Ushtobe — Koryo-saram Memorial

About this trip

Route

Itinerary

1. 

   Stop 1

   Almaty — A3 Departure

   The route leaves Almaty on the A3 northeast toward Kapchagai (Qonaev). Traffic clears after the city ring road. The highway is fully paved, dual-carriageway for the first 90 km. Fill up before leaving — there are stations in Kapchagai city if needed, but it is simpler to start with a full tank. The total distance to Taldykorgan, the day-one overnight base, is 270 km and takes roughly 3 hours 30 minutes without stops. Budget one more hour for the Kapchagai reservoir crossing and a roadside stop to watch the Ili valley open out. Most travellers leave Almaty at 08:00–09:00 and reach Taldykorgan comfortably by early afternoon.

   Tip: Download 2GIS offline maps for Zhetysu Region before leaving. The A3 has speed cameras starting roughly 40 km northeast of Almaty — observe posted limits (100 km/h).
2. 

   Stop 2

   Kapchagai Reservoir — Ili Crossing

   From previous:

   89 km · 65 min drive

   Stay:

   ~0.5 h

   The Kapchagai reservoir, 89 km from Almaty, was created in 1970 by damming the Ili River for the Kapchagay hydroelectric plant. The A3 crosses the dam's downstream side; the bridge affords a wide view of the reservoir surface and the reed-fringed delta arms to the east. In spring and early summer the surrounding floodplain carries green irrigation channels — some of these run through rice plots cultivated by Koryo-saram families who settled this section of the Ili valley after 1937. The rice paddies are not roadside-obvious in summer but the flat, waterlogged fields visible from the road between here and the reservoir's eastern arm are a quiet marker of what the deportees built. The Kapchagai detour to the waterfront adds 20 minutes if you want a closer look; the road drops down to the shore near the town of Qonaev.

   Tip: The bridge crossing and reservoir view are visible from the A3 without a detour. If you stop at the waterfront, the Qonaev town beach area has a cafe open in summer.
3. 

   Stop 3

   Taldykorgan — Overnight Base

   From previous:

   181 km · 140 min drive

   Stay:

   ~14 h

   Taldykorgan is the administrative centre of Zhetysu Region, with a population of around 160,000. It sits on the left bank of the Karatal River at the western edge of the Dzungarian Alatau foothills. The city has hotels at multiple price points, a functioning 24-hour pharmacy, and a reasonable food court near the bazaar on Zhambyl Street. It is the last proper city before Ushtobe (44 km northeast) and a much better base than driving all the way to Ushtobe on day one. The Taldykorgan city market is worth 30 minutes — stalls sell dried fruits, pine nuts from the Dzungarian range, and local honey. From Taldykorgan, the Ili valley becomes progressively more agricultural heading northeast; the road to Ushtobe follows the valley floor.

   Tip: Book Taldykorgan accommodation in advance — the city has limited mid-range options. The Hotel Zhetysu and several guesthouses on Lenin Street are the most reliable. Dinner at the bazaar food court closes by 21:00.
4. 

   Stop 4

   Ushtobe — Town Arrival

   From previous:

   44 km · 35 min drive

   Stay:

   ~1 h

   Ushtobe is a compact railway town of roughly 25,000 residents in Karatal District. The A3 enters from the southwest, passing the grain elevator and railway junction that made this the deportation terminus in 1937 — the trains could go no further east on the existing track network. The town centre is laid out on a Soviet grid: Abylai Khan Street runs east–west as the main commercial axis; the bus station (a Soviet modernist block) marks the central junction. Orientation is straightforward. The Kazakhstan–Korea Friendship Park on Bastobe Hill is visible from the southern approach — a low ridge with a flagpole and the upper memorial stele. Park the car in the town centre and plan the day around the two main sites: Bastobe Hill and the Karatal Korean History Center. Both are within 1.5 km of each other.

   Tip: The Karatal Korean History Center does not have fixed public hours — contact in advance via the Korean Association of Kazakhstan or through local guesthouses that have hosted visitors before. Some visitors have made direct arrangements through the cultural centre on Tole Bi Street.
5. 

   Stop 5

   Bastobe Hill — Kazakhstan–Korea Friendship Park

   From previous:

   5 km · 10 min drive

   Stay:

   ~2 h

   Bastobe Hill rises a modest 30 m above the surrounding steppe on the northern edge of Ushtobe. In October 1937 deportees who arrived here had walked 4.3 km from the railway drop-off point and dug shelters into the frozen ground. The Kazakhstan–Korea Friendship Park now occupies the hill, and several memorials have been installed over the years. The 2002 stele carries a Hangul inscription: it records that Koreans forced from the Soviet Far East first settled in burrows on this site from 9 October 1937 to 10 April 1938. A 2012 monument from the Korean Association of Kazakhstan expresses gratitude to the Kazakh families who provided food and shelter in that first winter. A 2022 monument wall lists fifteen Koryo-saram independence activists. Hundreds of graves with Hangul headstones are scattered across the hillside — many without dates, many with only transliterated names. An annual memorial service is held on 1 March. The park is unenclosed and accessible at all hours; the ground is uneven and partly overgrown.

