GreaterGo

Kazakhstan is a must-pass country on the ancient Silk Road, where East meets West, and is rich in tourism resources. I look forward to another opportunity to unveil the mysteries of Kazakhstan and the other four stans in Central Asia.

I still remember when the Silk Road was mentioned in my secondary school class, the teacher introduced a series of countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey, etc.

Every country or city has its own parks or monuments built in memorial of the martyrs. For example, the Cenotaph in Hong Kong and the Monument to the People's Heroes in Beijing. For Almaty, it is the Park of 28 Panfilov Guardsmen, which was built in honour of the 28 Almaty martyrs that kept Moscow safe with their brave sacrifices when resisting the Nazis.

There must be a spectacular mosque in every Islamic country. Hazrat Sultan Mosque is the national mosque of Kazakhstan. Hazrat Sultan, meaning “sacred Sultan”, is the honourific of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, the poet who introduced Islam to Kazakhstan. The president, therefore, built this mosque in honour of this great person in history.

If you want to experience how spectacular the Silk Road is and the meaning of such a vast world, you should go camping in Charyn Canyon, the suburbs of Almaty.

Kazakhstan is the starting point for many people when going on a trip to Central Asia. What comes to your mind when talking about Kazakhstan?