A fun, small-group, express tour - Our tour guide, Aika, was very friendly and fun. As it is an express tour, it will be busy. However, I thought the pace was fine, and I liked that I could see many sights on the tour.

Worth it. - We really enjoyed this tour and highly recommend it! Kuanysh was our guide and he was awesome! It is a long day and we were nervous about the amount of driving, but we had sufficient time at all the locations and did not feel that we missed out on anything by not doing the two day tour. The tour was well organized, was exactly as described, and the food for lunch was delicious! Some notes of warning for those on the fence: -there is a lot of walking required. Even though taxis are available at the locations, Kaindy Lake requires 20 minutes of pretty steep uphill walking. -it's not an easy day. The Soviet vehicles to Kaindy are fun and adventurous, but very jostling and uncomfortable. -while we do stop at a gas station for food on the drive out to Charyn, lunch is not served until around 3/3:30pm. -it is a long day. -bathrooms are available when needed but often squat toilets that cost 100 tenge.

Great tour - An awesome tour covering great distance in the span of one day. It started at 6am and ended at 10:30pm but it’s really worth it. The canyon and the lakes were breathtakingly beautiful. I got the chance to take a soviet-styled van to one of the lakes and it was a really unique experience. It was raining for a bit so our guide Kuanysh thoughtfully offered to arrange for a local taxi to one of the lakes instead of hiking. He also explained things clearly at each sight, which I greatly appreciated. I also loved the lunch at the guesthouse which served local food with BIG portions! All in all I had a really good time and can’t wait to come back.

A long day but a great day - Amazing tour! It's a long day but it's a great day. The lunch itself was worth the whole price of the tour! You eat like a king. And of course you get to see so much of the countryside in one day. Highly recommend it..

An absolutely excellent trip — highly recommended - Prior to booking, I had been discouraged slightly by other reviewers’ slight whingeing about this touring ‘a long day’, as though it were somewhat a chore. It was a long day indeed, as we departed Almaty around 6am and returned at 11pm — but according to me that is a good thing as the operator had gone to great lengths to organise a tour of exceptional quality. In the space of a day, we were able to take in four breathtaking sites that might otherwise have taken several days to traverse. Our guide, Asmat, did a great job of breaking the ice at the beginning of the day and maintained a cool, calm and relaxed disposition throughout — all whilst politely keeping us to the meticulously organised schedule which I really appreciated. Aside from the gorgeous vistas we were able to take in during the day, there was also a brief lunch at what seemed to be a Kazakh family’s home. This was great fun and it was nice of the guide to think to offer those of us who wanted one a beer, too. My only slight grumble would be that the driver seemed to be extremely moody and could not muster so much as a smile when I greeted him, thanked him, and smiled at him. Indeed, in one moment I repeated an instruction the guide had given a little more loudly, as I was not sure all the guests had heard of it. The driver gave me a look of pure ice, which was not appreciated. There was also an incident at the end of the tour when another guest was told she had to pay $50 for breaking a seatbelt in the van. I found this quite strange — had the driver been scouring the vehicle during our short stop to identify deformities to try to charge guests for? Something about it did not feel right to me, but I did not have the feeling that the guide was in any way complicit with the driver’s conduct. I should add that the seatbelts were extremely taught so I would not be surprised if they break from time to time — perhaps the driver should look at having these adjusted. Anyway, notwithstanding the mood disposition of our driver, I would say this is one of the best day trip tours I have been on — and I have been on a good many. At roughly £50 per person for a 16 hour trip comprising 4 amazing sites, all transportation and a lunch included I also thought this offered remarkable value for money. Thank you, Asmat!

Superb experience with Aika - We enjoyed touring the 2 lakes and different parts of Charyn Canyon. The timing was perfect for sunset views. Overall a superb experience of Almaty’s nature, and so glad we were well taken care of by our guide Aika and the best off-road drivers.

Best trip during stay - Expect a looooong day but it’s well worth it! The lakes were amazing and I loved the gorge at sunset. I’d 100% recommend this tour

Amazing experience - Although the trip was long (mainly due to the long distance from Almaty), we forgot the tiresome once we saw the impressive scenery of the lakes and canyons. Totally worth it ! We had the chance to walk around the lake & in the canyons to appreciate how the nature carved these wonderful scenes. Our driver, and the guide Mr Azamat was professional, enthusiatic and easygoing. He narrated us with detailed story of and behind what we saw. In the noon we was arranged a traditional Khazakh lunch, which was delicious. I strongly recommend you to join this tour.

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK - this is an express group tour of the 3 major tourist spot in almaty - charyn canyon, kaindy lake and kolsay lake. though it's a 15 to 16hr trip which starts at 6am sharp to 10-11pm, there is only a short time window to dwell and enjoy the view (1 hour maximum each location). If you have a limited time and budget, this trip is for you. But if you want to take it slow and if you have a lot of time and money to spare, then take the charyn tour and kaindy lakes on seperate days. noteworthy and unforgettable part of the trip is charyn canyon and kaindy lakes. at first, everything is going smooth and normal @ charyn canyon. we have an easy trek for 700 meters. until our guide lead us to climb a canyon side. we are given a choice to climb the stairs back to the starting point or climb the canyon. where is the fun in the stairs so we opt for the latter. for professional climbers, this is level 0 easy. but for beginners like me, i consider it steep and slippery. take note, no ropes or hiking equipments on site. i only have my guts and instincts with me. the face of the canyon is made up of small pebbles. one wrong move and ill be sliding down like a boulder. so i hold on to rocks with my dear life. thank God, we all made it unscathed. the way to kaindy lake is one hell of a crazy ride. normal cars cannot handle the road so we transferred to an old soviet van. it's a 30-minute shaky and bumpy ride through a rough, potholed, rutty road. be ready to get shaken. at the drop off point, the lake is still 45 minutes away by hiking (1 way), 30 minutes by van (100 tenge), or 15 minutes away by horse (6,000 tenge 2 way) so we chose the 15-minute horseback ride to the lake. we pass through a narrow uphill road with steep slopes. at another drop off point, we are only given 20 minutes to see the lake. So we took a quick short hike for 5 minutes, marvel the beauty of the lake for 10 minute then back again to our horses for 5. to get to our lunch, we did it all over again in reverse haha 🤦‍♀️😅 describing the experience here is an understatement. you have to try it to believe it. did I regret it? surely not will I do it again? absof*ckinglutely definitely my favorite part of my whole trip in kazakhstan 😊 A few takeaway tips on this trip I would like to share 1. sleep early and save lots of energy 2. load up your breakfast with protein and carbs. it will be a very looong day and the next proper meal will be at 3pm (or more) 3. lunch is mainly sweet appetizers, bread, biscuit, soup and pilaf with tiny bits of beef. opt for the chicken. 4. bring extra water and snacks 5. coins for the loo (100 tenge) 6. wear close light shoes with good traction for climbing, hiking and long walks. 7. Do not forget to enjoy the ride.

Must do trip for everyone - This trip started at 6 am and ended at 11:39 p.m. Had a pleasant experience. Tour guide was well versed in English, vehicle was clean. Most importantly everyone who went on the trip was very disciplined. And the best part was enjoying traditional Kazakh food in a quaint village near the kandy kolsai lake. Must try for those who have stamina for such long travel. It's worth it.