Ust-Kamenogorsk — or Oskemen in Kazakh — is the capital of the East Kazakhstan Region and the industrial heart of eastern Kazakhstan. The city sits at exactly the 50th parallel, at the confluence of the Irtysh and Ulba rivers, in a landscape that transitions from steppe to the foothills of the Altai Mountains. It was founded as a Russian military fort in 1720 and later grew into one of the Soviet Union's most important metallurgical centres, processing the zinc, lead, and copper ore from the surrounding mines.
The city is not a showpiece. Its Soviet-era apartment blocks and factory districts are honest about what it is: a working city of about 300,000 people that happens to sit in extraordinary surroundings. The Irtysh-Ulba confluence and Kirov Park — where ancient Turkic stone balbals stand amid the flowerbeds — give the centre more character than most Kazakh industrial towns. The Boris Alexandrov Sports Palace is home to one of Kazakhstan's best ice hockey clubs, and a winter match there is one of the more memorable local experiences in the region.
The real attraction of Ust-Kamenogorsk is as a base. Forty minutes east is the Ablaketka hydroelectric dam and its vast reservoir, one of the world's tallest navigation locks. To the southeast lies Lake Markakol in the high Altai, a pristine mountain lake in a nature reserve few tourists reach. Lake Zaisan, the largest lake in the region, is about 200 km to the south. The mountains in all directions offer hiking, and the forests of birch and Siberian pine that begin just outside the city are beautiful in autumn.