Shymbulak Waterfall

Trail description

We left Almaty in the morning and drove for an hour, arriving in the Zhambyl region. We started slightly off course on the left bank of the river; it's better to start from the right bank to avoid wading across, as we didn't see any bridges. On the right bank, you can drive up to the gates, but we walked there. The gates say "No Trespassing, Private Property," but since we're risk-takers, we went in anyway. The route itself is quite long, but the walking is easy with no steep climbs—the path is mostly flat. As you approach the waterfall, you'll need to push through some bushes after the turn, but there is a trail there. After some scrambling over rocks and a bit of wading, voila—we made it! The waterfall is awesome; the spray feels great in the heat. We took a few photos, had some tea and samsa, and headed back. We didn't encounter many people on the trail—it was actually empty—but the waterfall itself was packed.

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