A look inside
Thirty-eight seconds inside a YurtaDa
YurtaDa
Designed for those who want to understand it, not just photograph it.
Overview
YurtaDa is the name for each of Dala Arba's ethno-village anchor points — and the philosophy that shapes them. A YurtaDa is a traditional Kazakh settlement: yurts, a shared fire, and a rhythm of life set by the land and the seasons.
These are not museum dioramas. Each YurtaDa is a living cultural environment at one of our four destinations, hosted by people from the local community — families who have belonged to these landscapes for generations.
You sleep in a yurt with modern comfort, eat what has been cooked here for centuries, and meet the craftspeople, musicians, and riders who call this place home — not performing for visitors, but simply living their traditions.
A look inside
The three pillars
Three commitments that shape every YurtaDa, regardless of which landscape it sits in.
Each YurtaDa offers premium yurt stays: the silhouette stays traditional; bedding, climate, and bathrooms meet what today's traveller expects. Comfort and cultural authenticity are not at odds here — they are the same choice.
Dishes draw on regional produce and time-honoured methods: beshbarmak, kurt, baursak, kumiss. This is not "cuisine for the photo" — it is what actually sustains local life. Our cooks follow the same seasonal logic and work with the suppliers who have built this region's food culture over generations.
At every YurtaDa, cultural life is woven into the stay — not as staged theatre, but as an invitation: felt work, traditional instruments, meeting a berkutchi, and conversation (with interpretation when needed) with people who call this landscape home.
Locations
Each YurtaDa belongs to its landscape. Each is hosted by people who have always lived in it.
The Camp of Arrival. Qonaqjailyq — hospitality as sacred law. The dastarkhan is spread before anything else begins.
View camp →The Camp of the High Summer. Kumiss, felt-making, and the Milky Way at 2,600 metres with zero light pollution.
View camp →The Camp at the Edge of Deep Time. Twelve million years of canyon colour — terracotta at dawn, violet at dusk.
View camp →The Camp of the Open Steppe. The Singing Barchan, Scythian kurgans, and the horizon as freedom with no edges.
View camp →The promise
That is the YurtaDa promise — and the reason every detail, from the bedding to the cook's supplier list, is chosen with care. Each camp is a different ecological zone, a different season, a different chapter of nomadic life. Together, they are the emotional heart of Dala Arba.
Whether as a single night in the foothills or a multi-stop route across all four landscapes — tell us your dates and we'll shape the program around you.