For our last full day in Kazakhstan we rented ATVs with the intention of riding up to the glacier, but at the last minute our plans were foiled by an avalanche blocking a trail. Ania called Kanat, the taxi driver who found us the apartment, and he took us to the Shymbulak gondola station. There are three separate gondolas connected end-to-end. We were supposed to take the first gondola and meet the ATV guide, but we accidentally bought tickets for all three gondolas. We realized our mistake halfway up the second gondola and had to ride it back down to the top of the first gondola.
It was not ideal weather, there was a lot of fog, and then rain, but we had a good time riding ATVs anyway. We rode up to the top of Shymbulak, heard (but couldn’t see) an avalanche in the fog, and then rode back down and the fog lifted for a few minutes. We got to see the mountains we were riding in, and then the fog closed back in again, and we rode back down.