Kazakhstan - Largest country in Central Asia | Travel Documentary

hey guys who are you welcome to cool vision the endless step the horses where am I guys I guess it's Kazakhstan welcome to Kazakhstan guys we'll be exploring this country we'll be visiting the major cities and we'll be trying delicious food so let's begin the journey first of all Kazakhstan is huge it's the ninth largest country in the world the size of Western Europe it's located mainly in Central Asia bordering Russia to the north and west China to the east Kyrgyzstan to the southeast Uzbekistan to the South and Turkmenistan to the Southwest with a coastline along the Caspian Sea but with all that area the population of the country is just 19.6 million people so it has one of the lowest population densities in the world fewer than six people per square kilometer let's take a quick look at the history the territory of modern Kazakhstan had historically been inhabited by different nomadic groups in the 8th and 9th centuries Arabs conquered portions of Southern Kazakhstan and introduced Islam in the 13th century the land was conquered by the Mongol Empire and the Genghis Khan in the 15th century the Gaza khanid successor of the golden horde was formed and existed until the 19th century when the Russian empire spread into Central Asia the bolshewik revolution in 1917 in Russia Kazakhstan was colonized by the USSR Kazakhstan was turned from a nomadic into a heavily industrial region with countless plans and factories tens of thousands of kilometers of railroads were built this came at a huge price though when Stalin was trying to collectivize agriculture Kazakhstan endured massive famine one and a half million people died more than a third of all kazakhs at the time after the collapse of the USSR Kazakhstan finally became an independent state and today it's an amazing mixture of ethnic groups cultures and religions so let's begin the trip our first stop is going to be the capital of Kazakhstan welcome to Astana but at the time of our visit in September 2022 the name of the city was Nur Sultan how come the city changed names so many times it's not surprising now it's Astana again the Hashem river divides the city into two parts the right one that's the old part we find a lot of old neighborhoods of five-story buildings and the abundance of Soviet heritage and the left part that's the new part this is where you find a lot of cool modern buildings designed by world famous Architects let's take a look at just a few of them Palace of peace and Reconciliation in the form of a pyramid next to the hazrat sultan mosque national museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan Palace of creativity Shabbat and the Palace of Independence and between them is the monument kasak Eli on top of which there is the mystical Bird samruk nazarb Center in the form of a futuristic eye Abu Dhabi Plaza at 311 meters it's the tallest building in Kazakhstan and all of Central Asia and many more the city became the capital relatively recently in 1997 previously the capital was almati in 2017 astronaut got the world attention when it was hosting Expo 2017. Kazakhstan exhibition was in this interesting building that looks like a bowling ball in fact this is the largest spherical building in the world nearby you'll find the largest mosque in Central Asia with a capacity of 30 000 people which opened in August 2022 the name of the mosque is the Grand Mosque of Astana foreign [Music] Abu Dhabi and Moscow at the same time it's a dynamic city with a lot of construction going on the central part of the city and the most famous street is nurjo Boulevard behind me is an observation tower and it's called by direct and it's probably one of the most recognized symbols of Nur Sultan this is a tower that's 105 meters high symbolizing a mystical tree of life and a magic bird of Happiness named samruc who laid her egg in the crevice between the two branches of the tree nearby you'll find the presidential residence with an excellent park around it if you go the other way you'll stumble upon a building that may remind you of Atlantis hotel in Dubai this building behind me it reminds me of Atlantis hotel in Dubai but here it's just a building that belongs to one of the oil and gas companies you know because Kazakhstan is one of the major oil and gas producers in front of this building there's a plaza with a fountain and a good selection of cafes so you can finally sit down and try it first bushber Mac what's a bashburger Mac Besh bermak is one of the traditional foods in Kazakhstan and it means five fingers because Nomads normally aided with their hands it's made from finely chopped boiled meat mixed with dough and by the way the meat is horse meat [Music] if you go farther you'll see the most famous Shop in mall hanchitir meaning the king of all tens in Astana even the shopping malls have a unique architectural style foreign [Laughter] what do I like about us