Your holiday starts at the hotel in Almaty. A single group transfer is provided from Almaty Airport in the early morning. We then have some time to rest before lunch and in the afternoon there's a 3-hour sightseeing tour of Almaty with our tour guide. Almaty is a lively, colourful and clean Soviet-built city with wide tree-lined streets and a quite cosmopolitan atmosphere. There will also be time today to pick up your hire bike or reassemble your own bike. Dinner and overnight at the group hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel, we transfer eastwards out of the city for an hour to the Museum of the Golden Man where we can see some of the artefacts excavated in 1969 from a burial mound near the town of Issyk. The person buried in this tomb is believed to have been a young Scythian (4th century BC) prince (or princess) dressed in a warrior's costume fashioned from 4000 pieces of gold. The Golden Man is a symbol of independent Kazakhstan. After our visit to the museum, we have a short transfer before setting off on our bikes near a bridge over the Turgen River. This is one of 7 rivers which flow out of the beautiful, mountainous and surprisingly wild Alatau National Park which lies immediately to the south and east of Almaty. Our ride begins along an avenue shaded by cottonwood trees, then follows a quiet, well-surfaced road which takes us beside a large water channel (with waterfalls) which supplies the city of Almaty. Gaining a little height, we have panoramic views on our left side which encompass the city suburbs and a picturesque patchwork of agricultural land; orchards, fields and villages. To the south, we can catch a glimpse of the highest peak in the Zailiysky Alatau range, Pik Talgar (4978m). Still heading east through the foothills of the Tien Shan with a few short hills to negotiate, we reach our camp on a grassy site beside the Chilik River at around 900 metres elevation.

We have an initial transfer of about half an hour on the road which links Almaty with Urumqi in the neighbouring Xinjiang province of China. Then, turning off onto a dirt road, we saddle up and set off on a ride into the Bogutti Mountains, home to elusive Caucasian wild goats. Our ride takes us beside dry rivers and through groves of sand-bar willows to a low pass at around 1520 metres, with views northwards to the Ile River which flows into Kapchagai Lake. Heading south now, we have a long and steady descent through the rocky Sogetty Valley, before crossing the main road (to China) again and turning off on a small spur road (dirt at first and then paved) that takes us into the Charyn Canyon National Park. We can see the impressive rock formations ahead of us as we make a final steep 3 kilometre descent to the 'Valley of Castles'. The rock pillars that frame the canyon are particularly impressive at sunset. We will set up our camp for the night close to the canyon.

We'll have an early wake-up call this morning for those who want to see (and photograph) the Charyn Canyon at its best. The morning sun brilliantly illuminates and highlights the red sandstone rock formations. Then, after breakfast at camp, we will transfer in the support vehicle for 25 kilometres, crossing the eastern end of the long spur of the Toraygir Mountains. On the south side of this range, we'll get back on our bikes and ride on a level tarmac road which meanders above the upper Charyn Canyon which at this point is around 100 metres deep. We will have the chance to check out one of a number of roadside gun emplacements, built by the Russians in the late 1960's during an escalation of hostilities with the Chinese. Then, as we leave the Charyn River (and its canyon) behind, we find ourselves in a more open valley with distant views of the snow-capped Tien Shan peaks. The good, paved road ends near the village of Algabas, a place which has a long history of breeding horses. We cross the Chilik River again at a bridge and turn off into the tributary Zhenishke Valley, following a gravel road gradually uphill for 12 kilometres to reach our idyllic camp place amongst willow trees and beside the river at an elevation of 1300 metres.

It's an easy start to the day as we retrace our route, this time downhill, to Algabas. We then ride off-road towards the high range of the Kungey Alatau which forms the border between Kazakhstan and Kirghizstan to the south. About 40 kilometres into the day's ride we reach the village of Zhalanash which was at the epicentre of catastrophic earthquake in 1973. High up on the peaks to the south, you can still see the rock-fall scars caused by this earthquake. We are back on a surfaced road as we ride through the village and then down into the valley formed by several streams which flow down from the Kungey Alatau and into the Kegen River. An undulating paved road then takes us to our green meadow camping place at an elevation of 1600 metres. This place has a part in the history of exploration of this region. In 1856 the Russian explorer Piotr Semenov, who was looking for a route through to unknown Lake Issyk-Kul (just across the border in Kirghizstan), camped here with his escort of 50 Cossack horsemen. Approximately half of today's ride is on a gravel and dirt road.

