A quick aside before diving into the excursions I did outside Almaty. 

I just finished reading the famous travel guide writer Rick Steves’ book On the Hippie Trail (highly recommend) which is his journal documenting his travels from Istanbul to Kathmandu in 1978 traveling by bus from Turkey to Nepal through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India (an unheard of journey in the modern era but a popular backpacker route at that time). This was his first trip outside of Europe to explore more off the beaten path parts of the world where he experienced the highs and lows of adventure travel in third world countries. His writing style and adventurous stories really struck a chord with me. 

After reading about Rick Steves’ struggles in the beginning of his travels through Asia, and how he ultimately overcame them to have the trip of a lifetime, I started reflecting on how far I’ve come mentally since where I was at in the beginning of Central Asia. I had been so excited leading up to this portion of my world travels, and Ken was so stoked for me to join him upon my arrival, but I was having a difficult time mentally adjusting during my first few days in Almaty. I was still hungover from the three weeks I spent in America; both metaphorically speaking and in reality. And I was having my doubts about what I was doing and how I was going to be able to continue traveling in Asia for the next five to six months. But then I had that “aha” moment on my seven day trek in the backcountry that pushed me into the proper mindset and now nearly two months into this trip (meanwhile this blog post is about my second week…yes that’s how far I have fallen behind) I can confidently say this has been one of my favorite trips ever. 

There’s always going to be moments of difficulty and struggles along the way; especially during this type of adventure travel in less developed countries. On top of language barriers, cultural differences, haggling for a fair price, and difficult transportation days; there’s the mental wear and tear of constantly adapting to this ever changing lifestyle. But with that also comes unforgettable encounters, adventurous experiences, lifelong memories, new friends from all over the world, a greater perspective, and so much more. It’s not for the faint of heart but for me the juice is worth the squeeze. 

Two Day Tour – Kaindy Lakes, Kolsai Lakes, and Charyn Canyon

After starting out Kazakhstan going straight into the wild and having my crazy seven day experience in the backcountry, it was time to be a normal tourist. I signed up for the multi day tour to Kaindy Lakes, Kolsai Lakes, and Charyn Canyon with a company called Banana Tour. All of these excursions, two nights at a home stay, bus transportation, and five provided meals cost less than $70. Ken didn’t join me on this trip since he had already done it earlier in his Kazakhstani journey so it was time for me to kick into solo backpacker mode and meet some new people.

The tour bus left at the odd hour of 8pm (probably because it comes back at 7pm, but it’s not exactly convenient). Our guide was a Kazakh woman who spoke great English and had a good sense of humor. Over the next two days she would explain each excursion before our arrival giving us the history and facts about the stop and letting us know what time we had to be back on the bus.

We took a gigantic bus with at least 40 people on it. There was also a mini bus of Russian speakers for the Kazakhs and Russians, but we didn’t interact too much with them. When I got on the bus, there weren’t too many empty seats so I sat down at one where someone had left their backpack. I ended up sitting next to a 20 year old girl from Budapest named Lilla. We got along quite well, but it was crazy to think I got my drivers license the same year she was born. Her and I talked a good bit during the beginning of the bus ride, and we also chatted with an Indian guy in the aisle seat next to us named Monty. The bus stopped 30 minutes in so we could use the restroom and get any snacks and drinks for the remaining five hour ride. At the stop I shot the shit with the two class clowns of the trip, Dan from Australia and Rhys from England. The group was a melting pot of people from all over the world – India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, England, Australia, America, Germany, Peru, Luxembourg, and more – all put together on a bus in Kazakhstan. These types of scenarios feel so natural in the moment but from an outside lens it’s really crazy to blend together people from all these different cultures and backgrounds. 

I had my core group of people I hung out with more, but I ended up interacting with most people on the bus at some point, and it was a nice reminder of all the interesting characters you meet from all around the world. Lilla, Monty, and I continued chatting the first hour of the bus ride until we went into our own worlds listening to music and trying to sleep through the nighttime bus ride. We arrived around 2am in the village of Saty where the home stays were and luckily my named was called for the first one (Lilla was in the last house and had to stay on the bus almost another hour). Hooray for staying in Dream House! The biggest pitfall of the house is that there was only one bathroom for all twelve of us (at least the shower was in a different room). There were five of us in my room and the beds were extremely comfortable; far exceeding my expectations. Plus it wasn’t bunk bunks; which is always nice not to fight for the bottom bunk. My room was three Indian guys: Monty, Rajj, and Gurav; and an Australian guy Max. We stayed up chatting for a bit then retired for the evening. 

Tour Day One – Lakes

The morning started with a family breakfast cooked by the home stay hosts where they served us a tasty porridge, bread and jam, and chai tea. The other rooms in our house were a four person family from Indonesia and a group of three British guys who were friends from back home. After breakfast, we were the last ones to get picked up by the bus. The dream house was in the perfect location where we were always the first ones dropped off and last ones picked up.

