Day 1
Issyk Lake, Bear Waterfall, trout farm · Golden Man museum
Leave Almaty in the morning for Issyk Lake (1756 m), clear water among conifer-covered slopes. Later in the morning, head into Turgen Gorge and trek to Bear Waterfall, 30 meters high: you hear the roar and feel the cool spray long before the cascade comes into view, and on a sunny day there is a rainbow in the mist. Around midday, stop for lunch at a trout farm in Turgen, where the fish is grilled fresh beside the mountain river. In the afternoon, visit the “Golden Man” museum in the town of Esik (Issyk), where the Saka burial mound was found. A replica of the warrior from the 4th century BC stands in his ceremonial costume with 4000 gold plaques, one of the best-known symbols of modern Kazakhstan. Return to Almaty in the evening.