If someone tells you that there are more amazing places in Kazakhstan than the Bayan-Aul massif, do not believe it. There may be more beautiful, more comfortable, more healing, but only Bayan-Aul can be unusual and stunning.
Mirage in the steppe
An exhausting road among endless steppes with dry land and hot air can tire any traveler. And suddenly the outlines of the blue mountains appear. They float for a long time in a haze above the horizon, like a mirage. Among the thousands of kilometers of a monotonous plain, where do the mountains come from? But they are getting dark, their outlines are becoming more real. The steppe was freshened, 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
So where in the endless steppe is a tiny mountain range, and even with nine lakes? Scientists claim that 65 million years ago volcanoes erupted here, and the flowing lava solidified with bizarre stone cakes.
The lakes are fed by springs that hit from the bottom, so the water in them is clear, clean and cool. The banks of the reservoirs are overgrown with healing pine, mixed forests and unusually tall herbs.
Bayan-Aul is translated from the Turkic language as “happy mountains”. The terrain protected by the mountains from winds and cold kept the cattle from death, so the life of the shepherds here was prosperous. Legend has survived that dozens of families with children walked from the banks of the Irtysh River on carts along a hungry steppe, fleeing death. A cloud in the fog on the horizon gradually turned into Mount Akbet 1027 meters high. 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 fertile mountains now need protection. Since 1985 Bayanaul, recreation areas around it are declared a reserve. Each entrant pays an environmental fee: about 300 tenge. For the convenience of transferring to rubles, you just need to divide the amount in Kazakh currency by five. Bonfires are prohibited here. At night, the area can be controlled by helicopters and serious troubles await violators. On the lakes it is not allowed to use vehicles running on gasoline. It is also forbidden to move around the territory of the reserve with your car.
Dzhasyby - 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 of 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 from swimming, 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 Dzhasyby. Here, a surprise awaits travelers - they will be offered to walk on the most dangerous section of the descent. 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 it is necessary to approach the Dzhasyby lake in this way: inhale the healing aroma of pine, absorb the heat 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 facilities: what for what?
Recreation areas in Bayanaul are designed for every taste. Prices in them have a wide range. To spend the night in the campsite of the Bayan-Aul camp site, for example, is 250-300 tenge, if you add a shower here - 300 tenge, and there is the same amount of boiling water, then in general one night will cost 1000 tenge (200 rubles).
The central position on the north 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 Zhasybay, whose name is the lake. It was a brave batyr from the time of the struggle of the Kazakhs with the Dzungars. People bring stones to his grave, so a whole mountain has formed here from them.
At the recreation center "Zhasybay" prices are as follows:
- housing without a TV and a refrigerator costs 2000 tenge;
- 500 tenge - refrigerator and TV;
- 1500 tenge - food;
- 300 tenge - parking;
- amenities on the street - free of charge;
- total: 4300–4500 tenge per day per person (860–900 rubles);
- rental of floating equipment (boats, catamarans) costs up to 1-1.5 thousand tenge;
- excursions are organized by car with sightseeing of the Bayan-Aul Reserve (6000 tenge).
One of the most budgetary areas is the Zhalyn recreation area, Bayanaul from which is located at a distance of 14 km. A trip here costs 4000 tenge per day.
Tourists and vacationers who think that rest 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 tricky maintenance staff is all that they take away, leaving negative reviews. And they are right: a “glossy” vacation in Jasybay does not make sense.
Bayan Aul - balm for the soul
The first word that a person pronounces when he first saw Lake Dzhasyby in the ring of mountains: "Beauty!" She is everywhere, legends are made of her. Here is the stony cliff of Atbas - a horse's head.
About this, as well as much in these places, there is a flowery oriental legend. The warhorse of the hero Jasyby was not afraid of anything. But when the arrow pierced the owner's throat, the smell of blood terrified him. In desperation, the horse climbed to the top of the mountain, where the hero died. And his faithful friend, dropping his head, petrified with grief.
The water in Lake Jasybai is a miracle in our age of muddy ponds and drying rivers. Deep, pure, spring - it heals everyone who plunges into it.
You can wander around the lake for hours without getting tired: to climb the cliffs, whose stones generously give off heat, collect white breasts or climb into the moist thickets of forest raspberries. Each such small outing is a treatment procedure from pine-juniper air, active movement and positive emotions. The little things of life recede, but the celebration of the heart remains.