Trips from Kyzylorda: the cosmodrome, the Turkistan shrines and the Syr Darya ruins

Trips from Kyzylorda in this guide come down to seven places, and none of them is a short hop. The nearest is Baikonur Cosmodrome, about 210 km in a straight line. The other six lie 235 to 317 km away, in and around the city of Turkistan, and work better as a multi-day trip than as a run out and back.

Seven places, two directions

Seen from Kyzylorda, the choice is really between Baikonur and the Turkistan group. Baikonur is a working spaceport in Kyzylorda region. The other six places are Turkistan itself and five sites roughly 35 to 61 km from it. Straight-line distances understate the drive, and we could not confirm road distances or journey times.

The ’trip length’ column is written from the point of view of Shymkent or Turkistan. From Kyzylorda, add the extra distance and treat each one as at least an overnight trip.

Baikonur is the closest, and the hardest to arrange

Baikonur is the launch site that sent up Sputnik 1 and Yuri Gagarin, and it is still active. It covers 6,717 km², was founded in 1955, and is leased to Russia until 2050. That lease is the practical point: Baikonur is not a place you simply drive into.

The page on the cosmodrome sets out what is known about visiting. We could not confirm the current permit procedure, who issues it or how far ahead it has to be arranged. If you have no car and no Russian, assume this is the part of the trip that needs the most lead time.

Turkistan anchors everything else

The other five sites are easiest to see from a base in Turkistan. The city’s late-14th-century Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, with an 18.2 m dome, became Kazakhstan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.

Around it, the options split by interest:

• Pilgrimage. By tradition, pilgrims visit Arystan Bab, the tomb of the man legend calls Yasawi’s teacher, before the Yasawi Mausoleum. The present building, about 35 × 12 m, was rebuilt in 1909. Ukash Ata, about 35 km from Turkistan, has a long tomb and a well about 22–25 m deep. According to legend, only a person without sin pulls the bucket up full.
• Ruins. Otrar was besieged by Genghis Khan’s army in 1219. It is now a grassy mound up to 18 m high and has been under excavation since 1969. Sauran is an oval of mud-brick walls about 800 × 550 m, with gates and tower stumps. It was once a caravan town and a seat of the White Horde.

Arystan Bab and Otrar stand next to each other, about 50 km from Turkistan in a straight line, so they fit naturally into one outing. Sauran and Ukash Ata are 235 and 260 km from Kyzylorda in a straight line, against 282 km for Turkistan. We could not confirm whether the road actually passes them.

Karatau Reserve is the one nature trip, with an open question

Karatau Reserve protects 34,300 ha of the central Karatau ridge, a low arm of the Tian Shan that rises to 2,176 m. It is known for the Karatau argali, a wild mountain sheep, and for its endemic plants.

The catch is that we could not confirm visitor access rules. It is also the only place in this set rated off in December, January and February. Treat it as an add-on for May or September, once access has been confirmed.

When to go: April–May and September–October

Every place in this set peaks in spring or early autumn. The summer and winter months are rated only ‘possible’ almost everywhere.

If you want to include both Baikonur and Karatau, May or September are the only months when both peak. If your trip is only about the shrines and ruins, April and October cover all of them.