Kolsai and Kaindy are two of the most striking natural sites near Almaty, and seeing them on the same trip makes a lot of sense. That way you’ll combine seeing Kolsai’s chain of alpine lakes set against pine forest, and Kaindy’s eerie sunken forest rising out of turquoise water. We visited both on the same day as Charyn Canyon, but this post goes into more depth than that day-trip pace allows. If you want longer at either site, especially if you fancy hiking further into the Kolsai lakes, then you’re better off giving yourself an overnight instead of trying to cram everything into one day. So how do you get there, what’s worth seeing at each, and how much time do you actually need? This is my guide to visiting Kolsai Lakes and Kaindy Lakes.
THIS POST MAY CONTAIN COMPENSATED AND AFFILIATE LINKS MORE INFORMATION IN OUR DISCLAIMER
You can visit Kolsai Lakes and Kaindy Lake independently of each other, but since they’re relatively close together, it makes more sense to combine them into a single trip. If you’re short on time, a single day can have you exploring the Lower Kolsai Lake and Kaindy Lake comfortably. If you want to hike further at Kolsai (there are three lakes here), or just take things slower, then plan to stay overnight. Kaindy is the better base for that, and it’s realistic to fit in Charyn Canyon too if you’ve got a couple of days spare.
EASIEST WAY TO VISIT
Book THIS day trip for the best experience
One full – 17 hour long – day and you’ll get to see Kaindy Lake, Kolsai Lake and Charyn Canyon. It’s fun, someone else does the driving and you get to snooze between stops too!
Why Come to Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes
Kolsai and Kaindy couldn’t look more different, despite being relatively close to each other, and that’s exactly why they’re worth combining on a day trip (or longer) from Almaty. Kolsai’s Lower Lake is a classic alpine scene. Glorious, freezing deep blue water framed by spruce forest and jagged peaks. And the water is calm enough to take a boat out if you fancy it.
Kaindy is stranger and somehow more memorable. This is a lake that didn’t exist until an earthquake dammed a gorge in 1911, leaving a forest of dead trunks rising out of impossibly clear, cold water. It’s one of the more photographed sights in Kazakhstan, and yes, it’s for good reason.
How to Visit the Kolsai Lakes?
The Kolsai Lakes are a chain of three alpine lakes in the mountains southeast of Almaty, located inside the Kolsai Lakes National Park. Only the first of the three, Lower Kolsai Lake, is easily reached by car and sees the vast majority of visitors. The second lake is a steep hike away, around 8 kilometers (5 miles) each way through pine forest (and there’s a lot of up and down involved). The third lake is further still. A multi-day undertaking that most visitors skip entirely. Unless you’re planning to hike, or you’re short on time like we were, Lower Kolsai Lake is realistically what you’ll see.
What to See at Kolsai Lakes
Here’s what to expect at Kolsai, whether you’re sticking to the lower lake or hiking further in.
Lower Kolsai Lake
Lower Kolsai Lake is the one almost everyone visits, and it’s easy to see why. The water sits a deep, near-unnatural blue, framed by Tian Shan spruce running right down to the shoreline. It’s a proper alpine lake, cold and still, and a short walk along the eastern shore gives you a handful of different viewpoints without much effort. If you want to get out on the water rather than just look at it, boat rental is available at the lakeside in season. It’s touristy in the way any easily-accessible beauty spot is, but it’s still worth the stop, especially early or late in the day when the crowds thin out.
All three lakes are fed by glacial water, which comes from the Kungey Alatau Mountain range, and they’re known as the “Pearls of the Tien Shan”. The first lake is located at 1,818 meters (5964 feet), but as you’ll drive here, and just walk a short distance from the parking area, its very accessible. If you’re planning on staying overnight, then you can even stay here. Pana Nomad is the closest to the lake, and comes with stunning views, with no people first thing in the morning.
