Southern Kazakhstan is a warm belt of Western Tien Shan foothills, red deserts and Silk Road cities, where wild tulips carpet the hills in spring and the country's holiest pilgrimage site rises from the plain. It is greener and gentler than the high southeast, a place for wildlife, walking and history rather than glaciers.
Reserves and mountains
Trekking in the Aksu-Zhabagly reserve — Kazakhstan's oldest — and Sairam-Ugam National Park around Turkistan and Shymkent, with Karatau ridge walks in Jambyl where petroglyphs cover the rock.
Desert and Silk Road
Out toward the Aral in Kyzylorda, desert journeys reach former seabed and Silk Road ruins, while the Yasawi mausoleum at Turkistan is one of Central Asia's great monuments. Spring is magical here; open the Book here tab to see what is running.
