Where the immense steppe meets soaring peaks, Kazakhstan stretches across a vast landscape. This is the land where the gallop of nomad's atop horseback once struck fear to its neighbors, and where these wanderers followed the seasons under the boundless blue skies. The nomadic lifestyles soon intertwined with the sedentary life, in large part due to the Silk Roads that wound through these lands. Here, fable cities such as Otrar and Shymkent stood for centuries, gaining more wealth than one can imagine. Even then, their stories of destruction and abandonment are even more difficult to comprehend.

Even though these Silk Road cities and nomadic lifestyles have faded in Kazakhstan today, the endless expanse of sand, grass and mountains still instill that same timeless spirit, rooted into the fabric of Kazakh life. From yurts to modern skyscrapers, Kazakhstan still manages to blend the past and present.