The size of Western Europe, with a population of just 18 million people, Kazakhstan is a vast and largely unexplored nation, blanketed in landscapes with some of the bleakest sounding names: steppe, semi-desert, tundra, taiga. It stretches from the some of the lowest points on earth on the shores of the Caspian Sea, to the Tien Shan and Altai Mountains, peaking at over 7,000m. It is criss-crossed with ancient trading routes, traversed for centuries by Silk Road merchants, with ruined cities, fortresses and magnificent mausoleums lining these trails like chapters from an Asian fable.
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If you have wanderlust in your soul, there is a country with your name on it. That country is Kazakhstan – whose name translates as the “land of wanderers.”
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Despite being conquered by the Mongols, and incorporated into the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan remains thoroughly untamed, and nomadic herders still wander remoter regions. As our Kazakhstan travel guide reveals, a holiday here is not about ticking off big sights; it is about forging your own, completely unique adventures in a land where few tourists set foot.
