Sharyn Canyon

by | posted in: All, Central Asia, Kazakhstan | 2

If anyone asks me where a must-visit place in the Almaty region is, my answer is Sharyn Canyon. It is not exactly near Almaty city, but about a three-hour drive away. I have not been to the Grand Canyon so I cannot make the comparison, but I can say that in Sharyn Canyon, there will be a lot less strangers appearing in your pictures. In fact when we went in January, we literally had the whole place to ourselves.

lone car in the canyons
Not a soul in sight: Somewhere over the Tien Shan mountains are Kyrgyzstan and China

Getting to Sharyn Canyon

There are a few options to go to Sharyn Canyon- self-drive, group tour, and private tour, though I recommend the last option. I know below every page I say my budget is shoestring, but hear me out. There is no point in self-driving if you do not know where to drive to. We were on the main road when suddenly our driver turned and went off of it. The next moment we were off-roading in the snow to god-knows-where because there were no signs or landmarks and every direction looked like the same kind of white. He was relying on GPS and his own pre-loaded map because of the lack of data service. As for group tours, a bus could get you to the well-known viewpoints, but the remote gems would be inaccessible to it. A private jeep however, could drive between every crevice and ridge.

In case you still need convincing, the 2019 Land Rover commercial for its new Defender model was shot here. Take a look:

 

And these are the snow-covered versions of the scenes in the commercial:

snowy canyons
Better than the Grand Canyon Part I
snowy canyons
Better than the Grand Canyon Part II
prehistoric ocean
Prehistoric Ocean
sheep in the canyons
Not wild horses, but wild sheep running beside your car

Not in the video:

sharyn river
Sharyn River
icicles
Break off an icicle and have a sword fight, maybe touch tips, up to you:)

A quick Google search for Sharyn Canyon tour operators would give you many options to choose from, but for our jeep tour we went with Nomad Outfitters. For cheap group tours, CAMPIT announces them on their Instagram page seasonally. Or you could just rent a Land Rover and replicate the stunts.

summary

 

Hi! I am Joey, a University student from Singapore, attempting to show my appreciation for the world’s most powerful passport by literally milking its visa-free benefits one country at a time. I describe my travel budget as shoestring and travel style as audacious.

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