The most interesting and mysterious location near Almaty are the petroglyphs of the Buddha on the bank of the Ili River. Petroglyphs are thin carved images of Bodhisattvas Buddha and Burkhans, as well as Tibetan inscriptions on the stone.
There are several legends about their appearance, our guide will tell you them, but scientists still have not come to an unequivocal conclusion. Tamgaly Tas tract is a Buddhist sanctuary.
The second highlight of the tour is the Nomad's Castle, the Nomad's Fortress. It was built in 2004 for the shooting of the feature film "Nomad". It was decided to keep the scenery and now it is a tourist place for thematic photo sessions and enjoying the historical way of the Kazakhs.
It is located at a distance of about 130 km from the city of Almaty. The road to the Buddha petroglyphs passes by the Kapchagai water reservoir, passing through the dam of the Kapchagai hydroelectric power plant.
Then along the roadless road we will reach the high cliffs, many of them are more than 50m high. On the smooth surfaces of the rocks are carved images of Buddha, which is quite uncharacteristic for Kazakhstan, in the territory of which paganism flourished, then in some clans - Christianity, and then - Islam.
By the way, these rocks are quite often used for rock climbing.
The castle of the Nomads is located opposite the Buddhist sanctuary and looks very picturesque against the background of the river and rocky steppe.
If you wish we can visit both of these places or one of them - either petroglyphs of Tamgaly Tas Buddha or the Nomad's Castle.
The tour begins with a visit to the Nomad's Castle, where we will walk around and take pictures.
Then we move to the other side of the Ili River, here we will have lunch - if you wish you can take a snack from home, or order lunch boxes from your guide, or catering: barbecue for an agreed fee.
Walk around the sanctuary, photos, you can climb the rock, for fans can organize a tour with elements of rock climbing.
