Trip to Burabay

This time, the participants of the local history club of the Department of History of Kazakhstan and SPD decided to visit the most scenic area of our vast Saryarka - the surroundings of Burabay. The purpose of our three-day trip, which took place during the holidays - fr om May 9 to 11, was to get acquainted with the historical and geographical landmarks of Burabay, visit interesting natural sites, and also get moderate physical activities, i.e. continue to get involved in a healthy lifestyle after intense study and work in the current semester. Students, young doctors (alumni of our university) and faculty members of our department took part in our trip - a total of 24 people. Alumni of our university, active members of our community in the past from Astana and even from Atbasar also arrived!

The first tour, organized by assistant professor of the department O.A. Kovtun, took place on the day of arrival - to the Museum of Botai Culture. We visited the lodgings of the Botai people, the ancient population of Saryarka, restored by scholars, got acquainted with their household activities and spiritual culture, and saw numerous artifacts.

In the evenings at the Nurlytau Hotel, wh ere we stayed, the meetings of the club were hosted. That way, presentations were delivered by students of the 1045 group of the School of Medicine - Ayimgul Baimurat, Dilyara Issagulova, Alissa Lysenko, to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War, this anniversary was widely celebrated in our Republic during these May days. The students showed their presentations, pictures on the screen, spoke about the military history of their great-grandfathers and relatives who did not spare their lives for the Motherland, who waged a rightful, patriotic war against fascism. Ayimgul performed songs with a guitar on military topics, including her own composition! We applauded the speakers, they were presented with certificates for participation in the department's students' scientific soceity and memorable postcards issued for the 20th anniversary of our KMU's local history club.

The next day, a spacious minibus, with the driver of which we had previously agreed on trips around the surroundings of Burabay - our regular member of the club and participant in numerous trips - Pavel Ivachev (who was appointed as the group's doctor), took us to the famous Abylai Khan square. We made a sevenfold walk around the stone throne of Abylai, on which, as legend has it, the famous khan of the Middle Zhuz was seated, and then climbed to what some call Viewpoint in the area of ​​Mount Kokshetau, which offers a magnificent view of the mountains and woodland of the Burabay mountain area right up to the horizon! A truly mesmerizing picture that could not help but be captured through the lenses of cameras and cell phones!

On the third day of our stay, we went to, perhaps, the main historical site - the Kenesary Khan cave. The route passed through a pine wood, sometimes along the very shore of Lake Borovoe. And so, we climbed up to the cave of the famous "rebellious sultan", who led the largest national liberation uprising against czarist regime in the 19th century! At the entrance to the cave, the teachers of the department  A.I. Ongarbayeva and A.B. Dolgopolov delivered a short lecture on the history of the uprising of K. Kassymov, introduced the students to the pecularities of that era. And here we are in the cave, from which an indescribable view of Lake Borovoe and the mountain distances opens up. The return road through the pine wood was no less scenic, it makes you want to breathe fresh air deeply!

Our program also included walking along the shore of Lake Borovoe, and first-year students also rode rented bicycles along bike lanes. In the evening of the second day, a regular participant of our club since 2018, Zhuldyz Issina, a specialist at the Family Support Center, held an extremely interesting intellectual game on the history of Karaganda, dividing the group into 2 teams. And there was, perhaps, the most important thing in communication - in an informal conversation, senior students and young doctors, among whom were Diana Mailykhanova, Pavel Ivachev, Kairbek Konysbekov, Shakhmadiyar Akhmedov and others - senior colleagues answered first-year students' questions about their future profession, told about the difficulties of working as a doctor. Despite the difficulties in work, most of the senior comrades noted that "... they do not regret their chosen profession!" And this, perhaps, was very important for all of us - students and teachers - to hear! According to the participants of the trip - members of the club, it wasn't wasted time, everyone enjoyed and learned a lot about the beautiful natural landscapes of Kazakhstan, and also got a boost of energy for the upcoming exam! Here is what a 1st-year student of the School of Medicine, K. Rakhimzhanova, wrote to the group of participants of the trip: ... Thank you for the opportunity to visit the Botai monument, picturesque places, the nature was mesmerizing.

I would like to express gratitude to all members of the club, teachers, our senior colleagues, thank you for sharing your invaluable experience, it was very interesting to learn about your career path of development in medicine, your words inspired us to move on ....

Assistant Professor, head of the local history club of the department A.B. Dolgopolov