Heading east, we cycle up onto a region of high steppes known as the Kegen Plateau. We pass a water supply channel and hydro-electric installation at Moynakskaya and enjoy a morning of easy cycling through a mix of grassland and small communities set amongst farmland. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was traditional for Uighur (Chinese), Kirghiz and Kazakh people to come together each year at a 'Silk Road' trade fair on this high plain. This took place near the settlement of Karkara on the Kazakh-Kirghiz border, which we will visit during today's ride. Continuing to head east beside the upper Kegen River, we will reach a low pass (2100m) followed by a 6 kilometre descent to our camp near the village of Aktasty (1840m). Approximately 20 kilometres of today's ride is on dirt roads.

We ride a mix of surfaced and off-road route today, as we cross the high plain of the Kegen Plateau towards Kazakhstan's eastern border with China. The plain is so level here that the streams that cross it have cut complicated meanders into the grassland. There are also some areas dedicated to crops and we pass a number of farms and at least one Kazakh village, Karasaz. By early afternoon we reach our camping place beside the salty lake of Tuzkol (1950m) whose name means salt lake. This is an amazing place and an unusual lake. The level of saltiness depends on the amount of water influx and outflow and all kinds of odd vegetation grows here. Expect weird and wonderful colours and some great photo opportunities. If the conditions are clear, the views extend southwards to the central peaks of the Tien Shan, including the striking marble pyramid of Khan Tengri (7010m). Around 60 kilometres of today's ride is on gravel and dirt roads.

Another early wake up and the chance to see the lake at its best. Conditions can be particularly clear in the early morning and this might be the best chance to get a good view of Kan Tengri. We will be leaving the mountains today, but first we have another great ride. From Lake Tuzkol we ride steadily up the Shalkude Valley which is rich in alpine flowers and often home to the yurt camps of local herdsmen. Crossing the crystal clear Shalkude River, we begin a 15 kilometre climb through a narrow, steep-sided valley to the Ketmen Pass (3000m). There are great views from here, south to the Central Tien Shan and eastwards to peaks in China. From this remote pass, we have a super 12 kilometre descent on a quite smooth and twisting dirt road to Ketmen Village at just 1500 metres. In the late afternoon, we board our transport for the transfer northwards, leaving the mountains and entering a hot desert area at around 1000 metres elevation. Our overnight accommodation is at a basic guesthouse in Basshiy in the Altyn Emel National Park. Sandwiched between the Ili River and the Ak-Tau Mountains, this 4600 square kilometre rock and desert reserve is home to many hundreds of rare plant and animal species. There is a nearby visitor centre and museum where we can get an insight into this UNESCO-listed park. This evening, it will be good to take a hot shower and go out to a cafe for dinner.

We aim to make the most of our first desert ride and make a reasonably early start. Cycling straight from our accommodation, we ride a fairly level, tarmac and gravel road into the Ak-Tau Mountains. Formed of blue-grey sandstone and reddish clays, layered with paler bands, these mountains are simply spectacular. There are all kinds of spiky plants on the roadside and we might catch a distant glimpse of some of the region's wildlife, including the argali (a large and big-horned wild sheep) and the shy Persian gazelle. At the end of a fascinating ride, reaching an area of steep-sided valleys which split the multi-coloured landscape, we'll find a high viewpoint and look out across the Ili River to the south as the sun starts to drop towards the horizon. Transferring back to our guesthouse accommodation in Basshiy, we'll have a late dinner. Almost all of today's ride is on gravel roads.

On this final day of gravel road cycling we will ride easily down towards the southern edge of the park with great views across the rocky desert landscape throughout. At the oasis of Minbulak we can take a break beneath shading willow trees and look down into an underground irrigation channel home to shoals of small fish. The road climbs very gradually for the final approach to one of the Altyn-Emel's greatest attractions, the Singing Sand Dune. Otherwise known as the Poyushchiy Barchan, this is a big dune; 3 kilometres long and 120 metres high. Wind blowing across the dune can cause the grains of sand to rub together and vibrate, producing a range of sounds. We will have plenty of time to leave the bikes and hike to the top of the dune for panoramic photos. After an easy ride back to Minbulak, we'll have lunch, load our bikes on the support vehicle and set off on the scenic 4-hour drive across the Altyn-Emel Pass (1430m) and back to Almaty. After freshening up at the group hotel, we'll go out on the town for a farewell dinner.

Your holiday ends after an early breakfast. A single early morning transfer to Almaty Airport is provided.