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Kolsai, Kaindy Lakes and Charyn Canyon Small-Group Tour: Discover Kazakhstan's Natural Wonders
4.9
220 Ratings
Charyn Canyon National Park
Welcome to Kazakhstan! You will visit the unique Charyn Canyon, and the pearls of the Tian-Shan mountains - Kolsai and Kaindy lakes. We value our tourists, therefore we provide you with comfortable transport, an English-speaking guide, and local food. Join us on our small group trips to see the most beautiful places in Central Asia.
Welcome to Kazakhstan! You will visit the unique Charyn Canyon, and the pearls of the Tian-Shan mountains - Kolsai and Kaindy lakes. We value our tourists, therefore we provide you with comfortable transport, an English-speaking guide, and local food. Join us on our small group trips to see the most beautiful places in Central Asia.
Duration:
15 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Charyn Canyon National Park - Walking inside the canyon, visiting the upper viewing spot, photographing 06:00 Pick-up and departure from Almaty 08:00 Shortstop for coffee/WC 10:45 Arrival at Charyn Canyon “Valley of the Castles”, visiting several spots, walking along canyon 11:45 Departure from Charyn Canyon - Charyn National Park - Black…
- Charyn Canyon National Park - Walking inside the canyon, visiting the upper viewing spot, photographing 06:00 Pick-up and departure from Almaty 08:00 Shortstop for coffee/WC 10:45 Arrival at Charyn Canyon “Valley of the Castles”, visiting several spots, walking along canyon 11:45 Departure from Charyn Canyon - Charyn National Park - Black Canyon, viewing spot, photographing 11:30 Shortstop at Black Canyon, viewing spot 11:50 departure - Lake Kaindy - Walking, visiting several spots, photographing 12:30 Arrival at Saty village, transfer to Kaindy Lake 15:00 transfer to saty 15:30 Lunch in the guesthouse - Kolsai Lake - Walking, visiting several spots 16:15 Transfer to the Lower Kolsai Lake from Saty 16:45 Kolsai Lake, walking, visiting several spots, horseback-riding (optional) 17:45 Leaving Kolsai Lakes National Park 20:30 Shortstop for coffee/WC 22:00 Drop-off in Almaty
What's Included
- National parks entrance fees
- Private transportation
- Bottled water
- Lunch
- Transfer to Kaindy Lake on the legendary Soviet van UAZ-452
- National parks entrance fees
- Private transportation
- Bottled water
- Lunch
- Transfer to Kaindy Lake on the legendary Soviet van UAZ-452
What's Not Included
- Soft & Hard drinks
- Special food & drinks
- Horseback-riding 7000kzt (13$)
- Taxi van instead of hiking 500KZT (1,5$)
- Soft & Hard drinks
- Special food & drinks
- Horseback-riding 7000kzt (13$)
- Taxi van instead of hiking 500KZT (1,5$)
Additional Information
- Not allowed for travelers who can not withstand long trips by car, long walks and hikes
- Not allowed for travelers with disabilities, injuries, diseases that limit physical abilities
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
- This experience requires a minimum…
- Not allowed for travelers who can not withstand long trips by car, long walks and hikes
- Not allowed for travelers with disabilities, injuries, diseases that limit physical abilities
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
- This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
- Not recommended for children under 6
Location
Charyn Canyon 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
4.9
(220 Ratings)
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Luisd964
Aug 30, 2024
Best tour ever - This is a very long day tour. We started off at 05:30am and finished at 11:30pm. However, I think this was the best way to see most of the main places in the area. Our guide Assem was fantastic and kept the whole group together. This was probably one of the best tours I have ever been part of. The views are out of this world and even though it was a long day, we were still thrilled to see everything. I strongly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Atomicwest
Aug 25, 2024
Go when the weather is sunny - Five stars just for Kassym who is a very kind and patient guide. He was very attentive to everyone and wanted to make sure that everyone was enjoying the tour.
The weather will affect your tour a lot; if you can, avoid rainy/snowy days because it will make exploring more inconvenient.
If there’s one thing you take away from this review, BRING MONEY FOR THE HORSES. It was 4000T one way, 6000T round trip at the time of this writing but bring enough for the round trip. The tour operator makes it seem like the horseback riding is an optional activity, but you do the horse riding at Kaindy Lake up a steep 1-2km mountain trail.
