Charyn & Kaindy 5-Day Tour with Big Almaty Lake & Oi-Qaragai

The first day starts at the Medeu ice rink, 1691 meters above sea level and one of the highest outdoor speed-skating rinks in the world. In winter the ice is flawless, and in summer the rink is a cool mountain amphitheater with a walk along the dam and views down the gorge. From there you ride up to the Shymbulak mountain resort (2260 m). The upper cable car lines continue to the top station at Talgar Pass (3200 m) and open a full panorama of the Zailiysky Alatau. Shymbulak offers skiing and snowboarding in winter and hiking and cafés with views in summer. You return to Almaty in the evening.

Leave Almaty early, around 07:00, and drive about three hours east to Charyn Canyon. Walk down through the “Valley of Castles”, a 2–3 km trail to the river between jagged red sandstone towers. Then see Moon Canyon, Charyn’s neighboring valley of gray and bluish rock, and Black Canyon on the Temirlik river, with dark volcanic walls. In the late afternoon, walk along the shore of the first Kolsai Lake (1818 m), framed by Tien Shan spruces, a few kilometers above the village. In the evening, continue to Saty village in Kolsai Lakes National Park, about two hours more. Dinner and overnight in a family guesthouse.

An early breakfast in Saty and a drive to Kaindy Lake, formed by the 1911 earthquake; the last stretch of track is rough and is usually done by 4×4. Spruce trunks rise from the turquoise water like the masts of a sunken fleet, and in the morning the lake is still quiet. After lunch, drive back to Almaty, about five hours, arriving in the early evening.

The day begins at the Ayusai eco-park in the Small Almaty Gorge, with wooden boardwalks, alpine flowers and a waterfall on the trail toward Big Almaty Lake. Next you drive up to Big Almaty Lake (2511 m), a turquoise reservoir about 15 km from the city center in a straight line and roughly 35 km by road. The water shifts from aquamarine to deep turquoise with the clouds, and the best photo spots are on both shores and at the high viewing platform. Around lunch you walk through Alma-Arasan Gorge, which has a mineral hot spring, a mountain stream and trails along cascades under a canopy of conifers. You return to Almaty in the evening.