Tour of Almaty Region: Charyn, Kolsai, Kaindy [Charyn Canyon + Moon Canyon] · 2 days

Descent into Charyn Canyon and a walk through the “Valley of Castles”, 154 kilometers of red sandstone where the midday sun turns the rock to copper. The trail runs between jagged towers along the river, with the feeling of stepping onto a Western film set. In the first half of the day, a visit to Moon Canyon, Charyn’s neighboring valley with gray and bluish rock formations. An otherworldly landscape where it is easy to lose track of time and your phone. Closer to lunch, a visit to Black Canyon with volcanic walls and narrow passages, a dark palette in contrast to the red tones of Charyn. In the second half of the day, transfer to Saty village, a mountain aul in Ile-Alatau National Park, the starting base for Kolsai and Kaindy. Guesthouses serve homemade beshbarmak, manti, and herbal tea. After lunch, a walk around the first Kolsai Lake (1818 m), a turquoise expanse surrounded by centuries-old Tien Shan firs. The ringing silence of the mountains, the rare cry of a falcon, and trout that bite right from the shore. Overnight in a guesthouse in Saty village with home-style cooking.

Transfer to Saty village, a mountain aul in Ile-Alatau National Park, the starting base for Kolsai and Kaindy. Guesthouses serve homemade beshbarmak, manti, and herbal tea. In the first half of the day, a visit to Kaindy Lake, formed after the 1911 earthquake. Fir trunks rise from the water like the masts of a sunken fleet; the turquoise surface between them is a place outside time, one of Kazakhstan’s most recognizable images.