Nomad Treasures

Located 120 miles from Almaty, Charyn Canyon stretches over 50 miles, along the Charyn river. That’s where it takes its name from. The Charyn Canyon consists of 5 different canyons: the Valley of Castles, the Temirlik Canyon, the Yellow Canyon, the Red Canyon and the Bestamak Canyon.

The Valley of Castles is the most famous part of the Charyn Canyon but if you can spare 2 or more days, hike or drive around in private Jeep and visit all of them!

 

Continue on to visit one of the lakes in the Kolsai National Park and the nearby sunken forest of Lake Kaindy.

 

The Kolsai Lakes National Park is nestled in the northern slope of the Tian Shan Mountain Range in southeast Kazakhstan, roughly 50 miles from Charyn Canyon.The Park houses a system of three lakes, also called “The Pearl of the Northern Tien Shan” and after visiting the lakes, you will see why! The 3 lakes are so clear that, when the sun is out, the surrounding forests, hills, and snowy mountain peaks are mirrored in the water.

 

Lake Kaindy is at an altitude of 7000 ft above see level and geologically very young. This 1312 ft long lake was formed in 1911 after an earthquake triggered an enormous limestone landslide, which formed a natural dam in the gorge that was covered by spruce trees.

Water started flooding the basin and submerging the forest. The dried-out trunks of the trees rise above the surface of the water, looking like the masts of sunken ships.

 

Due to the cold temperatures, the trees were naturally frozen and well preserved in the water. You could go diving in this lake to see its unique beauty, but brace yourself for the cold! The temperature of the lake is a maximum of 40ºF in summer!

 

Last stop of this tour will be the Altyn-Emel National Park. Altyn-Emel National Park is located in the Ili River Valley. It comprises various landscapes, including sand desert, mountains, and flora. The highlight of the park is the Singing Dune, when the wind is blowing from the west dispersing the sands, it can sound as if a pipe organ is playing. There are several archaeological sites here; the biggest of them is Bes Shatyr (“Five Marques”) complex, consisting of Saka (a group of ancient nomadic tribes) burials. You can also explore the Aktau Mountains, bands of white, red and orange run horizontally across the range with striking effect. Known as a unique paleontological deposit, 56 species of Early Miocene flora like pine, spruce, birch, alder, oak, walnut, chestnut, linden, frame, pistachio, ailanthus have been discovered here, as well as remains of ancient animals like crocodiles, turtles and giant rhinos with an estimated age of 25-30 million years.