The videos document my pilgrimage from Indonesia to the African continent by land (no airplane!). The route: 1.) Indonesia: Traveling through Sumatran Mountains and Prehistoric Sites 2.) Malaysia: Meeting with the Aborigines of the Malay Peninsula 3.) Thailand: Tracing the Southeast Asian Ancient Empires 4.) Laos: Experiencing the Lao-China Railway 5.) China: Backpacking the Tibetan Plateau to the Edge of the Silk Road 6.) Kazakhstan: First Contact with the Central Asians 7.) Uzbekistan: Pilgrimage in the Land of the Timurids 8.) Tajikistan: Lost in the Fenn Mountains 9.) Afghanistan: Visiting Afghanistan after the Taliban Takeover 10.) Iran: Surrounded by the Ancient Civilization of Persia 11.) UAE: Short Transit in Futuristic Cities 12.) Saudi Arabia: Pilgrimage in the Holy Land of the Muslims 13.) Jordan: Catching a Glimpse of Jerusalem 14.) Egypt: Ending in the Land of Pharaohs
Curated by: Bang Jago (174 videos)
On the 92nd day, I took a tour to Charyn Canyon, which is claimed to be no less beautiful than the Grand Canyon in America. The location is 200 km east of Almaty, close to the Chinese border. There is no public transportation to reach there so I had to take a tour which I felt was quite reasonably priced (7000 Tenge/ $15.3). The travel time was 3 hours and the first location we visited was Moon Canyon, the lowest part of Charyn Canyon which is said to be so named because this segment reflects moonlight well at night. Here visitors can easily descend to the banks of the Charyn River and enjoy the shade of the trees (ash trees?) that are said to have inhabited this canyon since the ice age. Next, we headed south towards Black Canyon. It is so named because this segment of Charyn Canyon tends to contain blackish colored minerals. At each place we only stopped for 15 minutes to go down to take photos with views of the canyon. It's relatively rushed because the tour will make a long stop at the main destination of Charyn Canyon, namely the Valley of Castles. In the Valley of Castles, tour participants are allowed to hike freely for three hours. This place gets its name from the tower-shaped rock formations that decorate the edge of the valley. At the end of this 2.5 kilometer long valley is the Charyn River which formed Charyn Canyon over millions of years. From there I looked for a route to climb up the canyon. After passing through the extreme route with the help of a rope, I finally arrived at the upper edge of the canyon where the view of Charyn Canyon was wider. Further up I could enjoy a more complete view of the Valley of Castles. Unfortunately in the afternoon there were no people and I was forced to take a selfie to immortalize the moment of my visit. At 4:30 pm we left Charyn Canyon to return to Almaty City. The plan is that tomorrow I will just rest while planning a trip to the next city. If everything goes smoothly, the next city I will visit is Turkestan. ___ Sumatra Stage 1 Route (DONE!): Jakarta - Bandar Lampung - Baturaja - Lahat - Pagar Alam - Bengkulu - Lebong Tandai - Kerinci - Jambi - Kuala Tungkal - Batam - Johor Bahru ASEAN Mainland Stage 2 Route (DONE!): Johor Bahru - Kuala Tahan - Kota Bharu - Su-Ngai Kolok - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Chaiya - Nakhon Pathom - Bangkok - Nakhon Ratchasima - Phimai - Nong Khai - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Boten - Kunming, China China Stage 3 Route (DONE!): Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangri-La - Shambala - Litang - Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu - Xi'an - Zhangye - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Almaty, Kazakhstan Stage 4 Central Asia Route: Almaty - Shymkent - Tashkent - Nukus - Muynak - Turtkul - Khiva - Bukhara - Samarkand - Tashkent - Khujand - Fann Mountains - Dushanbe - Kunduz, Afghanistan *Follow my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/obeysianipar/) for direct messages **Message me for sponsorship --- Music Credits: And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.