Saturday 13th July, 2019
The road to the Kazakh border goes through the Karkara valley. Karkara means ‘black crane’, and is named after the birds that use the valley as a resting place on their long journey from Siberia to South Africa in June and September.
The valley is straddling the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan border. The wide verdant valley, is fertile and sits between the Central Tien Shan and the Kungey Alatau ranges ( Kazakstan and China). The Kyrgyz-Kazakh border appears to slice the valley in half but nowhere is this arbitrary border more absent, disregarded by herders from both sides who, in summer, erect yurts in the valley while their animals disappear into the long lush grass. As a consequence, herders from both sides of the border move along the valley with impunity, unhindered by artificial barriers such as political divides, and the yurts of both Kyrgyz and Kazakhs pepper the lush valley floor in summer.
We took the turning to the Kolsai Lakes National Park at Kegen. This was leading us west, back to the mountains and very close to the border with Kyrgystan, north of Lake Issyk-Kul. We crossed vast open spaces battered by strong winds. We got to the park late afternoon but there was no suitable camp spot ( we were shoed away from a spot by a park ranger) and had to come out of the park to find a place, next to a river.
Sunday 14th July, 2019- KOLSAI LAKES
The park is popular especially at weekends when locals come to relax and have picnics near the first lake which is accessible via a short walk from the carpark. We arrived around 10am and took the trail leading to the second lake. This follows the first lake on the eastern shore. The water is very clear and people were out in small rowing boats , enjoying the views and the hot weather. ( the water though is too cold to swim).
Kolsai Lake 1
The track carries on into another small valley up steep wooded slopes. After 3 hours we finally got to Kolsai Lake 2, smaller than the first lake and the water appeared to be darker ( but might have been because the weather was turning and it was clouding over). We had lunch and rested for a while before starting on the way down. We heard the thunder a few times but no rain materialised. We came back to our camp spot.
Kolsai Lake 2
Monday 15th July, 2019 – KAINDY LAKE – CHARYN CANYON
Kaindy Lake (“birchen” in Kazakh) is lost in a coniferous forest at 2000 m above sea level in the Kungen Alatau mountains. It was formed as a result of a natural disaster which flooded a gorge situated right in the middle of the present lake, submerging incompletely trees. Today, their dried peaks overlook proudly over the water like sunken squadron masts. The lake is reached via a dirt road just off the village of Saty. It is rough in places and we had to cross a river at one point but in no way as bad as what we had in Tadjikistan.
Kaindy Lake – Kazakhstan
We continued on the PI6 road rejoining the main road to Almaty, just before the turning for Charyn Canyon.
We crossed some moonlike and very arid landscapes and came across a canyon dug by a river in black rocks.
CHARYN CANYON
This is a touristy destination and the 10km road to the entrance of the park is well paved. The Canyon was formed by the river Charyn (originating in the Tian Shan mountain range) and is around 80km long but the most impressive part is just over 3 km long. The depth varies from 100 to 300m.
You can drive on a dirt road on the top of the canyon . There are a few viewpoints accessible by foot giving wonderful views but it can be a bit tricky to get to some, as the path is very slippery and on the day we were there, strong winds made things a bit hairy. ( not good if you suffer from vertigo!)
We then made our way to the bottom of the canyon ( over 200 steps!) and walked some of the length of the canyon.
Valley of the Castles 
Some locals asked us to pose :
We then made our way to Almaty, 200km away.
Tuesday 16th July, 2019 – Monday 22nd July, 2019 – ALMATY
Almaty (formerly known as Alma-Ata) was the capital of the Soviet Republic of Kazakstan up to 1991 and remained the capital after independence up to 1997 when the Government decided to transfer the capital to Astana.( in the north, 12 hours away by train!)
Almaty continues as the major commercial and cultural centre of Kazakhstan, as well as its most populous and most cosmopolitan city.( over 2 million people or 11% of the country’s total population). It is situated in the south, in the foothills of the Ile-Alatau range and is surrounded by snowy peaks.
The city is pleasant, with nice parks and a chance for us to get back to civilisation for a while ! We booked into an Airb&b flat and the next few days are to be spent running around getting a few things sorted on the car and applying for the visas for Mongolia.
The weather is very hot ( 35 to 40 C ) and we appreciate the air-conditionned shopping malls!. There are also a number of day- excursions you can do out of the city. One of them to the Big Almaty Lake, a popular weekend destination where people go to relax and cool down in the not so distant mountains.
