Ili River and Tamgaly Tas Petroglyphs

It is hard not to notice that most of the natural attractions of Kazakhstan are shrouded in ancient legends, and the definition of “mysterious” is present in almost every article. Of course, every “mysterious” phenomenon in nature has a completely logical and reasonable explanation or story that reveals its essence, but there are several stories at the place we are going to talk about today and it’s very difficult to determine the truth. Getting started?

Just 85 km from the city of Almaty, the wide and full-flowing Ili River flows. It occupies the honorary title of the largest river of Semirechye (1439 km). Or it originates in the territory of China in the high mountains of the harsh Tien Shan, at an altitude of 3540 m.Then it carries its waters through the expanses of Kazakhstan, forms the famous and favorite reservoir of Almaty residents — Kapchagai and flows into one of the largest lakes in Kazakhstan — Balkhash. This centuries-old river not only saw all the most amazing landscapes of the Tien Shan and Almaty region, but also witnessed key moments in history, such as, for example, the battle of Kazakhs and Dzungars in 1729 and … the creation of mysterious inscriptions and petroglyphs by someone.

It would seem that the mysterious may be in petroglyphs? Through drawings on stones and slabs, people of antiquity just tried to describe their way of life and life. But the Tamgaly-Tas petroglyphs differ from the usual drawings of sun-headed men and images of hunting. Tamgaly-Tas keeps on his slopes images of Buddha Sakyamuni, Buddha of the Infinite Light of Amitabha and the bodhisattva of Infinite Empathy of Avalokiteshvara. Who left these petroglyphs? Indeed, it is clearly not a Kazakh shepherd or a great khan!

The name Tamgaly-Tas (“stones with signs”) received this place at the end of the 19th century, thanks to the nomads who discovered mysterious symbols and inscriptions here. About their appearance, there are two most famous legends. The first says that in this place in the distant past, a Buddhist mission stopped. Their rest is disturbed by a loud roar and a stone block falls from the sky. Taking this as a sign that it would be time to have the honor to know and return to their homeland, to India,Buddhists leave various symbols on a block of stone. The second legend is more mistaken for the true history of the appearance of inscriptions. They say that the inscriptions in the ancient language created by the Buddhist monk Zaya Pandita were left by the Kalmyks, even before the Kyrgyz came to this territory.

Others believe that the inscriptions are made at all these days to attract attention. Unfortunately, there is no final version, but there is an extensive space for a riot of fantasy.
How to get to Tamgaly Tas?
The road to Tamgaly-Tas takes some 2 hours (only 85 km from the city limits).
We leave the city along the Kapchagai highway and go straight for about 64 km (we pass Kapchagai and then go through the bridge to the other side of the Ili River)
After the sign “Bakanas-Taldykorgan 500 m” we are reconstructed in the left row.

At the traffic intersection, turn onto the ramp, drive along the ring and turn left smoothly
We are driving along the A355 highway for about 12.5 km.
We reach the green building and turn left onto the country road
After 750 m, turn right
After 3 km (a pointer to the EMERCOM training ground) we turn right and move along the Ili River for about 3 km to the Tamgaly-Tas tract

When you get to the place, you can choose for yourself the correct version of the appearance of the characters, touch them and take unique pictures, and we will be happy to take all the responsibilities for organizing your tour!