Kazakhstan - Saryarka – Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan

"Saryarka - Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan comprises two protected areas: Naurzum State Nature Reserve and Korgalzhyn State Nature Reserve totalling 450,344 ha. It features wetlands of outstanding importance for migratory water birds, including globally threatened species, among them the extremely rare Siberian white crane, the Dalmatian pelican, Pallas’s fish eagle, to name but a few. These wetlands are key stopover points and crossroads on the Central Asian flyway of birds from Africa, Europe and South Asia to their breeding places in Western and Eastern Siberia. The 200,000 ha Central Asian steppe areas included in the property provide a valuable refuge for over half the species of the region’s steppe flora, a number of threatened bird species and the critically endangered Saiga antelope, formerly an abundant species much reduced by poaching. The property includes two groups of fresh and salt water lakes situated on a watershed between rivers flowing north to the Arctic and south into the Aral-Irtysh basin." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

The Steppes or grasslands of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan - Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

"The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, in the town of Yasi, now Turkestan, was built at the time of Timur (Tamerlane), from 1389 to 1405. In this partly unfinished building, Persian master builders experimented with architectural and structural solutions later used in the construction of Samarkand, the capital of the Timurid Empire. Today, it is one of the largest and best-preserved constructions of the Timurid period." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. Thanks to Nina of Russia for arranging to send this UNESCO World Heritage postcard from Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan - Petroglyphs within the Archaeological Landscape of Tamgaly

"Set around the lush Tamgaly Gorge, amidst the vast, arid Chu-Ili mountains, is a remarkable concentration of some 5,000 petroglyphs (rock carvings) dating from the second half of the second millennium BC to the beginning of the 20th century. Distributed among 48 complexes with associated settlements and burial grounds, they are testimonies to the husbandry, social organization and rituals of pastoral peoples. Human settlements in the site are often multilayered and show occupation through the ages. A huge number of ancient tombs are also to be found including stone enclosures with boxes and cists (middle and late Bronze Age), and mounds (kurgans) of stone and earth (early Iron Age to the present). The central canyon contains the densest concentration of engravings and what are believed to be altars, suggesting that these places were used for sacrificial offerings." Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Postcard 1
Petroglyphs of Tamgaly. Thanks to Nina of Russia for arranging to send this postcard from Kazakhstan with Kazakhstan postcrossing stamp.

Postcard 2

Postcard showing the petrogylph rock carvings of Tamgaly Gorge, Kazakhstan. Thanks to Jo who was in Kazakhstan and sent this card from Vietnam.