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Baravoe 2005

This summer Sveta and I were in Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan. I bought a new digital camera - Canon Powershot A520 - and we tested it out on a short trip to Baravoe.

Astana is situated on the River Ishym and the river bank is a nice place to stroll in the evening. The city is surrounded by flat treeless steppe stretching for hundreds of kilometres, but about three hours north of Astana is an area of small lakes, rocky hills and dense pine forests. The whole area is known as Baravoe, although this is more properly the name of the most famous of the lakes and the small village on its south-eastern shore.
   
Lake Baravoe is famous for its strange rock formations. This one is called Okzhetpes.
 
We got a tropod at the same time as the camera so that we could take pictures of us together at last.
 
It turned out to be excellent for drying socks too.These pictures were taken at Lake Bolshoe Chebache which is a short hike from Lake Baravoe
   


We did a lot of hiking along forest trails but this year we didn't find any mushrooms.


We did see a lot of squirrels.


   

     

 
Everywhere, the smell of the pine trees fills the air which seems so clean after being in the city.


  In the evenings we sat on the beach near Baravoe village.

All photos ©Ashy Macbean 2005