KZBlog

Another comment I’m reposting from the Tourism page–leave a comment there on your recommendations of what to do in Kazakhstan and I’ll repost it on my blog, plus give you a credit/link of your choice.

Bozaigyr: A small beach next to a lake north of Astana. There’s a cafe that serves food–shashlik and so on. There is also a grill so you can bring your own food and cook it up right there. There’s even a nice little yurt you can use for parties or just to relax. Other than that, it’s just a beach and a lake on the steppes. You can also see cows grazing near by and it might be a chance to talk to a real Kazakh cowboy! Nice people run the beach area and they hope to expand it a bit more and add more services. As of last year it was free to enter.

To get there from Astana, go east along Bogen-bai Batyr Avenue until you get out near Shanghai market. From there, take the road to Akkol and Buraboe. About 30 minutes out of town, you should see the lake and the yurt on your left, near a small village, Bozaigyr. There is an exit there.

Obviously, probably only good for the summer. But there is a hunting zone there so you might be able to do some winter hunting in the area.