Of course, you don’t even have to walk from the parking area, you can take a horse ride, or an “eco-taxi” (aka an old Russian UAZ), from the parking area down to lakeside for 500 KZT per person.
There’s a boardwalk that extends to the left and the right once you get to the lake. Off to the right tends to be quieter, as there’s nothing there, the boarded trail just ends. If you go to the left, then the glorious trail through the forest leads to where you can rent boats. There are kayak or pedallo type options, costing from 10,000 KZT for 40 minutes.
- How to get to Lower Kolsai Lake: by car or shared taxi from Saty village, a short, mostly-paved drive to the lakeside car park.
- How long to spend at Lower Kolsai Lake: an hour is enough to walk part of the shore and take photos; allow two hours if you want to rent a boat.
- Lower Kolsai Lake Entry: included in the Kolsai Lakes National Park entry fee (see costs below).
Hiking to Second Kolsai Lake (and the third Lake)
If you’ve got more time, or if you’re staying overnight, either at the lake, or if you’ve brought a tent with you and are camping, then the hike up to the second lake is the obvious next step. It’s around 8 kilometers (5 miles) each way through dense pine forest, climbing steadily alongside the river, and it’s a proper half-day (or full-day) commitment rather than a stroll. It’s going to take you at least 2-3 hours to get there. (And you’ll need the same amount of time to get back).
The Middle Kolsai Lake is at 2,252 meters (7,388 feet), and the round trip is likely to take at least 6 hours. So long as you’re not hiking in bad weather or before the snow has melted then the trail is reasonably well marked, although you’ll want to take a GPS with you. You can see the trails here. There’s no mobile signal up here though. So, in order to comply with Kazakhstani law, you’ll need to file a hiking plan with the local authorities. Make sure you’ve got offline maps (maps.me is good), water, food and don’t forget hiking poles either. If you’re making an overnight stop, then camp at Middle Lake.
If you don’t want to hike, then you can take a horse up here. The horses for rent at the Lower Lake don’t just take visitors up and down from the parking area, they’re also for hire to head up the Middle Lake area. You’ll be looking at around US$50 to take a horse up. You’ll need to pay cash for this.
From Middle Lake at 2,252 meters (7388 feet) it’s a further 500 or so meters in elevation and 6 kilometers (4 miles) to the Upper Kolsai lake at 2,700 meters (8,858 feet). If you want to head up to the Upper Lake, then you’re really going to have to camp, and push for the Upper Lake area the next morning.
However, there’s a catch. You are right up at the Kyrgyzstan border here and this trail continues up to 3,278 meters (10,755 feet) and goes on to Lake Issy-Kul. And there is a border checkpoint here in between the Middle and Upper Lake. It appears that you may or may not be allowed to continue to the Upper Lake and it seemingly depends on the mood of the Kazakh border guards. It goes without saying that you should carry your passport with you. And, if they let you through, they might hold your passport until you return, to make sure that you do. If you want to do this hike, then I seriously recommend that you speak to an English-speaking local about it and I recommend that you start with ArnaJol. They’ll pick you up from Almaty and return you there afterwards.
How to Get to Kolsai Lakes
Kolsai Lakes is around 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of Almaty via the village of Saty, and it’s roughly a 5 to 6-hour drive each way, longer than the trip out to Charyn Canyon. You’ve got four options.
Book a guided tour to Kolsai Lakes
Book a guided tour (it’s usually bundled with Kaindy, and often Charyn Canyon too).
Rent a car and self-drive to Kolsai Lakes
Rent a car and self-drive, rent a car here and expect to pay around 30,000 KZT (US$90) a day; the roads are mostly paved, though a 4WD is worth having if you’re planning to tack on the rough final stretch up to Kaindy from Saty.
Take a shared taxi to Saty then on to Kolsai Lakes
Your third option is to take a shared taxi from Almaty.
