Sep 28, 2022
A once in a lifetime adventure! - If you are going to do one tour in Astana, choose this one! We were a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids aged 8 and 10) and we all agree that this trip was the highlight of our trip and absolutely unforgettable. The kids loved the archery and the horse riding the best, my husband loved the eagle and I loved the food. We also watched some videos of eagle hunting which were so interesting. All of us thought the guide, driver and the family were warm and friendly and we felt welcome immediately. It was a great insight into traditional Kazakh life and we learned so much, thank you!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 1, 2022
Phenomenal! - This tour was the sort of amazing experience of Kazakh culture that I’ve always dreamed of, and much more! My guides drove me about an hour outside of Astana to spend an afternoon with a wonderful family of eagle hunting champions and their champion eagle. I loved meeting the family, holding their majestic eagle, riding on one of their horses, enjoying archery and fun traditional games.
Then, to my surprise, they let me help cook fried bread, they showed me traditional Kazakh music (with a dombra) and dancing (and invited me to join!), prepared a spectacular luncheon for me that graciously accommodated difficult dietary restrictions. They also showed me how to build a traditional yurt and invited me inside one of them. The hospitality of the warm family and the knowledge of the engaging guide were beyond all expectations, and so was all of the fun I had. If you are interested in nomadic Turkic cultures or just looking for a fun educational experience, I cannot recommend this tour enough to anyone visiting Astana!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 13, 2019
A Brilliant Unforgettable Day - I can THOROUGHLY RECOMMEND this tour. Please note it is not 24 hours as the key details state, but rather around 4-5 hours I think. My friend and I negotiated with the company to pay additional costs for the English speaking guide and driver and spend the entire day in their care. We were collected from our hotel at 9.45AM and taken firstly to the Alzhir Memorial ie.the Akmola Labourcamp for wives of traitors to Motherland during the Stalin era. We were shown a film and a local guide took us through the facility telling us sobering stories. From there we were taken to the village of the Eagle hunters and were really impressed with the care we received. These folk have a desire to teach not only their younger generations, but also all people about their culture. We had a hand with cooking, rode the horse around the yard, played knucklebones, held the eagle, learnt archery, put a spoke in the yurt, participated in a ceremony for the baby who happened to turn one that day, had a lovely lunch while listening to Arman singing and playing a traditional instrument. Fabulous! When that part of the tour was complete we were taken back to Nur-Sultan and, at our request, taken on a boat trip (which we had not been able to manage by ourselves) on the river up to the Presidential Palace and return. We had requested to be taken somewhere for dinner and their choice to the very reasonably priced Mangalik Aspan restaurant with great views across the city. Finally, our tour became our shuttle to the station (and even, our fault, a dash across town to the correct station!) for our night train to Almaty. The girls were delightful, sharing their local knowledge, taking photos for us etc. That day was a highlight of our trip to "The Stans" Thank you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 23, 2019
Excellent Experience - 5 others and I went on this excursion and really enjoyed ourselves. If you’re looking to experience authentic Kazakhstani culture this is for you.
Review provided by Viator
Jun 23, 2019
We will never forget this experience! - My boyfriend and I had an incredible time visiting the eagle hunter (Arman) and his family. This tour is exactly as promised in the description! When we arrived at Arman's house, his wife was cooking baursaki (savory doughnuts) over an open fire in the backyard. My boyfriend helped her make them, and they were delicious! It was too chilly out to have lunch in the yurt, but we were given a lesson on the yurt's construction and cultural significance. We then tried our hand at archery (with varying success), a traditional Kazakh game of throwing sheep bones, and horseback riding. Perhaps the most special part of the afternoon was getting the chance to meet (and hold!) Arman's decades-old prize hunting eagle, which was passed down from his father. It was simply magical. We were then invited into Arman's home to enjoy horse milk, do a traditional Kazakh dance, and eat a feast of beshbarmak. Aigerima secured us a fantastic English translator who gave us a running commentary throughout it all. I can't recommend this tour enough! It was simply the highlight of our visit, and an experience we will never forget.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jun 17, 2019
Great Intro to the Culture & Heritage of Kazakhstan - With only one free day in Astana prior to a conference, my colleagues and I sought an experience that would quickly orient ourselves to the rich culture of Kazakhstan. We found this - and so much more! - in our day spent with a local Kazakh family. We enjoyed so many "firsts" - drinking fermented horse milk from wooden bowls, eating horse in the traditional (and tasty!) beshbarmak dish, handling a truly magnificent hunting eagle, engaging in archery, playing a dombra, on and on. The family is justifiably proud of their heritage, working to preserve it, and eager to share it with visitors.
Aizhan, our guide, is a superb translator and provided us with excellent context and background to our numerous experiences during the day. We were all quite merry and felt like a family by the time we left. Aizhan added several unexpected bonuses to our excursion - pointing out and explaining Astana city landmarks during our drive out to the village, and taking us up the Bayterek Tower upon our return. She is a superb guide and we'd certainly seek out her services again. Thank you for a terrific introduction to Kazakhstan!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 1, 2023
ok - Let me say that this review does not reflect the warm welcoming family of Armand and his village but just that our experience was not what we expected for the money we paid. Armand and his family were extremely welcoming and so very kind to us. We paid $580 for 2 people and got to spend about 20 mins with his eagle, each of us had an attempt to shoot 2 arrows and then a display of a Kazakh horse riding sport game. We had a nice lunch inside of his home and then watched many eagle hunting videos and he played a few songs on his dobra guitar.. There was no yurt, no traditional costumes, no actual eagle flying display. We were there for a total of 4 hours and we asked the guide/translator to send us some of the photos he took and we never got any. The eagle was amazing and Armand and his wife were so very welcoming and we were happy to meet them but we just felt based on other experiences we read about here we did not get the full experience we expected for the money.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
