Recently Viewed
Pearl Lakes Kolsai & Kaindy Tour: Explore the Majestic Charyn Canyon and Flooded Forest
5.0
15 Ratings
Charyn National Park
Embark on a breathtaking road trip from Almaty to explore the stunning Kaindy Lake with its flooded forest and the majestic Charyn Canyon. Don’t miss these top three beautiful places near Almaty!
Embark on a breathtaking road trip from Almaty to explore the stunning Kaindy Lake with its flooded forest and the majestic Charyn Canyon. Don’t miss these top three beautiful places near Almaty!
Duration:
16 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
-
Charyn National Park - This is an unforgettable an adventure Day Tour accompanied by a Professional Guide, who of course will provide you with Breathtaking Exclusive Locations throughout the tour.
You will get a truly Individual exciting trip, without any stress or strain.
The Charyn Canyon is one of the unique natural monuments of Kazakhstan. The…
-
Charyn National Park - This is an unforgettable an adventure Day Tour accompanied by a Professional Guide, who of course will provide you with Breathtaking Exclusive Locations throughout the tour.
You will get a truly Individual exciting trip, without any stress or strain.
The Charyn Canyon is one of the unique natural monuments of Kazakhstan. The Canyon is about 12 million years old and surprises with its vertical cliffs, calling to mind ancient castles created by wind, sun and rain.
Over millions of years, the swift Charyn (Sharyn) River has carved a truly spectacular 150m- to 300m-deep canyon into the otherwise flat steppe some 200km east of Almaty, and time has weathered this into some weird and colourful rock formations. The most popular section, the Valley of Castles.
-
Kolsai Lake - Kolsai is a name for a cascade of three lakes in Kungey Alatau ridge. Depending on the weather, the water colour may vary from dark blue to turquoise or green. The Lakes are located at different heights in several high-altitude landscape zones with specific flora and fauna like snow leopard, brown bear, maral, roe, blue whistling-thrush and golden eagle.
Kaindy Lake with its “underwater forest” is another attraction of Kolsay National Park. The lake was formed in 1911 after a huge earthquake that resulted in a big landslide from the eastern slope. A natural dam blocked the gorge and the waters of Kaindy River flooded the spruce forest. Eventually, those parts of the trees sticking out of the water lost branches and bark, and the wood became white. Their underwater bottoms were overgrown with algae, so the whole landscape looks mystically. - Lake Kaindy - A fascinating hike, many photo stops, amazing emotions await you. This Lake is truly incredibly beautiful at any time of the year.
What's Included
- Lunch included
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- All fees and taxes covered
- Tea and coffee provided
- Lunch included
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- All fees and taxes covered
- Tea and coffee provided
What's Not Included
- Insurance (optional)
- Additional meals in Restaurant, cafe
- Insurance (optional)
- Additional meals in Restaurant, cafe
Additional Information
If you’re stopping by Almaty and wondering about possible sightseeing options? Consider visiting the top 3 most splendid attractions. Kaindy Lake - a magically stunning body of water crafted by nature itself. Submerged pine trees resembling Christmas trees, the flooded forest lake is a treat to behold. Marvel at the magnificence of Charyn Canyon -…
If you’re stopping by Almaty and wondering about possible sightseeing options? Consider visiting the top 3 most splendid attractions. Kaindy Lake - a magically stunning body of water crafted by nature itself. Submerged pine trees resembling Christmas trees, the flooded forest lake is a treat to behold. Marvel at the magnificence of Charyn Canyon - experience the warm climate that is bereft of snow in winter, and impressive summer sunsets. Seize the opportunity and embark on an exciting road trip immediately!
