Aksu Zhabagly is gorgeous!

In May we went with some friends to Aksu Zhabagly - a nature reserve on the southwest part of Kazakhstan, close to the border of Uzbekistan.  It was GORGEOUS!!

We took an overnight train ride across Kazakhstan with the Lindblom family and the Parker-Estrin family.    Always a new adventure when you do something for the first time!  The conductor tried to pay us to have all 5 of us in the 4 person cabin.  Unfortunately, our Russian is terrible, and our Kazakh is non-existent, so we didn't understand why he kept trying to give us money!!  Eventually we figured it out the hard way.

 Upon arrival (at 6AM) we were desperate to explore.  Our first hike discovering the area.  Hans, Zoe, Darius and the Lindbloms explore with us. 

 Horses!!

 Adeline, our naturalist.

 After bushwhacking down the mountain, we found a great place to soak our feet.  :)

 WILD TULIPS!!  Did you know tulips come from Kazakhstan?  The Dutch brought them from Central Asia to Holland.  Here is a field full of wild tulips where we had lunch.  

 Henry atop a rock on our mountain side of tulips, with a pasture below.

 Lunch amongst tulips, under the only shade.  :)

 Kids and tulips.  

 HANS!!!  WE MISS YOU!!! 

 The next day we hiked to this gorgeous waterfall.  In order to go into the park, you have to have a guide.  You can go by foot, jeep, or horseback.  We opted for horseback, but our kids were too young for park rules, so we settled on hiking. 

 These mountains are full of Ibex - snow leopard food!!  Technically, the kids would be snow leopard food, too.  Good thing they are elusive cats that stay away from humans!

 An avalanche went right over our trail.  Perfect excuse to slide down the snow after a hot hike!

 Isn't it gorgeous here!?

After our hike, Hans and the boys made us an great swimming hole!

Keith takes a victorious dive.  The water was straight off a glacier, so it was COLD!!

 The guesthouse where we stayed was right at the foot of the mountains next to the entrance of the park.  The hosts were very hospitable.  They made great meals for us everyday.  It was a great trip.

 This little girl entertained us when we were at the guesthouse.  She followed her mom everywhere, even when she went to go milk the cow.  We drank fresh milk from this cow every morning.  Talk about knowing where your food comes from!  

 Evening stroll with all three families.

 We watched them build this yurt while we were here.  A yurt is the traditional dwelling for the nomadic Kazakhs.  

 Apparently when you need to catch a train in a small village, sometimes there isn't a platform for your train.  So in order to get on, we had to go THROUGH the train on the left, get in-between the trains, and then literally JUMP up onto our train from between the tracks.  Safety at its finest.  :)

Our trip was spectacular.  We relaxed, hiked, used the sauna, swam, visited with locals, ate great food and were treated well.  We miss our friends who have now moved from Kazakhstan.  We are so glad that we took this trip with them and will always have these memories.