First of all you’ll need to get to the area of the old Sayakhat Bus station early. (the bus station has been demolished, but the shared taxis still run from near here). And by early I mean, like 06:00 early. And expect to wait for around an hour until all the seats fill. Or you know, pay for all the seats yourself. You’ll pay around 8,000 KZT per seat. The journey to Saty is going to take around 5 hours. And you pick up the shared taxis here. The drive takes a bit longer than driving yourself as your driver will be picking up people along the way, and dropping things off. There’s more on transport and how it all works in Kazakhstan in my guide here.
From Saty, you’ll need to travel on the 5 kilometers or so to the first Kolsai Lake. You can likely convince the driver from Almaty to take you on to Kolsai Lake, or ask around in Saty for a taxi. Expect to pay around 2,000 KZT, and you’ll want to make sure that they take you to the parking lot at the lakes, not just the entrance to the park.
Take a Yandex to Kolsai Lakes
Your fourth option is to book a Yandex. You do this through their City to City option. As I’m typing it now, it’s offering me a pickup between 07:00 and 10:00 tomorrow morning for 13,999 KZT per seat in a vehicle that has 4 seats, or different options from 30,000 KZT for the entire car. Give it a go. (that’s the entire car for about US$65).
Costs for Visiting Kolsai Lakes
Entry to Kolsai Lakes National Park costs 3,000 KZT (around US$6.50) per person, plus 1,000 KZT per vehicle if you’re driving in, and 350 KZT per tent if you’re camping overnight. If you’re on a guided tour, your entry fee is normally included.
Excited yet? Wait until you see Kaindy Lake.
How to Visit Kaindy Lake
Kaindy Lake didn’t exist until 1911, when a powerful earthquake triggered a landslide that dammed the gorge and flooded the forest growing in it. What’s left is one of Kazakhstan’s strangest and most photographed sights. This is what you’ll see – the bleached trunks of drowned spruce trees rising straight out of impossibly clear water, with the peaks of the Tian Shan behind them. The lake is located at around 2,000 meters (6,562 feet), and the water stays cold even in summer. The surface barely creeps above 6°C (43°F) at its warmest, so don’t expect to do more than dip a toe in.
What to See at Kaindy Lake
There’s really one thing to see at Kaindy, and that’s the lake, but the experience of getting there is part of the fun of it. Even if you take a tour (this one is fabulous), then you’ll get to the parking lot area and have choices as to how to get from there to the lake itself. And you have three choices:
- Walk (it’s about 40 minutes, mostly uphill), it’s about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile)
- Take a horse ride (5,000 KZT one way, or 7,000 KZT both ways)
- Take an eco-taxi (aka a converted old Russian UAZ) for 1,000 KZT each way.
I really do recommend that you take the horse ride, it’s good fun, not difficult and in a land where horses are both revered and eaten, it’s a good thing to do. I wrote about it here.
Kaindy Lake and the Submerged Forest
The lake itself is small – you can’t walk around it, just along one side. However, it’s the view of the drowned forest that makes it worth the trip. The dead trunks break the surface in rows, and the water is clear enough that you can see the trees continuing down below it.
Get a photo taken with a Kazakh Eagle
It’s very touristy at the viewpoint. Expect a crowd of other visitors, and a kitschy photo opportunity dressed up in traditional eagle-hunting garb if that’s your thing (that eagle is heavier than it looks). It really is picturesque in a post-apocalyptic sort of way.
- How to get to Kaindy Lake: from the parking area, it’s around a 40-minute walk, a horse ride (5,000 KZT one-way, 7,000 KZT return, about 40 minutes), or an eco-taxi (1,000 KZT each way) for the final stretch.
- How long to spend at Kaindy Lake: an hour is enough to see the lake and take photos; longer if you want to walk further along the shore away from the crowds. This is in addition to the time taken to get there from the parking area.
- Kaindy Lake Entry: the same national park fee structure as Kolsai applies (see costs below); a restroom near the lake costs 100 KZT, cash only.
