The ultimate reason of why I was easily convinced to visit Kazakhstan are THE LAKES, I have particular interests in nature especially rivers and lakes! So it’s a big yes when I found out Kazakhstan is home to many stunning lakes.
My Central Asia trip was started in Almaty, a city that is blessed with beautiful surrounding nature – including lakes. You can easily spot a handful lakes that are accessible from Almaty : Kolsay, Kaindy, and BAL (Big Almaty Lake) which of course I included them all in my itinerary.
Since I was traveling solo, I joined an open tour by Kazakhstan Very Nice. It was a one day shared-tour that covers Charyn Canyon, Kolsay and Kaindy that I would happily recommend it if you are looking for a guided tour. If I were traveling in group, I would definitely rent a private car with a driver as the landscapes are so heart-growling you’ll want to make many stops along the way to enjoy it.


The day started early because we have to fit in all 3 spots in a day. Our first stop was Charyn Canyon, it is located about 3,5 hours from Almaty. To be honest I did not have certain expectation towards the canyon. Turns out, it was a pretty amusing landscape to see. I loved the hilly backdrops at the start of the trail. And while we walked through the canyon, we got companied by stunning towering gorge in both sides that sometimes have a bizarre form. The walks itself spent nearly 40 mins until we arrived at the end of the track which is the Charyn river.

We spent sometime by the river before going back with an old Soviet-era truck. We can return back by foot for sure but the tour arranged the truck trip to save time and to give different experience at the same time. It indeed felt exciting to ride on the open truck passing through the canyon, giving a sense of adventure.



LAKE KOLSAY
The lake is situated at a lower elevation from the parking lot for visitors making it easy to reach. The view of the lake from parking lot was quite beautiful but I think I like it best from the lower slopes.
What makes the lake pretty is actually how the pines and the mountainous backdrop framed it, creating a pretentious view at the same time. We could actually have a walk further down to the other side of the lake. But I’d prefer to stop at the view point in lower slope, capturing a bunch of beautiful pictures while having a chat with other people from the group.


Unfortunately the weather was cloudy with a little bit of light rain when we arrived. So the lake did not glow as brightly as it should have. Well, that’s the perks for visiting not in the summer.
LAKE KAINDY
Visiting Lake Kaindy (read : Kainda) requires way more effort due to its unbeaten roads. After having a delicious home-made lunch first in the local house in the village of Saty, we got picked up by a big yellow bus, that looks like a school bus but clearly it is not.


The off-road journey took almost an hour before we arrived to the trail head that was leading to Kaindy gorge. From there, we still need to do another trip down to the lake. We had 3 options : hike, ride a horse or continue by bus. The fastest way of course riding horse which I happily opted to. Bus is the easier but it takes way longer while riding horse only required around 30 mins.


The horse riding turn to be the highlight of the day. It’s just so so so cool to ride the horse along the gorge with such a jaw dropping view! It was a completely new experience to me too! The trail itself was fine though it got me freaked out a little every time the horse got too near to the edge of the cliff.
We saddled off after half an hour ride then hike about 10 minutes to get to the tip of the lake. Oh I would say the lake was super stunning! It has a little eerie impression at first, looking at the towering trunks from the water but I think that’s where the magic is.
Ok, so a little bit of story, centuries ago earthquake caused a landslide, forming a gorge. Rainwater filled the gorge, submerging the spruce trees. The trees’ tops died, leaving towering trunks, while their bases and roots remained intact underwater with no sign of decomposition. That’s why Lake Kaindy also known as the sunken lake.

If I had to choose a favorite between the 2 lakes I visited today, Lake Kaindy would be it.
BIG ALMATY LAKE
I initially planned to visit Big Almaty Lake in April, the day after my open-trip to the other lakes. However, one of the people I met on the open-trip said that the lake is still frozen and shrouded in fog, it would be no point to go there. So I postponed my visit to early May, after completing my Kazakh – Uzbek – Kyrgyz loop.
Turns out, upon returning to Almaty in early May, the lake was still frozen and not ready to be visited yet. Ahh..what a disappointment. I had hoped it would be one last stunning lake to close my trip. To be honest until today I am still curious about the lake as many people raved about it – according to my google crawls. I hope one day I still had the chance to return and visit it 🙂
Well, that was all. For whoever asked me whether Kazakhstan is worth to visit, I’ll definitely say YES in a split second. The landscape are amazing, the lakes are stunning, and while the people might seem reserved but they are actually nice.