Lake Kolsay and Kaindy

Route length: 325 km (650 km round trip)

Travel time: 6 hours to Saty village, 30 min. to Kolsay lake, and 30 minutes to Kaindy lake.

Seasonality: all year round

Best time to travel: May-September

Tour duration: 2 days.

The lakes are located 10 km up to the North of the border with Kyrgyzstan, 330 km South-East of Almaty. Road goes through the picturesque Uyghur village of Bayseit.

Today, the village is a kind of transshipment point. Through it, travelers pass to the hot springs in Chunju, to the Bartogai reservoir, Kolsay lakes, Kaindy, Charyn canyon. Lon time ago it was part of the Great silk road, where huge caravans passed and there was a brisk trade.

It is worth noting that trade thrives here nowadays. The main street of Baiseit is a large Bazaar – market, where locals sell fruits and vegetables.

Once in the village, an attentive traveler will notice the open gates to each house.  People have a strong believe  this way a good spirit enters the house “the Guest will not come alone, but with an angel”. The gates are closed at night though.

Kolsay lakes — a system of three lakes in the Northern Tien Shan, in the Kolsay canyon, in the bridge connecting the Kungei-Alatau and Zailiysky Alatau ranges.

The absolute height of the lakes above sea level is 1818 m, 2252 m and 2850 m.

In this tour, we will only visit the first one. The length of the lake is 1520 m, width 222 m, depth 366 m!

Kolsay is an incredible lake! The color of the water is amazing, changing depending on the weather, from bright turquoise, azure to green and gray-blue!

The lake is rich in diverse flora and fauna, there are king trout, ducks, eagles, you can meet hares and marmots.

Upon arrival, we will take a trail the lake. You can take a boat or catamaran trip on the lake too.

For the night,  you can stay in a guest house in the village of Saty, rent a hotel room with a view of the lake, settle in a Yurt, or set up a tent camp.

Kaindy Lake

Kaindy lake is located on the Northern slope of the Kungei Ala-Too mountain canyon at an altitude of 1,867 meters above sea level in a dense coniferous forest. It’s 21 kilometers between Kolsay lake and Kaindy lake.

Kaindy  means “abundant birch” or “birch” in Kazakh language. Although you will not find a single birch tree on the lake, you will find the birch five kilometers below the lake.

Kaindy lake is a natural wonder! It was formed as a result of the Kemin earthquake in 1911! The earthquake lasted about 5 minutes with an amplitude of 8 points! Can you imagine the power? Naturally, this led to changes in the landscape — deep cracks, ruptures and numerous landslides occurred. One of these landslides blocked the river – and the mountain valley got filled with water, flooding the coniferous forest growing there. In any other place, the trees would have rotted long ago, but in Kaindy such cold water (even in July, no higher than 6C) that the trees are literally preserved! In clear weather, they are clearly visible through the water.

Accommodation for the night will depend on your preferences – tent camp, guest house, Yurt.

Hashtags / keywords to search for:

#garintrip_Кольсай #garintrip_Каинды #Kolsai #Kaindy

Kolsay lake, Kaindy lake