4-Day Tamgaly Petroglyphs & the Golden Man: Nomad Heritage Tour from Almaty
Almaty4 jours
- Annulation gratuite
À propos de cette expérience
Long before there was a Silk Road there were people on this steppe carving into the rock, and long before Kazakhstan there were the Saka, whose warrior burials produced the Golden Man — a young noble buried in four thousand gold plaques, now the emblem of the country. This four-day private tour is built around that deeper past. You visit Tamgaly, a UNESCO World Heritage canyon holding five thousand petroglyphs; the royal kurgan at Issyk where the Golden Man was excavated in 1969; and Tamgaly-Tas, where Buddhist figures were cut into riverside boulders on the Ili. It is an easy tour physically and an unusually rewarding one.
Why you will remember this trip
Walk the Tamgaly canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage site with around 5,000 petroglyphs
See the sun-headed deities of Tamgaly, among the most distinctive Bronze Age images in Asia
Stand at the Issyk kurgan where the Golden Man was excavated from a Saka royal burial
Study the Golden Man and the Saka gold in the museums that hold them
Find the Buddhist rock carvings at Tamgaly-Tas on the bank of the Ili river
Cover three separate archaeological landscapes without ever being far from Almaty
Your 4 days
Day 1 — Arrive in Almaty, the Central State Museum and the Golden Man
Day 2 — Full day at the Tamgaly UNESCO petroglyph canyon
Day 3 — The Issyk royal kurgan, the Esik museum and Tamgaly-Tas on the Ili
Day 4 — Departure from Almaty
Private from start to finish
Tamgaly is two and a half hours from Almaty on roads with no public transport, and the site rewards a guide who can actually read the panels rather than a signboard. You travel privately throughout, at your own pace, with an archaeologically literate guide and a vehicle that waits for you.
Prochaines dates disponibles
Ce qui est inclus
- Private air-conditioned vehicle with a professional driver for the whole itinerary
- Private English-speaking guide throughout the touring days
- 3 nights' accommodation with daily breakfast, as described in the itinerary
- Arrival and departure transfers at Almaty International Airport (ALA)
- All fuel, road tolls, parking and driver expenses
- Bottled drinking water in the vehicle every day
- Entrance fees to Tamgaly UNESCO site, the Issyk State Museum and the Central State Museum
- Picnic lunch at Tamgaly and at Tamgaly-Tas
- A guide briefed on the archaeology of the Saka and Bronze Age steppe
Non inclus
- International flights to and from Almaty
- Kazakhstan visa, where your nationality requires one
- Lunches and dinners, unless individually listed as included
- Travel and medical insurance, which we strongly recommend
- Personal expenses, laundry, minibar and telephone charges
- Gratuities for your guide and driver, which are at your discretion
Itinéraire
- 1
Arrival in Almaty and the Golden Man
Your driver meets you at Almaty airport. The afternoon sets up everything you will see over the next two days. Central State Museum — the national archaeological collection, worked through chronologically from Bronze Age burials to the Kazakh khanates. The Golden Man — the reconstructed Saka warrior in his gold-plated costume and tall headdress, found at Issyk in 1969 and now the national symbol. Museum of Folk Musical Instruments — the sound of the steppe, in a wooden pavilion in Panfilov Park. Panfilov Park and Zenkov Cathedral — a short walk to finish the afternoon. Overnight in Almaty.
- 2
Tamgaly petroglyphs
A full day out to the west, into dry hills where a narrow canyon has been a sacred place for three and a half thousand years. The drive to Tamgaly — about two and a half hours across open steppe, with the Chu-Ili mountains ahead. The main canyon — around 5,000 carvings across 48 complexes, added continuously from the Bronze Age through to the Kazakh period. The sun-headed deities — the figures with radiating solar discs for heads that make Tamgaly internationally significant, and which appear on only a handful of panels. Hunting and chariot scenes — aurochs, argali, horse-drawn chariots and masked dancers, with your guide unpicking which period each belongs to. The burial ground — the Bronze and Iron Age cists and kurgans at the mouth of the canyon, which show it was a ritual landscape, not simply a rock wall. Return to Almaty for the night.
- 3
Issyk kurgan and Tamgaly-Tas
East and then north, to the burial that produced the Golden Man and then down to the river. Issyk kurgan field — the cluster of Saka burial mounds outside Esik, including the one excavated in 1969. Issyk State Historical and Cultural Museum — purpose-built beside the site, holding the finds and the reconstruction of the burial chamber, plus the silver bowl with its still-undeciphered inscription. Tamgaly-Tas — on the bank of the Ili river, where Buddhist images of Sakyamuni, Manjusri and Avalokitesvara were carved into granite boulders, with Tibetan inscriptions beside them. The Ili river bank — a picnic above the water before the drive back. Overnight in Almaty.
- 4
Departure from Almaty
Free time until your transfer. Green Bazaar — if you want to take dried fruit, nuts or kurt home. Airport transfer — to Almaty airport for your onward flight. End of the tour.
Bon à savoir
- Difficulté
- Facile
- Guidage
- Visite guidée en anglais
- Heures de départ
- 12:00
À savoir avant de partir
- A clear copy of the passport of every traveller, at least 7 days before arrival
- Your inbound and outbound flight numbers and times, so we can meet you correctly
- Comfortable closed walking shoes; the itinerary includes uneven ground
- Sun protection: hat, sunglasses and a high-factor sunscreen
- A reasonable level of general fitness for the walking described in the itinerary
- Warm layers — Kazakhstan's temperature swings sharply between day and night
Conditions d'annulation
Annulation gratuite jusqu'à 14 jours avant le début de l'expérience.
- 14 jours ou plus avant : remboursement intégral
- De 7 à 13 jours avant : remboursement de 50 %
- Moins de 7 jours avant : aucun remboursement
Point de rendez-vous
Voir sur la carte
Almaty Airport (ALA) arrivals hall
- Adresse
- Almaty International Airport (ALA), arrivals hall, Almaty, 050039, KZ
- Modalités de rendez-vous
- Rendez-vous sur place
- Coordonnées
- 43.35210, 77.04050
Carte illustrative. Ouvrez-la dans Maps pour le point exact et l’itinéraire en direct.
Avis de voyageurs
Soyez parmi les premiers à donner votre avis sur cette expérience.
Questions fréquentes
Combien de temps dure cette expérience ?
Elle dure 4 jours.
Puis-je annuler cette réservation ?
Annulation gratuite jusqu'à 14 jours avant le début de l'expérience. 14 jours ou plus avant : remboursement intégral · De 7 à 13 jours avant : remboursement de 50 % · Moins de 7 jours avant : aucun remboursement
Cette expérience est-elle guidée, et dans quelle langue ?
Visite guidée en anglais
La prise en charge à l’hôtel est-elle incluse ?
Non — vous vous rendez par vos propres moyens au point de rendez-vous.
Où commence cette expérience ?
Elle commence à Almaty Airport (ALA) arrivals hall, Almaty International Airport (ALA), arrivals hall, Almaty, 050039, KZ.
À partir de 6 349 AED par personne