tonight the city is developing fast in the year 2000 the population of the city was just 380 000 people and today it's over 1.3 million there are huge Investments coming in both from the state and private investors which means lots of jobs housing is relatively inexpensive what are the disadvantages the city has an extreme continental climate meaning hot summers and Winters that can get really cold there's not enough trees which makes it difficult to find shade in the heat driving style of the locals is pretty hectic and boy do they love to hunt since the city is in the step there are not too many places to go to for the weekend one of the popular ones is Bora Voya or burabe 260 kilometers north of Astana it's a resort in the National Reserve with mountains lakes Pine and Birch Groves and clean air now from us to not let's go to the fourth largest city of Kazakhstan karaganda now that we're on the freeway we can accelerate and the maximum speed is pretty generous 140 kilometers an hour kerrigandau region had long been famous for its coal industry once a small settlement of miners it received a town status in 1934 today karaganda is a large city where coal mining and metal working companies are concentrated so we decided to explore Kazakhstan more and right now we're in karaganda or Kerrigan D karagandhi is an industrial city and the center of coal mining the population is 500 000 people and it just happened that we got there at a time of the miners Day holiday the whole city was partying we walked around the park in the central streets and talked to some people is um treatment [Music] [Music] these regions were notorious for the Stalin camps steplog and Carlock we visited carlag a museum in memory of victims of political repressions 40 kilometers away from karagenda karlak was once one of the largest Gulag labor camps the museum is so realistic it makes you feel all the horror and misery this inmates had to go through in the 1930s dictator Stalin started mass deportations Koreans Germans chechens pulse Crimean tatters and other peoples were forcibly deported to the cold Northern steps of Kazakhstan around a million people pass through this core-like labor camp Kazakhstan suffered greatly under the Soviet occupation nearly all members of the Kazakh Intelligentsia were executed and one-third of the population died during collectivization now let's go to the largest city of Kazakhstan it's located right here we were planning to drive to almati but unfortunately not a single rental company allows you to do that they say the modern highway is not yet completed and there are too many bad sections of the road so they don't want to take the risk I just can't believe that the two largest cities of Kazakhstan are still not connected by a modern Highway well I guess it has to be a plane then and one and a half hours later we are in Almaty foreign [Music] Ty and right off the bat I can say that in comparison to Astana the air feels different it has more humidity and also the city has a lot more vegetation which is great A lot more trees allowing you to hide away from the Sun and it's really hot outside so that's a huge bonus you're walking and you're not getting burned almati is the largest city of Kazakhstan the population is 2 million one hundred and forty seven thousand people it's located in the mountainous area of Southern Kazakhstan near the border with Kyrgyzstan the mountains are visible from anywhere in the city for almost 70 years the city was the capital of the country today almati is still referred to as the Southern Capital because of its economic social and cultural impact it really does feel like a capital city hey the city even has a Subway although it's just 11 stations in one line but it's really new and it was opened in 2011. [Music] compared to Astana the city has a better climate and is much Greener tall trees with Lush grounds provide shape from the Sun amates called The Garden City for a reason there's many parks to choose from like this gorgeous Botanical Garden almatu is a green City but also there are so many parks like right now we're in Botanical Garden wonderful huge it has a lot of ponds it has a lot of alleys like this one's called the Oak Grove or this Alma T Central Park this bear mask was having fun and running after kids so I thought I'd have some fun too and give him a bigger challenge barely got away there are always a lot of young people on the streets lots of outdoor cafes and in some places it feels like a resort Town Amity is a fairly compact City the center is easy to get around on food [Music] better better [Music] you can start your walking tour from Penfield pedestrian street it's always crowded there are Street musicians and a good choice restaurants don't forget to visit the Green Market and try some seasonal fruits the symbol of the city is an apple almati is translated from Kazakh as Apple the most famous variety of apples is amata Airport foreign [Music] foreign they're gonna surprise you by saying the mountains so let's do the mountains let's take a cable car to this wonderful City Park Toby we want to spend probably about an hour walking in the Hills it's going to be gorgeous views and one of the popular sites in the city and you'll be getting some great views as you travel to a height of 1130 meters above sea level or 200 meters relative to the city it's a wonderful place people come here first and foremost for fresh air there's also an amusement park a zoo so many different activities for kids and adults and there's the famous TV Tower and that's one of the sites of the city since the financial Mark has been going down the charging bull relocated from Wall Street New York all the way to cook Toby Kazakhstan almati an exact copy next we go to the legendary ice rink medel it's the highest mountain Sports Complex in the world the surface of the ice is 10.5 000 square meters or 2.6 Acres more than 170 World Records have been set here by famous athletes it takes just 30 minutes to get here from the city center you can take a number of hiking routes from beginner levels for a Day hike to Peak climbing for pros or you can just go for a walk like to walk a lot you can take cable car and enjoy the views or get a taxi only electric cars are allowed which means all taxi cabs are also Electric the ski resort is called shimbulak the ski season starts from late November and lasts till April they went to Big Almaty Lake the locals say if you haven't been here you haven't been to Alma T so we had no choice the lake is located at an altitude of 2500 meters above sea level the depth is 30 to 40 meters and dependent on weather conditions it changes its color from pale green to dark turquoise the big Alma to Lake is so hard to get to you can't drive here because the road's been closed for three years so the only way to get here is to hike for many many hours like four or five hours it's so exhausting but the bonuses there's not a lot of people here see it's only me and a handful of other people and the rest is nature you know so if you want this relaxing experience go for it you won't regret it let's get some sunshine [Music] thank you all right now back to the city in the evening Almaty becomes an incredibly Lively City outdoor cafes and restaurants and nightclubs I did not expect that regardless of the day of the week it seems like Almaty residents know how to have fun all right what are the advantages of the city mountains of course lots of green areas and a mild climate what are the downsides air pollution traffic and High real estate prices how's the economy doing Kazakhstan is an oil country in terms of its output it ranks 12th in the world in addition it's eighth when it comes to coal mining and the first when it comes to uranium mining also Kazakhstan is among the top 10 grain and flower exporters it's the largest economy in Central Asia does that correspond to the higher wages the average salary in the nation in 2022 is 670 dollars per month not good but not terrible the local currency is called tenge Kazakhstan has its own Stock Exchange it's located in Alma t in Kazakhstan prices are low for certain goods and services for example a liter of premium gasoline is just 44 cents per liter or 1.65 cents per gallon which is two times cheaper than in neighboring Russia or Uzbekistan while corruption is still a problem in Kazakhstan it's ranking above its neighbors 102nd position out of 180 countries according to Transparency International if you love nature Kazakhstan is the place to be it has some awesome breathtaking places here you have mountains Crystal Clear turquoise Lakes the endless step and even Canyons let's see what you can find around Alma T first place to go to is ASI Plateau it's a high mountain valley not the easiest to get to so you better have an off-road vehicle first the road will be like this and then like this and then these views open up wow it's truly breathtaking here on top you'll find the AC Target Observatory at an altitude of 2700 meters above sea level just look at these vast Open Spaces it's a great place to unwind our friend azamat starts an anti-summer season with a trip to this unique place all right sweetie at uh images uh yes foreign [Music] from the top we could see a barely noticeable white dot it turned out to be a yurt in this area you can still meet Nomads who lead the same way of life as their ancestors did decades ago [Applause] we decided to come back and spend a whole day with his modern Nomads every year in May they drive the Hertz to the mountains when everything is green these Shepherds live with their families and Yorks until September October and then they all return to the Villages for the winter [Music] thank you [Music] they also cooked local bread for us it's called bawasaki [Music] foreign [Music] there are several national parks in Kazakhstan one of them is Alton ML on the way to it you can stop