This is my blog about part of our trip to Kazakhstan after the International Permaculture Convergence in the UK. I am focusing here on my quest to see apple trees in their original environment – the foothills of the Central Asian Tian Shan Mountains (but I have inevitably strayed into other topics that might interest a permaculture practitioner!)
This account is particularly for the benefit of those who told us how much they would like to come but couldn’t, and those many people – especially permies – who wanted to hear back from us after the trip.
Different things interest different people when travelling (I’ll never forget my son berating me for observing the surrounding ecological communities at the great Teotihuacan pyramids rather than concentrating on the ancient ruins) – if you are not interested in lists of understorey plants, please skip these parts!
Day 1 Almaty & beyond 21st September 2015: The Green Market in Almaty, and a trip into the mountains beyond
Day 2 Aksu Canyon 22nd September 2015: A long, hot trek to a wonderful wild apple grove
Day 3 Taldybulak & commercial orchard 23rd September 2015: Another wild apple grove and visit to an orchard
Day 4 Kok Bulak 24th September 2015: The Wild pistachios, hawthorns and another apple grove
Day 5 Kshi-Kaindy 25th September 2015: Horse riding (and more apples!)