Tuesday 20th July
After an amazing ten days in Almaty and some more goodbyes in Max and Zaure’s office, we are back on the road again. In our haste
Max & Zaure
to get to Almaty and sort out our visas and car problems we are aware we have missed so much of what there is to see and learn about in Kazakhstan. However, we figure we just about have time with our visas to take a trip back west to visit the Petroglyphs at Tamgaly. This will be a whole day event and is a bit of a luxury but we figure will be well worth it.
This UNESCO registered site has an amazing number of examples of ancient rock art, almost, it seems, strewn around the landscape. According to the guidebook we thought we would have to pay 200 Tenge each to get in. According to the sign at the entrance to the protected zone tour group sizes are limited and we need to avoid the tarantulas and poisonous snakes. Trouble was there was no-one there to take our money or offer a guide. Just a small hut with one chair, a small table, something resembling a cooker and a kettle, and, in effect, a double bed. We didn’t check out the portaloos. We figured they might not be too nice.
With it being already early afternoon, and no sign of anyone rushing to take our money, we set off on foot to see the Petroglyphs anyway. We couldn’t have been more amazed. Just a few hundred yards from the road we saw some tiny images of what we think were horses carved in the rock. Following the signposts further on there were so many rock faces with images of horses, camels, people, and other animals and insects we could not clearly identify. There were whole herds with the herdsman on horseback on some rocks, single animals on others. There are reported to be more than 4,000 of these carvings.
As we ventured further into the site the clouds grew darker and thunder was in the air. A few drops of rain fell. We had the sense of
being in a sacred place. Here was the work of men and women many centuries before us recorded and preserved in the rock. A large bush appeared to be strewn with rubbish, but on closer look it could be seen that it was covered with tiny strips of fabric, carefully tied on as votive offerings to the gods.
We left, a little awed and glad we had made this detour. Although of course everything has its price and our price to pay was the delay in getting to Semey. We needed to drive back via Almaty and so it was at about 6.00 pm we were once again approaching the city. We agreed that psychologically it would be better if we could get past Almaty before stopping for the night and so drove on round the city. As we had been warned, the road from there on was comparatively heavily populated with villages and there were few places to camp. With darkness setting in we couldn’t see them anyway and so it was we ended up just stopping by the roadside and having yet another night’s sleep (for want of a better word) in the cab around Qapshagy (on the road from Almaty to Semey).
Distance travelled – 416 km