at Lei capture guy just 80 kilometers from almati there's a nice beach with cafes hotels and water attractions we were there on a weekday in September so it was empty but you can imagine how crowded it might get on a hot summer day another 170 kilometers along the perfect Road and we enter the National Park Alton ml the central office of the park is located in the village of Bashi this is where you'll be given a pass and the map there are several main destinations in the park this place went to was the singing Dune the road to it as an adventure by itself clouds of dust Sunset and silence all around and the ride is so bumpy actually the faster you go the softer the ride gets but scary at the same time because the cars start sliding we were pretty lucky by the time we got there we were the only ones the sound of the Sand Dune resembles throat singing the sound of an organ or the rumble of a jet aircraft you can hear it well in dry windy weather if you want to you can stay in a tent overnight but we decided to go back to the Village wow what a magical place we are in the National Park of Kazakhstan it's really wonderful here and we are the only two people in this area landscapes in the park are changing rapidly and here we are at the katatao volcanic mountains they were formed as a result of intense volcanic activity in the region this Frozen lava has taken such bizarre shapes and these are actau mountains this multi-colored chalk mountains are sedimentary layers of paleogene and neogene of lake and river origin basically Museum of our planet's distant past there are lots of wild animals in the park but it's not easy to get them on tape on our way back we stopped by a tree it's a 700 year old Willow they say that Genghis Khan himself rested under this tree during his campaign in Central Asia but it's just a legend and I know it's not true because the math doesn't work 2022-700 is 1322 and he died in 1227. bring roads to the park go through the local Villages and we met a Shepherd or as they call themselves a chiban no not foreign [Laughter] laughs another he chose this choice Madrid [Laughter] he invited us to his house which he calls a fazenda this is what it looks like Besides cattle he's got an apple orchard did you know that Kazakhstan has its own Canyon it's called Turin Canyon it stretches for 50 kilometers along the terrain River these red sedimentary rocks are about 12 million years old Kazakhstan has so many terrains and this one looks like a canyon right wow you get this feeling like you're in the Grand Canyon in Arizona but yeah pretty cool if you walk two more kilometers down that way you'll end up near a river which we don't have the energy to do it was super hot on that day luckily there's a shuttle bus that can take you to the river and back [Applause] [Applause] Kazakhstan has some incredible Mountain Lakes one of them is KND Rive to get some place [Applause] this birch tree growth makes me feel like I'm back in Russia can you believe that like I said Kazakhstan has so many terrains just an hour ago we were in a canyon now what does this look like I would say Canada or Russia wow all those fur trees and mountains and down below is why we came here there's a wonderful lake with petrified trees for trees and we're going to show you that in a second this is truly a postcard landscape the lake is difficult to get to First you need to drive through local Villages then cross a small River and then ride a horse to the lake Kinder lake was formed after an earthquake in 1911. this Valley got filled with water submerging the coniferous forest now its depth is 25 meters truly One of a Kind place finally we have come to kinder Lake which was famous for its Petrified Forest and these trees have been standing here for more than 100 years this place has become unbelievably touristy just look at the crowd wow as you would expect it's pretty cold further down the road are the call side Lakes there are three of them the first or the Lower Lake can be reached by car you can walk around the lake or you can rent a boat and explore the lake from the water the second and third Lakes we didn't bother to visit because it requires quite a bit of walking many people come here to stay overnight and go camping and there are plenty of yard-like hotels and regular hotels too [Music] and now finally we're going to the West right over here [Music] or as the locals call this area Texas and here we are in shimkan foreign [Music] it's the third largest city in Kazakhstan and it's the largest city by area the population today is 1.1 million now it's growing so fast that in 2001 it was just half a million so it doubled yeah some in shim cats what do you mean where it's the third largest city of Kazakhstan you should know that all right it's very different from the previous cities a lot more people speak Kazakh in shimkent than in Astana or almati the language issue is a hot one for Kazakhstan in rural areas