Location
Charyn National Park
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(15 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Olya2201902016
Nov 24, 2023
Wonderful trip to Almaty - Great tour! Wonderful views and photos! The guide is incredibly cool! Do not interfere with other groups! It was a lot of fun and safe driving in the jeep! Everything was according to the program 👏🏽
Review provided by Tripadvisor
351staciac
Sep 28, 2023
Don’t miss out! - Andrei is a very accommodating and thoughtful tour guide, and his love for his country is inspiring and contagious. We went on the 16 hour tour and had an unforgettable time. We can’t believe how many strikingly different, beautiful places we got to see in just one day! From horseback riding and hiking to trying the local cuisine at a local family’s house and stepping inside a traditional yurt, our day was packed with a variety of unique experiences that could only be made possible by an experienced and caring guide. We especially enjoyed seeing Sunken Forest, which looks like it came out of a fairytale. In addition, we truly felt like this tour went beyond the touristy spots and opened our eyes to actual Kazakh culture. Throughout the trip, Andrei told us about many local traditions and the history of the Kazakh people, from which we got a glimpse into the real life of people in local communities. We highly recommend Andrei’s tours!!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Suddhasatwa_r
Jun 19, 2023
Do not miss the tour - Really great tour. Dimitri is great driver and freindly and guide He is very friendly and helpful. Really enjoy the tour. I like to go again
Review provided by Viator
Familymanfromuk
Feb 8, 2023
Andrey took care of everything for you! VIP service. - I only had one spare day in Almaty so went for this express tour of the 3 biggies: the big canyon, Kaindy Lake & Kolsai Lake. Long day 05:30 to 8pm but packed with wonderful memories door to door and additional surprises like the sunset picnic, local guesthouse lunch in a traditional Kasak home, local secret tracks, a horseback ride and more. The vehicle Andrey uses is extremely comfortable and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to help you take home amazing memories of Kaz. Fully recommend Andrey.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Emily
Jan 3, 2023
Fantastic one day tour, great communication, lovely guide! - We are a Canadian couple living in Kazakhstan on an international assignment. While in Almaty for the New Year, we decided to take one day for a trip to some of the nearby parks. We chose this trip as it hit a few highlights in one day.
Our guide was Dmitry who was very knowledgeable, spoke great English, was super friendly, and never rushed us. We wanted to hike around a bit (we are avid hikers), so we hiked to and from both lakes (5 km and 4 km round trip) and along the ridge of Charyn Canyon. The lunch stop at a local guest house was fantastic, and Dmitry brought along coffee and tea for us as well. It was a long day (14+ hours) but 100% worth it!
Great communication from Andrey (owner) and Dmitry leading up to the tour, very reliable transportation, especially in winter weather and mountain roads (Land Cruiser with studded winter tires), and Dmitry was an excellent driver in adverse conditions. Definitely recommend this tour and tour company - we will use them next time we are in the area.
Tip for this tour: bring snacks! It’s a long day and while there are a couple of stops for fuel, etc., (you can grab food), we were glad we brought along snacks for the hours on the road.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
H5954ucalexj
Dec 8, 2022
Best Tour in Kazakhstan - My trip with Andrey was an absolutely fantastic one! He was able to plan the entire day with perfect detail to make sure that we saw Lake Kolsai, Kaindy Lake, and the Canyon. The food and coffee were exquisite. I’ve taken about 50 tours over 100 countries in my life and I can say this one was in the Top 3. I fully support Andrey’s vision in constantly searching for new ways that tourists can experience emotions in their travel. Find out for yourself what awesome emotions this trip will instill in you, you won’t regret it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kbpe1
Sep 1, 2022
Day trip to lakes and canyon - Excellent guide, very knowledgeable about the canyon and lakes.
Scenery was awesome with the clear water, sunken trees and canyon.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Pavel
Jun 24, 2022
Marvelous journey - We with my wife have been stayed in Almaty only for four days, therefore we didn't have much time to see all sightseeings around. I have contacted with Andrey and arranged all details of private tour in advance. As I understand its a group of professional guides. We were picked up from the hotel at the agreed time, our tour guid Nikita, very friendly and positive young man, gave us all information on the way to our destanation as we passed interesting places and answered all our questions. The trip were very comfortable, well-equipped huge off-road car, with plenty of space, AC an cold beverages;). We've made several stops along the way to make photos, and even as we had schedule, everywhere we had our free time as much as we need it. There is no need to describe all incredible nature masterpieces such as mountain lakes with crystal blue water and grand canyon with sophisticated shapes, you need to see it by your own eyes! All tour was organized extremely good, we've got breakfast and lunch in authentic guest house, where local celebrity aunt Shakira cooked delicious national cousine.
We definitely will be back to Kazakhstan for new tours with this guys!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Taurusrubens
Apr 28, 2022
Well organized helicopter-daytrip! - Andrej organized a private helicopter tour for us from Almaty to the Singing Dunes and Aktau Mountains. In between we went for short hikes. The flight was sensational with excellent explanations of the scenery. In the Aktau mountains, Andrej organized a wonderful picnic with local food. Then it was on to Charyn Canyon with a BBQ at the Canyon Rim. Wonderful horse steak made by Andrey. Then another hike to Kaindy Lake and back on horseback and by SUV to Almaty. We still dream of the many impressions and the great program. Thank you Andrey!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stay461045
Oct 26, 2020
Unforgettable journey - Everything was perfect, from the beginning and till the very end. Ideal service, impressive locations’ choice, excellent organisation. Especially thankful to our amazing guides Andrei and Konstantin for helping us to get through this fascinating experience.
(C) Baglan and Nurlan
Review provided by Tripadvisor
More activities from this operator