Here’s what the tour description should say: the alternative to horseback riding is hiking up a muddy trail filled with horse 💩. I’m not even talking a pile here or there. The mud is mixed with so much 💩 you’ll probably step in it at the start of the trail. But hiking through 2km of that will lock the smell in your nose. BRING MONEY FOR THE HORSES. You also take a separate van for a 40min round trip to get to Kaindy Lake after the canyon. This second van is much smaller so you will be crammed with everyone else on your tour on an extremely bumpy road.
Kolsai Lake has more developed infrastructure like paved roads and wooden decks around the lake, but it’s hazardous when it’s snowing. Hold onto the railings because it’s easy to slip even if you’re careful. I personally think Kaindy looks nicer, but Kolsai is more convenient to travel to and explore.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Brian_d
Aug 23, 2024
A spectacular day with a group of wonderful people. - We visited so many spectacular places in a day.It was a very long day but well worth it.We were treated to a delicious meal in someone's home and were cared for all day by our knowledgeable and friendly guide.
Review provided by Viator
Chaitu1july
Aug 22, 2024
Perfectly planned trip with an amazing guide - Perfectly planned trip with enough time everywhere. Lunch was delicious. So many photos of the amazing locations.Guide Irada was simply superb. Very co-operative, helpful and friendly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marinawb8094of
Aug 19, 2024
Perfect 1 day trip from Almaty - Nice experience with 3 wonderful stopps. Perfect 1 day opportunity from Almaty. Umit was a perfect guide, thanks a lot.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jack_m
Aug 18, 2024
Great experience - This was a great tour, guides were extremely friendly, knowledgeable and organised. Was not to rushed which gave us plenty of time at each destination to enjoy it, Would highly recommend this tour. Highlight of my trip to Kazakhstan
Review provided by Viator
Jenniferdi
Aug 17, 2024
Day-trip around Almaty - A very nice daytrip from Almaty. Beautiful views and a great guide! Our guide Umit was very nice and knowledgeable and spoke Russian, Kazakh and English very well.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Y4211lnandreak
Aug 17, 2024
Exhausting, but so enriching - The long daily routine is clocked and well organized. The excursion destinations are partly breathtaking and the food in the private house was excellent. The driver drives a little rough, but everyone does.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Expatmomof3
Sep 1, 2024
Had a Great Day - This was a great trip overall. Couldn't give a 5 star for 2 reasons, van was not very comfortable and we didn't have lunch until almost 4pm. The drive was around 4 hours each way with stops for bathroom or to buy snacks. Pick up was at 5.30am, returned to our hotel at 10.30pm.
Communication from tour operator before the tour was really good.
Lunch was at a local house set up to accommodate tour groups, the dish was delicious (choice of chicken or beef, stewed with veggies ...vegetarian option available), but apart from the one dish, there was limited food, (trays of biscuits and chocolate). There was a basket of baursaks and sliced bread but they were cold and stale (very disappointing especially for people trying them for the first time). Hot tea was served, but there were no cold drinks.
Our guide "Bic" was very polite, informative, helpful and kind. He spoke English very well. We liked him. Driver drove fast, but safe and cautious around other vehicles and road conditions.
The Canyon was incredible! Kaindy Lake was beautiful. Be aware, you have to transfer from your van to a Russian 4x4 van for a 30 minute each way trip to the lake before hiking to the lake. The road conditions and Creek crossings were quite an adventure !!! The hike in both places was not easy, but worth it. Black Canyon was pretty, and so was Kolsai Lake. Although Kolsai was a little underwhelming and very touristy, but there is paddle boating and canoeing. The lake was very crowded. Toilets cost 100t to use, and have an open mind! There is horse riding options in both places.
It was a long, at times difficult day (hikes, drives), but totally worth it!
I would recommend it. Overall we would do it again with this tour company.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Xiaodongw345
Aug 27, 2024
Good tour - This is a good tour. The pick up was on time. The tour guides are very helpful — accompanied us to the lakes, helped us arrange horse ride, and led the hike at the Charyn canyon, which is spectacular. The lunch at a private home was good. The views are beautiful. The only reason I gave a 4-star instead of 5-star is because of the order of the stops. I suggest to stop at the Charyn Canyon first, since this is the most spectacular and unique landscape, and the highlight of the trip. Instead, we stopped at the Charyn Canyon the last, when we were exhausted from hiking to the two lakes and weather turned to raining, so we did not enjoy the Charyn Canyon as much as we would like.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