How to Get to Kaindy Lake
Kaindy Lake is about 13 kilometers (8 miles) from Saty. So pretty much the same route applies as I covered above. You go from Almaty, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) away, to the village of Saty. You’ve got the same four options to go from Almaty to Kaindy Lake.
Book a guided tour to Kaindy Lake
Book a guided tour (it’s usually bundled with Kolsai Lake, and often Charyn Canyon too).
Rent a car and self-drive to Kaindy Lake
Rent a car and self-drive, rent a car here and expect to pay around 30,000 KZT (US$90) a day; the roads are all paved.
Take a shared taxi to Saty then on to Kaindy Lake
Your third option is to take a shared taxi from Almaty.
First of all you’ll need to get to the area of the old Sayakhat Bus station early. (the bus station has been demolished, but the shared taxis still run from near here). And by early I mean, like 06:00 early. And expect to wait for around an hour until all the seats fill. Or you know, pay for all the seats yourself. You’ll pay around 8,000 KZT per seat. The journey to Saty is going to take around 5 hours. And you pick up the shared taxis here. The drive takes a bit longer than driving yourself as your driver will be picking up people along the way, and dropping things off.
From Saty, you’ll need to travel on the 5 kilometers or so to Kaindy Lake. You can likely convince the driver from Almaty to take you on to Kaindy Lake, or ask around in Saty for a taxi. Expect to pay around 2,000 KZT.
Take a Yandex to Kaindy Lake
Your fourth option is to book a Yandex. You do this through their City to City option. The pricing is the same as it was for Kolsai Lakes. A pickup between 07:00 and 10:00 tomorrow morning for 13,999 KZT per seat in a vehicle that has 4 seats, or different options from 30,000 KZT for the entire car. Give it a go. (that’s the entire car for about US$65).
Cost for Visiting Kaindy Lake
As with Kolsai, entry is 3,000 KZT (around US$6.50) per person, plus 1,000 KZT per vehicle. On top of that, budget for the horse ride or eco-taxi up to the lake if you don’t want to walk. You’ll need cash to pay for this (and should read my guide to Currency, ATMs and Paying in Kazakhstan here).
Travel Tips for Visiting Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes
Here are a few tips on visiting Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes.
- Clothing/footwear: sturdy walking shoes are enough for Lower Kolsai and Kaindy; if you’re hiking to the second Kolsai lake, proper hiking boots are required.
- Weather: it’s harder to get to in winter, but both sites stay open year-round. You do not want to hike beyond the first Kolsai Lake after October or before May.
- Time needed: a single long day covers Lower Kolsai Lake and Kaindy Lake. Plan an overnight if you want to hike further into the Kolsai chain.
Realistically, both Lower Kolsai Lake and Kaindy Lake are doable in a single long day; it’s the hike to the second Kolsai lake that pushes you toward an overnight. For more on getting around generally, see our guide to how to get around Kazakhstan, and for cash logistics, see our guide to currency and paying in Kazakhstan.
PRACTICAL TRAVEL TIPS
- 🛡️ Get Travel Insurance: Civitatis includes medical expenses, repatriation, theft, luggage delays. No deductibles or upfront payments. Get a quote here.
- 🛏️ Sea view? Laundry? Private bath? Book a Room.
- 🔌 Be ready for the plug, socket & power situation.
- 📶 Get online EASILY & cheaply – One eSim for the world. Data never expires
Final Words on Visiting Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes
Kolsai and Kaindy make an excellent pairing, and even squeezed into a single long day alongside Charyn Canyon, both are worth the drive out from Almaty. If you can spare the extra time for an overnight, though, take it – the hike up to the second Kolsai lake and a quieter, less crowded visit to Kaindy are worth the trade-off against cramming everything into one day. Either way, bring cash, sturdy shoes, and layers for the altitude, and you’ll come away with two of the most memorable of the day trips from Almaty.
ASocialNomad is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, and amazon.ca. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
