Kaindy & Kolsai Lakes
I had heard so much about Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes while researching what to do in Almaty and after seeing stunning photos, I knew I wanted to make a trip out there! The problem was that it’s not easy to get there on your own - your options are to rent a car or take a bus to the nearest town and hitchhike the rest of the way there. While hitchhiking is on my bucket list (don’t panic, parents!) I wasn’t quite ready to try that out, so I booked a tour with Steppe Spirit, a local tour company that does day and overnight trips from Almaty and who came recommended by my hostel. Most of our group were international travelers with some Kazakh locals visiting out of town.
The two day tour would cover Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes on the first day and visit Charyn Canyon on the second. While it’s billed as a two day one night tour, it actually includes an additional night of driving at the beginning of the trip. Our mini bus departed late in the evening, around 9:30pm, from Almaty and made its way to Saty, the closest town to these attractions and about a 5-6 hours drive.
The “girls’ dormitory” for the solo female travelers at our guesthouse in Saty.
Breakfast of champions
We arrived at our guesthouses in Saty early in the morning and got to get a couple hours of shut-eye before our tour began.
Our guesthouse was clean and comfortable and is run by a local family who lived in an attached building. There were multiple bedrooms so that each couple could have their own privacy, a dining room where we had breakfast and dinner, and a bathroom that thankfully had hot water - it got cold at night since Saty is at a higher elevation than Almaty.
Each morning we were served a traditional Kazakh breakfast included baursak, (fried dough), homemade bread accompanied by margarine and homemade butter (clearly the winner, rich, fatty, and straight from the family’s cows) and delicious fruit jams, a small cucumber and tomato salad, and porridge.
An antique - our bus from the USSR era but still capable of making a road trip. We only took this bus during our drive to Kaindy Lake.
Kaindy Lake
We filled up on breakfast after a five hour nap, then departed for Kaindy Lake. However since the road to the lake is quite bumpy and sometimes flooded by the rivers, we changed vehicles and ended up with a mini bus from the Soviet era. Not a 4WD but still capable of getting us to our destination!
Kaindy Lake was formed in 1911 as a result of earthquake. The lake previously was a valley of pine trees situated below a glacial river, but after the earthquake, the river flooded the valley to create Kaindy Lake and submerge the trees in the valley. This is how Kaindy Lake got famous for its “underwater trees”. While the trees look magical, seemingly growing underwater, they are quite dead and have been for over one hundred years. They’ve been rotting in the lake but the process has been slow since the glacial water is cold and slows the rate of decay.
“Kaindy” means birch tree in Kazakh, but the trees in the lake are actually pine trees rather than birch trees. The lake is called Kaindy Lake because the lake used to be located behind a forest of birch trees so the locals used the birch trees as a way to direct people to the lake.
After our visit to Kaindy Lake we stopped by Saty for lunch, which consisted of plov (a rice pilaf), a cabbage and carrot salad, and of course, lots of bread.
A blurry photo of our Kazakh lunch.
Kolsai Lakes
After lunch we headed to Kolsai (Kolsay) Lakes, which are located in the Tian Shan mountain range. There are three lakes known as Lower, Middle, and Upper or Kolsai 1, 2, 3 (very creative, I know!). Kolsai 1 is the most popular as it is easily accessible by car and a scenic spot to picnic or take a leisurely walk. Kolsai 2 is around 2500m in altitude and a 8km hike from the first lake. The last lake, Kolsai 3, is 4km away from Kolsai 2 and only 6km away from the Kyrgyzstan border!
A small group of us decided to try to make the 16km round trip hike to Kolsai 2 as we had heard that this lake was supposedly more beautiful than Kolsai 1. We were in a bit of a time crunch having only been allotted four hours of free time, so we hiked at a fast pace. It seemed like the trail and its multiple uphills were never-ending, especially since we were in a time crunch, but we ended up making it to Kolsai 2 and back well within the time limit. This hike definitely made me grateful for being athletic and for having healthy and strong legs!
I was quite hungry after a long day of hiking and was happy to see some manti (Kazakh dumplings) for dinner! They were filled with lamb and potatoes and accompanied by bread, cookies and a cabbage and carrot salad.
I ended my day with a refreshing hot shower - it was so good to feel clean! We spent the evening around a bonfire where twinkle lights hung above our heads, creating a magical ending to our day. We danced and sang the night away, playing games you’d find at summer camp, like Ninja and Musical Chairs, and swapping stories as we watched the