness.
I liked the drivers, they were very professional, safe, and attentive.
The people at the resort were also very nice. Many spoke English and wanted to talk to me. An old grandmother, who did not speak much English, went into the forest to pick berries for me! She was worried about me because I was swimming in the (cold) lake.
The slow internet and terrible road conditions are big problems there, but I do understand this is the remote mountains.
Thank you for everything!
Christina
Dear Valeryia
I arrived back in South Africa this morning. It was a great tour in Kazakhstan – with many thanks to you and your team. I am sorry, but I do not know how to spell their names L
It gives me great pleasure to give feedback to you. Arrangements have been made very well, from picking us up at the airport and getting us back on the train for departure at 5 in the morning!
It was such a joy to have been with Anatoli. He is kind, caring and was willing to walk the extra mile for us. On the last evening when we were back at the hotel, I discovered 2 ticks on me. Having heard it could be dangerous if the ticks were carriers of an infection, I did not hesitate to phone Anatoli and asked for advice. He immediately came and took me to the hospital for treatment. The service at the hospital was very friendly and good.
He has such a wide knowledge of nature, birds, plants and could explain enthusiatically and in depth what we were seeing and asking. He is really a good tour guide. We had a challenge with the wheather, but that did not prevent him from making another plan with Arcadia (?) to drive us to see some Taigra forest. The day when we were hiking, he made us the most delicious tea with wild rose petals and strawberry leaves.
As for Arcadia and his wife and their children: they were kind, put a lot of effort in to making us feel at home, preparing wonderful food, sharing their honey, showing us how they separate cream and making the cheese! The banya was a new and different experience to us, but now we can say we have truly done the banya the Russian way!
Thank you for also sending the lady with the music instruments and the colourful clothes.
The beautiful old house where we stayed was also very special and well cared for.We enjoyed the view from the outside toilet and even though basic, it was in a good condition. Where else in the world can you have such a view from a toilet J I attach a picture to prove my point !
You arranged a good trip for us and it will not easily be forgotton!
Thank you
Magdel, Janhendrik and Werdene.
Риддер, 1 января 2018г
Нам очень понравилось в Алтае. Перед приездом, мы обо всем договорились с Валерией, которая нам всегда вежливо и быстро отвечала, именно предлагая то чем мы сможем здесь заняться.
В аэропорту в Усть-Каменогорске нас встретил Слава и отвез в Поперечное.
Мы жили в доме Аркадия и Наташи, они необыкновенно приятные люли, которые все время за нами ухаживали, что бы мы хорошо провели отдых.
Сначала мы были немного удивлены, что остаемся с хозяином, а не в гостевом доме рядом, где мы должны были остаться сами. И мы немного стеснялись, так как не ожидали этого. С другой стороны, благодаря этому, мы могли испытать гостеприимность Аркадия и Наташи, никто в нашей жизни за нами так не ухаживал как они. Было бы полезно для нас знать заранее, что мы будем жить с хозяином и его семьей. Мы знаем что едем в село, на не были готовы на условия, которые мы там увидели, для нас это был культурный шок. После нескольких дней мы привыкли, я бы советовал показывать фотографии гостям, где будут жить – дом, спальню, туалет, баню, чтобы хорошо знали, куда собираются. Говоря о бане, это было для нас исключительное удовольствие. Аркадий все для нас приготавливал, а в новый год и нас был специальный режим с медом и сосновыми ветками, это было просто замечательно.
Мы провели 2 дня на беговых лыжах и 2 дня на горных. Эти 4 дня с нами была Елена, она человек вежливый, терпимый. Можно с ней поговорить и пошутить. Нам очень понравилось провести время с ней. В общем, мы были в восторге от природы и людей, с которыми мы здесь познакомились и которые нам организовывали наш отдых. Они замечательные, и мы больше не обращали внимание на то, к чему не были готовы. Чем здесь заниматься зависит от погоды и времени года – нам было бы интересно вернуться сюда весной или летом. Организаторы немедленно отвечали на все наши дополнительные желания. Мы вас очень благодарим за все это.
Jakub Osiewacz, Poland
Re: “Altai tour in August 2017”
Both tours in the Altai and in Almaty went very well and we were really pleased with the organisation and professionalism of both tour companies.
The first week in the Altai we had good weather and were able to do everything that was scheduled. We particularly enjoyed the day at Rakhmaninov Springs and the view from the pass above. Another good walk was the descent of the Burkhat pass with magnificent views over the Belukha and the valley below. The trip to Yazevoye lake was also interesting as we really got a sense of being in the middle of nowhere and we had the chance to see some nice birds (thanks to our translater) and other animals ; we were also lucky to see once more the Belukha when the clouds finally lifted. The scenery in the Altai was nice but probably what we’ll remember most are the people, the way they live and their kindness. We were surprised to start with by the place at Mikhaelitch’s that was labelled as a guest house on the programme but was more like a home stay. Having said that, we did love it as it was very clean and we even got used to the Russian banya + the food we were served was top. It’s just that we think the price tag for the tour was a bit too high given how much things cost in Kazakhstan. Mikhaelitch was a very knowledgeable guide and also was very organised and punctual (we are quite organised ourselves but we did not seem to be up to his standards sometimes) ; he also had some knowledge of English and we may have got by with my few words of Russian but that was nice to also have a translator. Anatoly was very friendly and we benefited from his knowledge of birds even though sometimes his passion for them was more important than guiding us. Our stay in Korobikha at the end was a really nice surprise. I was not expecting too much of it as a visit to a bee farm was not on the top of my list but in retrospect I would have regretted it a lot if we had not spent the day there. The place where we stayed was a bit more basic than in Uryl but there was a lovely garden and we had the chance to observe the stars at night like nowhere else as the light pollution in the village is minimal. The ladies who owned the house were so nice to us and we now seem to know half the village after we had tea in a few houses (the stop at the old woman’s who built the church was an experience that could have been filmed for a TV documentary). One last thing about the tour is that Valeriya and her team had acknowledged the fact that we wanted to walk and we were pleased to see that they managed to fit in some walking every day and that the lunch breaks were not taking too long allowing us to enjoy most of the day visiting. There would be so much else I could say about the trip like learning about the way the people live, their culture and history (the khorgans in Berel were something we had not heard about before) but I’ll stop here.
Our three weeks in Kazakhstan went all too quickly but we came back home with loads of pictures and memories. This is definitely a country that is worth visiting. Thank you for organising the Altai and Kolsay tours.
Уважаемая Валерия!
Извиняюсь за запоздалый ответ.
Гостям очень понравилась экскурсия в Риддер. Мы получили положительные отзывы о самой экскурсии и об экскурсоводе. Благодарим Вас за содействие и будем рекомендовать Вашу компанию другим гостям из Австрии.
С уважением,
Татьяна Соколова
Austria
Austrian Embassy – Commercial Section – Office Almaty
41 Kazybek Bi Street, Block B
050010 Almaty
Kazakhstan
T +7 727 225 1484
F +7 727 225 1486
[email protected]
http://www.advantageaustria.org/kz
In the last October I went to Kazakhstan for my first time and I decided to visit the Katon Karagay district and Altai mountains, moved by taste for a land still little-known and fascinating.
Encouraged by tips of Saule and Steven, who helped me to organize the itinerary and steps needed, I found in my guide Evgeniy and in his jeep the best means to reach Mt Belukha, wrapped in the clouds with all its charme.
A touching hospitality, amazing landscapes, and colors of autumn blended to first snow have made my experience great, and I already wish to come back again in these amazing places.