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Duration · 3 DAYS |
Season · SPRING - SUMMER - AUTUMN |
Activity · HIKING / ADVENTURE / SIGHTSEEING |
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From USD $525 Customer reviews |
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| Route overview |
Get inspired | Itinerary | Service and prices | Important notes |
If you want to see the most impressive natural attractions of the Almaty region from angles inaccessible to the mass tourist, and if you are a truly passionate traveler and hiker - then this tour is made for you! Do not miss the chance to see the magnificent Second Kolsay Lake and have lunch on its shore. Walk up and down the Valley of Castles - the most striking of the Charyn canyons. Go around Kaindy - the famous high-mountain lake with a "sunken" forest and share unique photos with your friends
Route overview
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Almaty - Charyn - Kolsai-1 to Kolsai-2 hike - Kaindy Lake - Almaty Difficulty: ♦ ♦ ◊ ◊ ◊ Type: hiking / adventure / sightseeing Group size: min 1 - max 6 |
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Get insipired |
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What to expect |
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| #CharynCanyons |
#Charyn |
#KolsaiLakes |
#Kaindy |
#KolsaiHiking | #VisitKazakhstan | #AroundAlmaty | #Qazaqstan |
Itinerary
Day 1 · Almaty - Charyn "Valley of Castles" - Saty
Morning pick up in Almaty and drive to Charyn NP main entry. The most attractive canyon called "Valley of Castles" is located 200km to the east from the city.
After the Park's entry procedures, we take a hike along the gorge to enjoy the canyon's famous views. The height of the vertical walls here is between 150 and 300 meters, and their shapes are so different! Some formations look like fossilized dinosaurs, the others seem to be the heads of giant wizards. Fantastic towers, sky bridges and other indescribable figures of different colours make you feel walking through the real Fairyland.
The trail stops near the Charyn River and we take a lunch/picnic at a riverbank, in a shadow of relic Sogdian ash trees.
After lunch we get back to the car and head further, in a direction of the Kungei Alatau mountains.
In the afternoon we come to the Saty village, located at the "Kolsai Lakes" National Park's entry. Accommodate at a guest house. Take dinner and stay overnight.
Meals · lunch, dinner 
Accommodation · guest house in Saty
Walking · 2 hours, ↔ 5km, no elevation
Driving · 5 hours, ↔310km
Day 2 · Hiking from the the First Kolsai Lake to the Second Lake and back
We take breakfast and drive up to the Kolsai-1 Lake parking (15 min).
The hike starts at the First Lake (also called Saty) at an altitude of 1800m. The track follows its western shore, up the valley. The trail is good; more than half of the way passes with a slight climb. Before the 2nd lake the slope increases (500m).
You will definitely enjoy the wildlife: there are a lot of shrubs: various kinds of rose, cotoneaster with red and brown berries, red and black honeysuckle, currant of Meyer and raspberries. Blackberries, strawberries and bramble are often found in the riverside. Along the steep slopes the river flows as series of small waterfalls: in such places the rocks along the stream are covered with moss. Here you have a chance to see the famous blue bird. In sunny days the forest is full of twittering of various birds like nutcrackers, grouse birds – a rapid predator Sparrow hawk hunts them. In the evening or in very bad weather a real owner of this place appears – a bear. Walking to the second lake can take 3-4 hours.
The Second Kolsai lake (middle) is also called Mynzhylgy - it has more than a kilometer in lenght and about 900 meters in width, located at an altitude of 2250m. From the shores the high peaks of Kungei Alatau are visible.
At the second lake shore we take a lunch in a form of a picnic and start hiking back along the same trail.
In the late afternoon we get back to the same guest house, take dinner and stay overnight.
Meals · breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation · guest house in Saty
Walking · 5-6 hours, ↑↓ 450m (1800m to 2250m), ↔ 14.5km,
Driving · 30 min
Day 3 · Kaindy Lake with sunken forest - Almaty
Take breakfast at a guest house and start driving up, following Kaindy Gorge to the famous lake.
Kaindy Lake, called after a small river that runs through in the depth, is located 15km to the east of the village Saty (dirt road ). This natural reservoir lies at a height of about 1800m above sea level, in the zone of dense spruce forest. The lake was formed in 1911 after a huge earthquake that resulted in a big landslide from the eastern slope.
The uniqueness of the lake is that after the rise of natural dam that blocked the gorge, water that filled a basin has formed a lake but has not destroyed the spruce that had been growing in this place along the river. The upper parts of the trees sticking out of the water lost lateral branches and bark, and the wood became white. The lower part of the “drowned” pines retained branches that were overgrown with algae under the water, thus created fantastic underwater landscape.
After an hike around Kaindy Lake, we get back to the cars.
Take lunch and head back to Almaty. Meals · breakfast, lunch
Walking · 2 hours, 5km, ↑↓100m Driving · 5 hours, ↔ 310km
Service and prices
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Guiding
Prices:Important notes
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