Many variants on how to spell the Charyn Canyon [Charin] I went to yesterday, I like to call it Kazakhstan’s “Little Grand Canyon.” This place that is not too far from the Chinese border is very
remote! I’m glad we went on a sunny day yesterday though it is much drier at Charyn Canyon than in Almaty. When we were almost to the canyon, I observed out my bus window men carrying large white sacs on their back, turns out they were harvesting wild green onions in selling along the road side. The lilac trees were in various stages of blooming along the little villages close to the road and the mountains were to our south in a wide panoramic view from my bus seat. What a great day for an adventure outside of the city. As you can see all signs are in three languages, Kazakh, Russian and English.
day for travel
ing east of Almaty for 3 1/2 hours to Charin Canyon which meant 7 hours in our Mercedes passenger bus and four hours of taking in the scenery. It was worth it, especially ending our day with getting shashlik at a little town about an hour going back over washboardy roads and isolated highway. I saw wild purple irises, red poppies, yellow buttercups and wild yellow tulips along the side of the road. Fun to be with friends and take the panoramic view in.
