Great Balkhash is calling!
Last weekend, about 50 people made the first ever ice transition across Lake Balkhash.
Almaty Management University was the initiator of Uly Balqash Shaqyrady trip (2 optional distances: 12 and 24 km) supported by Nomad Explorer and “Turan Express”.
The organizers aimed to draw public attention to the lake ecology problem and to stimulate domestic tourism. Today, there are a number of threats due to which Balkhash lake might die, including: the steady water decline in the lake since 1970, desertification, dust storms, non-ecological use of the waters of transboundary rivers by nearby countries, etc.
In addition, the trip became a kind of leadership training for all participants.
The ideological inspirer of the project, Assylbek Kozhakhmetov, president of Almaty Management University, said that the idea to initiate the transition came to him last year, after participating in a similar project in Irkutsk, on Baikal lake:
“At Baikal, we took the 1st place in the team competition, there were four of us, it turned out that the Kazakhstani team was selected and we won this race. Then I had the idea to organize such a project in Balkhash. ”
Among 50 people who took part in the campaign, there were businessmen, journalists, athletes and public figures and students. The expedition route to the lake was also interesting - first from Almaty-2 station to Chiganak station by train, then by bus to Alken village on the bank of Balkhash, where travelers waited for a day, and finally, on foot along Balkhash, immense, covered with a thick layer of ice and snow.
The project participants
The train in which the participants of the crossing were going was also unusual. This is the coach of the legendary leader of the Kazakh SSR in the 70-80s of the last century, Dinmukhammed Kunaev. A well-known journalist and TV presenter Sergey Ponomarev, one of the project participants, says: “Here is his (Dinmukhammed Kunaev’s - author) coupe, desk, bathroom. Here he had meetings, going around the virgin areas, regions. The compartments in the coach are small (1-2 beds, with TVs), there is a big hall - the secretaries of the regional committees of the party gathered there and kept a report for the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan”.
The trip in such an unusual coach became possible thanks to the private carrier “Turan Express” and personally the company's general director Roman Botabekov.
A well-known businessman Margulan Seisembay, who became one of the project's initiators, personally instructed participants on the safety rules for the project (how to behave on ice, why you should not deviate from the paved route, which requires large iron nails, etc.).
"24-kilometer transition, business workshops, poems, songs - it is how interesting and useful we spent these days," the businessman told about the project. "The main objectives of the environmental campaign were to draw public attention to the problems of nylon Chinese networks, plastic trash and poaching. An additional goal was the development of domestic tourism.
If we, the Kazakhs (representatives of other nationalities travel quite actively), do not drive around the country, do not travel, then we will not have the feeling of a host of this land, we will not form responsibility for this land. Therefore, such trips are important because they form patriotism and pride for our huge Motherland. As our ancestors said, “While there is a horse, ride and study your land, while there is food, share and study your people!”
On the day of the transition, February 23, at 9.30 am, the travelers got on the ice, wearing branded capes and ice-boots.
Among the project participants there was a public figure, an activist of the eco-movement of Kazakhstan on nature conservation, Azhar Zhandosova:
“It will definitely go down in history! We, fifty pioneers, led by Assylbek Kozhakhmetov, Margulan Seisembay, Roman Botabekov, crossed Balkhash Lake on ice. 24 kilometers of great mood and communication with wonderful people! This event was initiated by AlmaU, by analogy with the winter transition along Lake Baikal, in order to draw attention to the environmental problems of the lake and promises to become traditional”.
The managing director of the WorldClass fitness club and the founder of Almaty Marathon Valikhan Ten also took part in the transition and shared with the audience the rules of a healthy lifestyle.
Half a meter of ice under our feet and 24 kilometers ahead ...
According to the project organizers, the transition routes (12 and 24 km) were marked with signs. In advance, these ice trails were tested several times for durability - the ice here is at least half a meter thick and can withstand the weight of a jeep.
Bio-toilets were along the whole route; two rescue teams and doctors were brought in to ensure safety.
After passing 6 kilometers, the participants had tea on the ice - with a samovar, pancakes and baursaks. Here everyone could decide for themselves - go ahead and walk the route to the end, having conquered 24 kilometers of ice, or turn back and thus, go half the distance.
In the village all the pioneers were provided with a bath and a delicious fish soup from Balkhash carps, and also food for the mind — lectures from Assylbek Kozhakhmetov (on the topic of leadership and management) and Margulan Seisembay (on the topic of Kaizen).
Informal communication with businessmen came to an end in a creative evening - project participants sang songs with guitars, recited poems.
Uly Balqash Shaqyrady project was initiated in 2019 and in a matter of weeks gathered about fifty people, it is assumed that next year (the transition will be annual) there will be much more participants.
The materials (photo, video, information about the project) were provided by the participants of the transition by Balkhash Sergey Ponomarev, Roman Botabekov, Margulan Seisembay, Azhar Zhandosova, Valikhan Ten.
