Today we will go to the Mynzhylky Plateau, located on the northern slopes of the Zailiysky Alatau mountains at the source of the Malaya Almatinka River at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level. Translated from Kazakh – A thousand mares.
📹 Mynzylki video
🥾 How to get to Mynzhylki
Today you only need to get to the ski resort of Shymbulak, located at an altitude of 2200 meters above sea level. But first you need to be on the highest mountain skating rink in the world “Medeo”. It will not be difficult to get to it.
Public transport. Bus No. 12 will easily deliver to the place in less than an hour and for a symbolic amount (80 tenge on the card or 150 without it).
Private car. There are plenty of places where you can park a frisky horse, both paid and free. The cost of a parking space in the parking lot is 500 tenge.
Other ways – in general, everything that will help you legally get to the right point.
⛰️ Route description
Hello, mountain-lover!
The Mynzhylky plateau, located on the northern slopes of the Zailiysky Alatau mountains at the source of the Malaya Almatinka River at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level. Translated from Kazakh – A thousand mares. That is, a place suitable for grazing a large herd of horses. The weather here is very changeable and before you go out on the trail, be sure to find out the exact weather forecast. Choose clothes (equipment) depending on the season in which you are going to go. And although the way to the plateau is simple and takes little time, safety first.
⛳ Start
Once on Medeo, it remains to decide how to get to Shymkent.
- On foot. The journey will take about 2 hours and will not seem the easiest, since you will have to pass 848 steps of the “health ladder” to the top of the selectproof dam, and then along the asphalt road straight to the ski base. The distance is about 6 kilometers, the height difference is 500 meters. But if you are not in a hurry, then the route is very pleasant.
- Bus/ecotaxi-the cost of the bus is 500 tenge per person and no social cards will help you reduce the price. A taxi ride will cost 3000 local doubloons per salon. It will take from 15 to 30 minutes to deliver the organisms. IMPORTANT! For those who suffer from altitude sickness, a taxi is not recommended, since the climb is fast and you will not have time to acclimatize.
- Gondola road/cable car/trailer – who likes which name more – the cost of 3500 piastres round trip for one character. It will take a little more time than a taxi. The landing place in the “box” is located below the Medeo skating rink itself. However, you can understand by the cable).
As soon as you get to Shymbulak, you should immediately take the right side of the paved road and continue driving along it. On the right side of you there will be wooden houses, and on the left the resort itself and the ski trails. The air here is noticeably fresher than in the city. A cool breeze coming down from the slope, the hot sun and mountain landscapes. Rush.
Enjoying the beautiful mountains.
After admiring the beauty, we continue on our way. We are moving straight on the asphalt, which will soon end and we will have to slap on the ground, stones, scree and other rocks. The slope of the trail is small, but you still feel the load. Along the way, you will meet a memorial “To those who died in the mountains” and a bell that you can ring. Tuyuk-su alpine camp, where they teach how to walk properly on the mountains and other jokes. The recreation area of Khan-Tengri, which is more like an abandoned road bathhouse).
We go through all this charm of urbanization and finally immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of the hike. Here you will no longer see the echoes of civilization. Just you and nature… Rocks on both sides of the trail and a quietly running river. You can get up and shout, throw out all the negative energy and clear your lungs). After shouting from the heart and gaining the energy of the mountains, we move on.
“And the rocks are getting higher, and the rocks are getting steeper, and the rocks go under the very clouds.” Let’s go and admire… On the left side you can see what can rightly be called the Almaty Yosemite Park – Bastions-huge rocks, up to 240 meters high and one of the tez places where you can meet professional rock climbers.
Looking at the size and grandeur of these “guys”, there is a feeling that they are guarding the approaches to the Tuyu-Su Gate – the place where the gorge is loaned, forming a small passage, and the rocks on both sides create the appearance of a gate. The wind in this place especially likes to roam and create the effect of a working airplane turbine, so keep your hats on.
The road in this gorge is different from many that have already been passed. The whole is strewn with stones of different calibers, rare vegetation, but what’s good is there is no “steam room effect”.
A small halt.
Do you often replenish the water-salt balance going uphill? It was even before Renat offered to record all these “sufferings” on camera… So I was walking uphill, and it wasn’t an elderly, middle-aged peasant who was coming down to meet me. It was obvious that this was not his first walk on an uneven surface. So, he saw me drinking water on the rise and said: “It’s better not to drink on the rise, my knees will ache.” And how not to drink when it’s summer outside and the temperature is +35? Since then, I think he was right, but not very much. What do you think?
Let’s keep walking.
The path to the plateau, of course, is not a carpet, but it does not cause any special problems. After another bend, the view of the Tuyuk-Su glacier opens sharply. Huge, cold, seemingly impregnable.
After spending a little more time on the road, you finally reach your cherished goal. On the plateau itself there is a mud protection dam, a meteorological station.
You can relax, gain strength, admire the tract and simply celebrate the achievement of your goal in a gazebo protected from wind and precipitation.
Mynzhylki can be considered a starting point for many beautiful and harsh places by nature. From here, the trail to Lake No. 6, named after Manshuk Mametova, begins. Get to the glaciological station T-1, Titov pass, Titov Peak, Molodezhny and many others.
The result: in 28 kilometers from the city, you can feel the full power of rocks and glaciers.
Difficulty: medium-and this is more likely due to the likelihood of mountain sickness, rather than from the slope of the trail. Not for the very first time. It is mandatory to visit!
Moral: even the simplest and closest route can open the doors to the most distant adventures.
🔭 Activities
📷 Photos
🚁 Photos from drone
🧭 Route and GPX/GPS tracks
🗺️ Map of Mynzhylki
🎒 Other routes
Dates and Prices
For many years, we have been exploring the trails of the Zailiyskiy Alatau. Having traveled hundreds of kilometers along various routes, both popular and previously unexplored, we have highlighted the most interesting and picturesque ones and now want to share this beauty with others.
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