Kazakhstan Golf Below the Tian Shan: Nurtau, Zhailjau and Shymbulak, 4 Nights

You are met at Almaty International Airport and driven to your hotel. Almaty is a green, leafy city laid out on a slope below the mountains, so you will usually see snowy peaks at the end of the street. The rest of the day is free to settle in, with plenty of cafés near the centre.

Your driver takes you to Nurtau Golf Club for a full eighteen-hole round, with your green fee and golf cart arranged. The course sits on the edge of the city with the Zailiysky Alatau range rising behind it, and afternoon light on the peaks is part of the pleasure. Caddies are paid at the club.

A second round on a second course: eighteen holes at Zhailjau Golf Club in the countryside outside Almaty, with your green fee and golf cart included. Playing two different layouts makes the trip feel less like repetition. You return to the city in the afternoon, and the evening is yours.

A mountain day. Your driver takes you up the gorge past the Medeu ice rink to the gondola station, and your ticket carries you up to Shymbulak and on by lift to the third level at the Talgar Pass, at a little over 3,100 metres. Take a warm layer: it is much cooler up there than in the city.

Breakfast at the hotel before your driver drives you to the airport for the flight home. With time before the flight, the Green Bazaar is close to the centre and a good place to pick up dried fruit, nuts and Kazakh sweets for the journey.