Russians almost completely forgotten at the same time any Urban people continue to speak Russian not learning Kazakh 17.5 percent of the population of shimkan are uzbeks no wonder from here to Tashkent the capital of Uzbekistan is just 150 kilometers it's a large city where life goes as usual there are parks cafes shops and a zoo and the breakfast cookies thank you foreign [Laughter] yes foreign there are not too many major sites but there's a couple of amazing places in the vicinity so let's visit them first one is akmichit guys I'm about to show you one of the wonders of Kazakhstan this place is a cave and it's called cave akmichit now for millions of years this place had been enclosed had a roof and people had no idea it existed and it wasn't until the 20th century that the roof collapsed and people discovered this place now this trees down there I don't know what to expect and there's so much Echo can you hear me this place is enormous it's just huge there was a legend that there used to be a dragon that lived here okay and he was stealing people's cattle until one of the prophets took care of that creature well the dragon is no longer here but there's plenty of birds and when they make their noises it makes uh mysterious atmosphere wait a second there's a dragon the other place is Adam and Eve we are 30 minutes away from the city of shimkent and we have come to a really cool spot it's called Adam and Eve and you see in the distance there's a rock and it has been split into two halves and that's why it's called Adam and Eve the belief goes that if you can pass through it you're not a sinful person but if you get stuck or you're too scared that means you are so let's go for it you don't even come here come here a real Jam of this part of Kazakhstan is the city of turkistan one of the oldest cities in the country with a population of 200 000 people it's just two hours away from Kent since 2018 the city has been experiencing a rebirth tourism is on the rise the cities gradually becoming the historical and spiritual center of the country ancient turkistan was located on the great Silk Road going from Hara and samarkan to the north the city was part of the empire of Amir Timur and later became the capital of the kasahanate and the 12th century a Sufi poet and philosopher hoja Ahmed yasawi settled here it was preaching Islam and gradually brought a lot of students around him who also settled here to immortalize the memory of the poet Amir Timur started the construction of Mausoleum of hoja Ahmed yasawi in 1389 today it's the main attraction of turkistan but Timur died in 1405 and the construction was never finished but despite its incomplete State the mausoleum is in great shape let's walk inside [Music] today the modern Caravan Sarai complex has been built around it a fairy tale-like City in the middle of a desert there's a 7D movie theater and entertainment center hotels and restaurants not only that there's also a library and a university here um Court is um at least turkistan I um you can explore everything on food or take a ride with the guide is lots of Investments are coming in for example this mosque was built by the Turkish religion Foundation it's called the hoja Ahmed yasawi mosque Beach ES I got a suggestion the scale is enormous you just keep walking and walking one Park after another but then there's nowhere to hide from the Sun so that's the complaint you need some shade you need some shade because it gets exhausting you know other than that I love it this is the railroad terminal of turkistan and if you look at it it's a European building it almost feels like it's out of place here it was built in 1903 when Kazakhstan was part of the Russian Empire as part of railroad line well just how many hands have touched this handle Panther it's pretty cool in the evening you can take a boat ride and watch an amazing performance that tells the legendary story of tulligan a brave Warrior and the beauty you beg that ends tragically because of inner Family Feud [Music] I don't know about you guys but seeing horses and camels along the road grazing on the grass it's kind of unusual to me so but this is Southern Kazakhstan this Texas area is pretty amazing we visited a local farmer German guy here's a camel farmer and has around 50 camels and this area wins and sandstorms are not uncommon for example the day we arrived was like this [Music] foreign but in the evening everything calmed down in today's fast pace of life to be in a place like this is a blessing you start to appreciate Small Things life on the farm is different Jim and Guy also has goats sheep cows and even a racing horse and he takes good care of them now the camels have returned from Pastor it's time to melt them you ever wonder how they male camels well let's see camel firemen is a profitable business apparently camel milk is in high demand they make delicious Shabbat out of it that's a sour Dairy drink also the Chinese buy it