The city of Aralsk is located in the Kyzylorda region near the coast of the Aral Sea-Lake. To date, this region of Kazakhstan has been declared a zone of ecological disaster. Until 1960, the Aral Sea-Lake was the fourth largest lake in the world, its area was about 68 thousand square meters. km. In subsequent years, as a result of the intensive use of the waters of the rivers flowing into it for irrigation, the lake began to shallow. Nowadays, the lake has split into two reservoirs: the Small and Big Aral, the total area of which does not exceed 20 thousand square meters. km. The drying process has become irreversible, but scientists are still trying to solve this problem. In Aralsk, it is worth seeing the old port and the ship cemetery, which is surrounded by a vast salt field.
180 km southwest Aralsk on one of the islands of the Aral – Barsakelmes – is the Barsakelmes State Nature Reserve. This is one of the few world protected areas located in the zone of ecological catastrophe. But the more important is its significance, because it is here that scientists are trying to understand the processes taking place with the Aral Sea-Lake. Such rare species of animals as goitered gazelle, Turkmen kulan, saiga, ligature, rare pygmy jerboa and eared hedgehog live on the territory of the reserve. Also here you can see the birds listed in the Red Book: curly pelican, white-eyed pochard, marbled teal, little white heron, whooper swan, lesser swan, white-headed duck, short-toed eagle, steppe eagle, imperial eagle, golden eagle, jack, gyrfalcon, black-bellied and white-bellied sandgrouse, saju, brown dove and eagle owl.
South of Aralsk is Lake Kambash. Recently, more and more tourists have been observed on the shores of the lake in summer. They come here to swim, sunbathe and fish. The lake is 51 km long and 10 km wide. There are 20 species of fish in the waters of the lake.
Atyrau (Guriev), Atyrau region (Kazakhstan)
According to BEAUTYPICALLY, Atyrau is located in the delta of the Ural River near the northern coast of the Caspian Sea. The city was founded in 1640 by merchants Guryevs, who were engaged in fishing. To this day, fishing is one of the main industries in the region. In addition, Atyrau is known as the oil capital of Kazakhstan.
In 2009, in the vicinity of Atyrau in the delta of the Ural River, the Akzhaiyk State Nature Reserve was created.. The reserve is included in the list of wetlands of international importance, because the Siberian-East African migration route of migratory birds runs through it. Here you can see such rare birds as loaf, spoonbill, little egret, Egyptian heron and sultan. During the migration period, thousands of flamingos, curly pelicans, black-headed gulls, swans and lesser white-fronted geese stop in the reserve.
50 km north of Atyrau there is an interesting historical place called Saraichik. The shed was founded in the middle of the 13th century by Batu Khan. The city was a major trading center, the Great Silk Road ran through it, and an important political center, the Golden Horde ascended the khan’s throne here and such khans as Zhanibek and Berdibek were buried here. In addition, it was in Saraichik that Islam was adopted as the main religion of the Golden Horde.
Baikonur (Kazakhstan)
The city of Baikonur is located in the center of the Kyzylorda region on the right bank of the Syrdarya River. Here, in 1955, the world’s first and largest Cosmodrome with the same name was built. The area of the Baikonur Cosmodrome is 671.2 thousand hectares. The first artificial satellite of the Earth was launched from it and the first astronaut went into space from it. Until 2050, the city and the Cosmodrome are leased by the Russian Federation. In Baikonur, tourists are invited to view the Proton and Zenit launch complex, the Buran spacecraft, Yuri Gagarin ‘s launch pad, the Soyuz launch vehicle test complex, the house-museum of Yuri Gagarin and chief designer Sergei Korolev.
Balkhash, Karaganda region (Kazakhstan)
Balkhash is the largest settlement located on the shores of the lake of the same name. The city is located 380 km from Karaganda in the Bertys bay.
Lake Balkhash is the largest of the lakes located entirely on the territory of Kazakhstan. Its area is 18.2 thousand square meters. km, the length reaches 614 km, the width is 44 km, and the maximum depth is 26 m. Balkhash is a drainless semi-fresh water lake: its eastern part is salty, and the western part is fresh. The waters of the western part of Balkhash are desalinated by the Ili River, which flows into it. There is a legend that the magician Balkhash lived in ancient times. and he had a beautiful daughter, Or. Or she fell in love with the poor Karatal and fled with him to the steppes, since the strict father did not want to have a poor son-in-law. But the wizard Balkhash caught up with them and turned into a huge lake, and turned his daughter and her lover into rivers flowing into opposite parts of the lake. Nature of Lake Balkhash very varied. In its waters there are carp, grass carp, thorn, barbel, trout, marinka, asp, bream, catfish, pike perch, perch, which attracts fishing enthusiasts. Thousands of birds nest along the shores of the lake: cormorants, teals, pheasants, golden eagles, egrets and pelicans. From animals here you can see wild boars, saigas and muskrats. These lands are very beautiful in mid-May, when the time for poppies to bloom begins and the steppe turns red. Also, tourists on Balkhash are offered traditional hunting with trained birds of prey for partridge, black grouse, duck, hare, fox and wolf. 8 hotels were built in the city of Balkhash to accommodate tourists. In the summer, the city offers excursions on the lake on boats and boats, there are also rentals of yachts, boats, catamarans and fishing equipment. Around the city of Balkhash, sandy beaches stretch along which rest houses are located.
70 km north of the city of Balkhash in the middle of the steppe, the Bektau-Ata mountain range rises up to 1500 m. It is open to all winds and therefore its rocks have taken bizarre shapes over many centuries. Most of Bektau-Ata is devoid of vegetation, however, sometimes there are patches of juniper-archa, which grows almost on bare rocks.
