Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes + Charyn Canyon early Oct?

[sebhoff]

I know it's not very likely, but: are there any people interested in forming a small group to go on a 2-day tour to the Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes + Charyn Canyon who would happen to be in Almaty while I'm there, which is 5 to 8/9 Oct (in my current planning)?
I'm thinking of something like this - but I'm not willing to pay for a solo trip:
https://www.viator.com/tours/Almaty/Kol ... -154923P12
Prices are most interesting for 3 people, or from 5 people upwards.
I'm also happy to join another tour, of course, but I wouldn't like to rush to Charyn Canyon and back in a day...
Sebastian

[elhabibi]

Hi, I'd recommend checking out steppe spirit, a local agency from Almaty. I think there is also campit.kz as an alternative. These agencies have waaay better prices, viator is a bit of a rip off. Been with SteppeSpirit on 2 separate tours for Charyn and the lakes and had a great time with them. Cheers!

[sebhoff]

Thanks - will do! That link was just an example to let people know what I'm looking for. Were the steppe spirit tours you joined in Russian? My Russian is probably just about good enough to join a group - but I'd probably miss out on a few things.
Sebastian

[jvjjjvvv]

Thanks - will do! That link was just an example to let people know what I'm looking for. Were the steppe spirit tours you joined in Russian? My Russian is probably just about good enough to join a group - but I'd probably miss out on a few things.
Sebastian

The guide I was with could speak English very decently, although 90% of the talking is in Russian (almost all other tourists were Kazakh, Russian, etc).

[justtino]

Hey!

I'll be in almaty from the 5th to the 8th of October as well and was also hoping to visit the canyon and kolsai/kaindy lakes.
I'm also a solo traveller btw, maybe we could look for a tour together?

With best regards
Dominik

[edu]

Hi!

I'm interested in this! I'm also a solo traveller, currently in Kyrgyzstan in Issyk Kul and planning to cross to Kazakhstan through the Karakara border crossing and check out the canyon and lakes!

I was planning on crossing the border on the 2nd, so starting the tour on the 5th would be a little late for me if I don't find anything else to do in between, but I can try and find something and I'm overall flexible. I wouldn't want to do it later than the 5th, as I'd like to be in Almaty by the 6th to see the city and then go to Bishkek on the 8th.

I'll PM you my number so we can discuss further!

Best,

Edu

[sebhoff]

Thanks for the responses! My plans had to change and I’ll now only be in Almaty from 7-10 October. So there won’t be time for a 2 or 3-day tour. I might sign up to one of the day tours on the weekend only to Charyn…

[Zandy]

Hi all,

Looks like I’m about a week late but I’m arriving into Almaty tomorrow and will be heading to Kolsai & Kaindy Lakes + Charyn Canyon mid next week. If anyone is still keen to met up to travel together, let me know.

Zandy

[Poney]

hey ! we’ve been to Kolsai lakes, Charyn Canyon and Yellow canyon last week, here are some tips if you want to do it independantly :
- we got to sayakhat station in Almaty at 6h30am to get seats in a minivan bound to Sati village (we read here that it was 3000 tenge/seat but could not get better than 4000 tenge/seat).
- hitchhiked from Sati to the parking of the first Kolsai lake.
- walked to the 2nd lake during the afternoon to gla’ce an eye on it then we camped at the southern tip of the first lake (very cold, at least -5°C during the night)
- got back to the parking of the first lake and hitchhiked to Charyn canyon parking in 2hours
- camped on the site of the former ecolodge, free toilets and drinkable water available right on site.
- hitchhiked to Akcai village and walked the 20km to charyn river through flat steppe following a track on OSM and we camped under the trees nearby the river. Do not camp in the dry riverbed it can get mudflooded very quickly in case of rain.
- walked back to Akcai village and hitchhiked back to Almaty suburbs where we got a shared taxi for 400tenge/seat to Sayakhat station.

[Zandy]

That’s super helpful. Thanks so much!