Kazakhstan - In a four-wheel drive jeep, I head to Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Park. Lammert and Elmira come along — they’ll be our guides in the area. Just outside the village, the road quickly worsens. The driver often has to switch to low gear. I’m jolted around ...

Kazakhstan - From the village of Saty, it’s still twelve kilometers along a dirt road to Lake Kaindy. The road is little more than a cart track. Oncoming cars can only be passed by pulling off into the roadside. Suddenly, we reach a river. Other drivers advise us ...

Kazakhstan - A good asphalt road leads us to the Charyn Canyon area — a rugged rock formation carved out by the Charyn River. At the location marked by our GPS as the canyon entrance, we wait for the motorcyclists. But they’ve found the entrance somewhere else. ...

Kazakhstan - From the hotel, we walk to the St. Nicholas Cathedral. A light turquoise-colored cathedral with golden onion-shaped domes. Built in 1909, the cathedral features a beautifully ornate iconostasis inside. A heavy chandelier, filled with candles, hangs above ...