6th ANNIVERSARY OF AVALON!

Dear friends, brothers-in-arms, partners and associates!

Let me congratulate you on the sixth anniversary since the day when “Avalon” H istorico-geographical society was founded! During the past year we’ve achieved a lot and really have something to be proud of.

Quite impressive bike-marsh in September 2009, the third bike festival “Karaganda-Velocity” in June 2010, a lot of mass rides and other less significant bike events. The Bi cycle community of Karaganda city grows bigger and stronger. Appearance of the first examples of cycling infrastructure in Karaganda is just around the corner.

We all actively participate in realization of the project in ecological tourism development in Central Kazakhstan . And so the seventh year of our existence will be connected with this direction even more closely.

Meetings of the “Travellers’ club”, held in Karaganda Ecological museum, slowly become a tradition. We are planning to turn them into regular meetings of people who are interested in sharing and getting new information.

The German version of “Discovery Kazakhstan ” magazine-guidebook, including special issue dedicated to ecotourism, was published in cooperation with “ Silk Road media” publishing-house. We’re preparing for publication of the English version of “Discovery Tajikistan ”. We became official representatives of the Publishing house in Kazakhstan and are going to take an active part in promotion of Central Asia and Kazakhstan in particular as tourist destinations abroad.

During the past year members of “Avalon” had chance and time to travel in Kyrgyzstan , Germany , Czechia , Slovakia , Hungary , Italy , France , the Netherlands , the Ukraine , China , Uzbekistan , Tajikistan and even Afghanistan . Travels around Kazakhstan also took place – we made journeys to Semirechiye, Northern and Central Kazakhstan .

What can we say… we still spend most of our lives in trips and journeys. And the fact, that a part of the team, including me, is somewhere in the middle of the Kazakh steppe, riding bikes from Astana “to the center of the Kazakh land”, on the very day when “Avalon” is celebrating its sixth birthday, goes to prove that.

Have a good holiday!

Best wishes of incredible adventures, great achievements and sweet memories for you!

Vitaliy Shuptar

President of Avalon Historico-Geographical Society and Public foundation