   Tip: The 2002 Hangul stele is the most photographed element — it faces roughly southeast. The inscriptions name the deportation, not individuals. Approach the graves quietly; some families still tend them. The hill is exposed with no shade; a hat and water are needed in summer.
6. 

   Stop 6

   Karatal Korean History Center

   From previous:

   3 km · 8 min drive

   Stay:

   ~2 h

   The Karatal Korean History Center in Ushtobe was established by Korean-American missionary Helen Park, who relocated to Kazakhstan after working in Russia. The museum occupies a small compound with both indoor and outdoor sections. Indoors: one room is set up for screening historical documentary films about the deportation and early settlement, with bookshelves, photographs, and letters from the first generation; a second room displays household items, Korean clothing, and newspapers from the collective-farm period. Outdoors: an open courtyard contains a recreated burrow of the type survivors dug on Bastobe Hill in October 1937, an original cast-iron oven from a collective-farm kitchen, a wooden rice pounder, and a thatched-roof hut. The outdoor exhibits are small in scale but specific — the rice pounder in particular is concrete evidence of the agronomic knowledge the deportees carried and redeployed in the Ili valley. Koryo-saram families established 20 collective farms within two years of arrival and built the irrigation channels that first made paddy rice viable in the region.

   Tip: Contact the History Center or Korean Association of Kazakhstan well in advance — at least two weeks if possible. Some visitors have arrived without prior arrangement and found the center closed. A nominal donation is appropriate. The outdoor exhibits are uncovered and best seen in dry weather.
7. 

   Stop 7

   Ushtobe Bazaar — Koryo-saram Material Culture

   From previous:

   2 km · 5 min drive

   Stay:

   ~1.5 h

   The Ushtobe central market, on Tole Bi Street, runs daily until early afternoon. Koryo-saram vendors are present at the food section most mornings. The material culture of the community is readable here without framing it as a tourist display: morkovcha (julienned carrots fermented with garlic, chilli, and coriander seed — a Koryo-saram invention, not a traditional Korean dish, made when napa cabbage was unavailable in Central Asia) is sold by the kilogram alongside donjimi white radish pickle and several varieties of rice-based side dishes. Dried rice is sometimes available when harvest timing aligns. The market also carries mundane Ili-valley produce — melons, tomatoes, pickled watermelon — and locally manufactured goods from the nearby factory district. Ushtobe has a yurt-building factory that exports across Kazakhstan; its rail entrance and production buildings are visible from the eastern approach road. The third generation and fourth generation of Koryo-saram in Ushtobe speak primarily Russian and Kazakh; Korean is heard mainly from elders.

   Tip: The food section of the bazaar is busiest 08:00–11:00. Morkovcha is sold by weight; ask for a small portion first — heat levels vary by vendor. Cash only; no card readers at market stalls.
8. 

   Stop 8

   Return to Taldykorgan — second overnight

   From previous:

   44 km · 35 min drive

   Stay:

   ~12 h

   After the bazaar visit, return southwest to Taldykorgan for the second overnight. The 44 km drive takes roughly 35 minutes on the A3 corridor and resets the trip in the same practical city base used on day one, with dinner, pharmacy access, and a simpler morning departure back toward Almaty.

   Tip: Book both Taldykorgan nights before leaving Almaty so the return from Ushtobe is straightforward after the memorial visits.
9. 

   Stop 9

   Return — Ili Valley Viewpoint → Almaty

   From previous:

   270 km · 210 min drive

   The return follows the A3 southwest from Taldykorgan. Between the Ili valley and the Kapchagai reservoir the road runs close to the river for long stretches; in late June and July the rice paddy plots managed by Koryo-saram collective farms are at their greenest and most legible from the elevated road sections. The drive from Taldykorgan back to Almaty is roughly 270 km and takes 3 to 3.5 hours without stops. A lunch stop at Kapchagai is easy to arrange before the final run into the city.

   Tip: The rice paddy section is most visible mid-summer (late June to mid-August). In other seasons the fields are dry or in preparation and less distinctive. Allow 3.5 to 4 hours for the return leg if stopping for lunch.

What to bring

• ●Warm layer (Taldykorgan nights are cool even in summer)
• ●Cash (KZT) — small bazaar vendors rarely take cards
• ●Offline maps (2GIS covers Taldykorgan and Ushtobe well)
• ●Note or gift for the Karatal Korean History Center (advance contact recommended)
• ●Camera with close-up capability for memorial inscriptions
• ●Water (1.5 L per person minimum — limited vendors at Bastobe Hill)
• ●Comfortable walking shoes (Bastobe Hill is uneven ground)

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