Hakloot

From Astana to Petropavlovsk

On Thursday and Friday 24 and 25 September I traveled with colleagues to Kokshetau and Petrovavlovsk in the north of Kazakhstan. We flew to Astana from Almaty and then drove by car to Petropavlovsk while stopping over in Schuchinsk, Borovoye and Kokshetau on the way. In all we drove well over 1’000km in these two days.

The first stop on the way was Lake Borovoye where we stopped at the Goluboy Zaliv bay from where you have a good view of the Zhumbaktas sphinx which sits in the water and which with some imagination resembles the head of a young lady.

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A little further from the lake we stopped at Ablai Khan’s Clearing or Yasnaya Polyana from where we walked up to Ablai Khan’s Throne. It consists of three large stones perched on top of each other on a flat oval rock. Ablai Khan is supposed to have marshaled his forces here in the 18th Century and having united all Kazakh tribes to fend off the invasion of the Dzhungharians.

The North of the country seems to be its agricultural heartland. Kilometers upon kilometers of uninterupted yellow wheat fields. The harvesting was in full swing with lots of heavy machinery around trying to finish this seemingly unending job.

The roads around Kokshetau are lined with little Russian styled farm houses. The architecture hasn’t changed over the years and the inhabitants try to break to monotony of the environment by applying plenty of color to their homes.

Last Updated: 26-09-2009



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