in bulk then turn into powder and send it to their Homeland I think this area's got a lot of Tourism potential that hasn't been realized yet foreign [Laughter] [Music] I heard about the cockpaw game before going to Kazakhstan but I didn't know if we would be able to see it or not and one time we were driving on the highway and we saw crowds of people in the field we stopped to see what was going on and they were playing cockpot good usually they play one Village against the other players try to place a gold carcass and a goal while remaining in the saddle after the game the carcass is not thrown away but given to the winners and they cook dinner with it um your party music Kazakhstan is huge there's also the Caspian Seacoast and the city of aktau which is a major Seaport and in the summer months it's a resort for those who want to relax by the sea besides the Caspian Sea people come here to see who Stuart Reserve this used to be an ancient seabed all this area was covered by water in the distant past wow now let's talk about food the basis of Kazakh Cuisine is meat dough and dairy products meat is most often lamb horse meat or beef the main national dish is which we talked about earlier once we were invited to a village house to try bismack local hospitality is great Monty is also popular it's dumplings usually with lamb or ground beef because he is a horse meat sausage sometimes it's added to plov vegetable Mac and other dishes Cort is a local snack and salty cottage cheese that's been dried in the sun Court was very popular with no Mass because so easy to carry it with you and of course don't forget to try kumis and shubat those are fermented milk drinks from mares and Camel's milk because there are not too many trees in the area people are still using kiziak or dry down fuel that has dried animal feces mixed with hay as a fuel source this is how they do it foreign has some ecological challenges for example a 40-minute drive from kurganda you'll find timmertau a city of metallurgists the name translates as Iron Mountain it's a city of 178 000 people with an obvious air pollution problem the local steel plan pollutes the air in the local Rivers Timber Tao is constantly cowered by a small cloud and in the winter they say the snow sometimes turns black wow but the biggest problems were inherited from the USSR during the Soviet days Kazakhstan served as a platform for various kinds of nuclear tests just look at semi-platinsk people in this region still have consequences in the form of disabilities including cancer in 1994 Kazakhstan alongside with Ukraine decided to denuclearize its territory by returning all the nuclear warheads to Russia another problem of modern Kazakhstan is the shallowing of the RLC that they share with Uzbekistan what once was the fourth largest lake in the world due to disastrous Soviet agricultural policies almost became a desert nearby is the baikonur cosmodrome that Kazakhstan inherited from the USSR it's the first and also the largest operating cosmodrome in the world founded in 1955 Russia is currently leasing it from Kazakhstan until 2015. [Music] what other challenges is the country facing corruption and income disparity see this burned down building it's the aftermath of January 2022 protests that began after a sharp increase in liquefied gas prices and then spread all over the country peaceful demonstrations turned into violent riots fueled by Rise and dissatisfaction with the government as a result 227 people were killed and almost 10 000 people were arrested kazakhstan's first president azerbaija stayed in power for over 27 years so people had high hopes for changes when the new president took office in 2019 Galloway foreign what are the people in Kazakhstan like friendly and proud of their country yes Kazakhstan became a Melting Pot of Destinies and people and today it's proud to be home to so many ethnic groups that were forcefully deported during the years of Stalin the local kazakhs sheltered them and helped them survive and now more than 130 ethnic groups consider Kazakhstan their Homeland so let's sum it up Kazakhstan is developing fast its abundance of Natural Resources enormous land great potential in tourism and lots of resourceful smart people might be a recipe for a bright future amazing nature and Friendly Village folks is what I'm going to remember for my trip so what do you guys think about Kazakhstan [Music] foreign [Music] thank you

Channel: CoolVision

Views: 2,828,259

Keywords: Travel Documentary, kazakhstan, astana, almaty, shymkent, Kazakhstan today

Id: 8t5ZkVdXjrE

Length: 47min 34sec (2854 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 19 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/FlemingT]

Awesome. Such a lovely place, I would like to visit. But it is disappointing that no one talks about it! I hope I can do a part to publicise this beautiful land to my country folks! I m sure if someone tells, many will travel!