If someone tells you that there are more amazing places in Kazakhstan than the Bayan-Aul mountain range, don't believe it. There may be more beautiful, more comfortable, more healing, but only Bayan-Aul can be unusual and stunning.
Mirage in the steppe
Exhausting road among the endless steppes with dry land and hot air can tire any traveler. And suddenly the outlines of blue mountains appear. They float for a long time in a haze over the horizon, like a mirage. Among the thousands of kilometers of monotonous plains, where can mountains come from? But they darken, their outlines become more and more real. The steppe has freshened up, there is a breath of coolness - this is Bayanaul. Recreation areas are still far away, but the main signs of the area are obvious: mountains and lakes.
Kazakh Switzerland
Where does the tiny mountain range come from in the endless steppe, and even with nine lakes? Scientists claim that volcanoes erupted here 65 million years ago, and the outflowing lava solidified into bizarre stone cakes.
The lakes are fed by springs gushing from the bottom, so the water in them is clear, clean andcool. The shores of the reservoirs are overgrown with healing pine, mixed forests and unusually tall grasses.
Bayan-Aul translated from the Turkic language means “happy mountains”. The area, protected by the mountain range from winds and colds, kept the cattle from death, so the life of the shepherds here was prosperous. A legend has been preserved, how from the banks of the Irtysh, dozens of families with children walked in carts across the hungry steppe, fleeing death. A cloud in the fog on the horizon gradually turned into Mount Akbet with a height of 1027 meters. Rounding it, hungry families saw paradise: rivers and springs, lakes full of fish, forests with mushrooms and berries, and a lot of juicy grass. So they stayed here to live.
Bayan-Aul National Park
The blessed mountains now need protection. Since 1985, Bayanaul, the recreation areas around it have been declared a reserve. Each entrant pays an environmental fee: about 300 tenge. For the convenience of transferring into rubles, you just need to divide the amount in Kazakh currency by five. Campfires are prohibited here. At night, the area can be controlled by helicopters and serious trouble awaits violators. It is not allowed to use vehicles powered by gasoline on the lakes. It is also forbidden to drive on the territory of the reserve in your car.
Dzhasybai is the most beautiful of the beautiful
In the village of Bayanaul, recreation areas are located around Lake Sabyndykol. Its name translates as "soap lake". The legend tells about the beautiful Bayan, who, admiring herself, dropped soap into the lake. The pond is beautiful at sunset and sunrise, but the alkaline water in it does not bring pleasure fromswimming, and the mountains are far from here. Therefore, tourists quickly leave Bayanaul: the recreation areas that interest them are located behind the pass, on Lake Dzhasybay. Here travelers are in for a surprise - on the most dangerous part of the descent they will be offered to walk. This is because a bus once fell into the abyss at this place.
Not a single mountain resort will force vacationers to get off the bus and overcome the dangerous serpentine descent on foot, but one should approach Lake Dzhasybay in this way: inhale the healing aroma of pine, absorb the warmth of hot stones. Admiring the views of the lake, the soft outlines of the mountains, a person begins to experience an inexplicable feeling. Believers call it grace - the fullness of life.
Recreation centers: what for what?
Recreation areas in Bayanaul are designed for every taste. Their prices have a wide range. It costs, for example, 250-300 tenge to spend the night in the tent camp of the Bayan-Aul camp site, if you add a shower here - 300 tenge, and the same amount of boiling water, then in general one overnight stay will cost 1000 tenge (200 rubles).
The central position on the northern coast is occupied by the Zhasybay recreation area. Bayanaul on a straight road is located at a distance of seven kilometers from it. By the way, along this road is the grave of the hero Zhasybai, whose name the lake bears. It was a brave batyr from the time of the struggle of the Kazakhs with the Dzhungars. People bring stones to his grave, so a whole mountain was formed from them here.
At the recreation center "Zhasybay" pricesthe following:
- housing without TV and refrigerator costs 2000 tenge;
- 500 tenge - refrigerator and TV;
- 1500 tenge - food;
- 300 tenge - car parking;
- outdoor facilities are free;
- total: 4300–4500 tenge per person per day (860–900 rubles);
- rent of floating facilities (boats, catamarans) costs up to 1-1.5 thousand tenge;
- excursion trips are organized by cars with sightseeing of the Bayan-Aul nature reserve (6000 tenge).
One of the most budgetary is the recreation area "Zhalyn", Bayanaul from which is located at a distance of 14 km. A ticket here costs 4000 tenge per day.
Tourists and vacationers who think that vacation in Bayanaul means eating, drinking, lying on the beach and waiting for all their whims to be fulfilled at a budget price, are horrified by the local service: flies, dirt, outdoor amenities, primitive food, slow and cunning wait staff - that's all they take away, leaving negative reviews. And they are right: a “glossy” vacation on Dzhasybay does not make sense.
Bayan-Aul is a balm for the soul
The first word that a person says when he first sees Lake Dzhasybai in the ring of mountains: "Beauty!" She is everywhere here, there are legends about her. Here is the rocky cliff of Atbasy - a horse's head.
This, as well as many things in these places, there is a flowery oriental legend. The warhorse of the hero Dzhasybay was not afraid of anything. But when the arrow pierced the throatowner, the smell of blood horrified him. In desperation, the horse climbed to the top of the mountain, where the hero died. And his faithful friend, bowing his head, was petrified with grief.
The water in Lake Dzhasybai is a miracle in itself in our age of muddy reservoirs and drying up rivers. Deep, pure, springy - it heals everyone who dives into it.
You can wander around the lake for hours without getting tired: climb the rocks, whose stones generously give off heat, collect white milk mushrooms or climb into the damp thickets of forest raspberries. Each such small outing is a medical procedure from pine-juniper air, active movement and positive emotions. The little things of everyday life recede, but the holiday of the heart remains.