Kaindy Lake (3.42 miles; 997 elevation gain)

The first stop of the day was Kaindy Lake, a sunken forest of spruce trees created in 1911 when an earthquake triggered a massive limestone landslide that blocked the gorge and flooded the spruce trees. The water is ice cold which keeps the submerged tree trunks, branches, and needles preserved. Our guide was telling us that sadly this may not exist in the future as the water temperatures are starting to rise.

I sat next to Max on the hour long bus ride and he was an easy person to chat with and crack silly jokes. He had been traveling for over a year now (with a quick detour back home) and had some really interesting stories, particularly from his recent three months that he spent in India. While India has never been super high on my list of places to visit, it sounds like such a wildly different experience than any other country and is definitely a place that I would like to visit at some point in my life. It’s such a big country with so many people that it feels a bit intimidating. Plus you have to spend at least six weeks to really get to know the country, and even still that’s just the tip of the iceberg. One day! 

Kaindy Lake was a very impressive and unique site to see. It was definitely very touristy and there were a lot of other groups at the lake (this would be the theme for all the excursions on this trip), but for good reason. We had two hours to roam around and explore. It was a short hike from the parking lot to the lake. There was a trail that went around the lake with different view points of the sunken forest and the crystal clear turquoise water that changed color depending on how much sunlight was hitting it. 

One thing I liked about this tour is they don’t babysit you and make everyone stay together; they let you do what you want with your time at the stop. I walked around with my roommates Max, Rajj, and Gurav. The two Indian guys were both software developers and we talked shop for a bit. They were telling me how they work 12 hour days and really don’t have time for anything besides work. They probably work for a company that American software companies outsource work to for a very low rate. They were on a seven day vacation to Kazakhstan and this was their big event of the year. Meanwhile I rarely worked eight hours a day at my software job and am now taking a gap year to backpack around the world. Such is the way of the world and I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given in my life. I was telling them about my love and passion for hiking and one of the guys was happy to hear my perspective on my hobby. 

Kolsai Lakes (2.82 miles; 587 feet elevation gain) 

After Kaindy Lakes, we took the bus back to our respective home stays for a delicious plov lunch with a carrot, tomato, and cucumber salad. After a short amount of downtime we hopped back on the bus for a 45 minute ride to Lower Kolsai Lake.

There are three Kolsai Lakes – lower, middle, and upper that sit at progressively higher elevation; the two latter ones require a longer hike and can be backpacked to. The tour just focused on the Lower Lake. 

It was a beautiful deep blue lake surrounded by pine forests that was a nice site to see, but they gave us way too much time here. We had three hours and you could walk around the lake in about 45 minutes. There was also the option for paddle boats but I opted out of that one. Max, Cat, (an American girl who had been writing a travel blog the last four years first about van life in the U.S. and now living in Vietnam), and I found a place on the lake to sit around and crack jokes. We were all very well traveled and exchanged some travel stories, but we were mostly just being silly and having fun. 

Maybe I’m a bit of a snob, but both these stops couldn’t hold a cake compared to the beauty I had just seen on my backcountry hike. And it’s so much less rewarding when there’s hundreds of other tourists showing up on their bus. All that said, the nature was still beautiful and I could why these are big tourist destinations. And it was nice to meet a bunch of other like minded travelers. It also made me so happy that I love to hike and can experience the most beautiful and remote serene nature the world has to offer rather than always doing these types of tourist activities.

Bonfire Dance Party

On the bus ride back, everyone was chatty and full of energy after a solid day of excursions and social interactions. We stopped at a gas station so people could buy beers for the big group bonfire that night. At first I was only going to buy four, but Rhys and Dan gave me shit about how Americans can’t drink, so I grabbed six. They each originally had six but grabbed eight when I got six. Fair play. I’m not going to battle them on that one. I’m too old to get into a drinking competition with a Brit and an Australian. Six will be sufficient. 

We had another delicious home cooked meal for dinner – beef and potatoes with a cucumber coleslaw.

Then it was time for the bonfire dance party. We had to walk 15 minutes from our house to this open field where they had a massive pile of sticks setup in the center that they threw some gas on and lit up. This was also the first opportunity to interact with the Kazakh and Russian group. 

The tour guide started by playing this game where we would all dance while walking around in a circle then she would call out a number (let’s say six) and we would have to form a group of the size of that number. Anyone not in a group was out. It obviously became more difficult as time went on. Sadly I got out after a few rounds. 

Then she would play popular music from all the different cultures (Kazakhstani, Indian, Russian, Uzbek, Korean, America, Colombia) and people from that respective country would show off their dance moves while we all tried to imitate it. Throw in booze and we were all having a really good time. The bonfire lasted a few hours  and it turned out to be a really fun evening! Back at the home stay a few of us stayed up chatting and drinking our final beer.

Tour Day Two – Canyons 

We woke up at 7:30 for breakfast and I felt surprisingly decent. After breakfast we packed our bags and said our goodbyes to the home stay hosts. It was a one hour drive to the first canyon and the bus was silent as people were clearly recovering from the night before. The first two stops were small canyons – Black Canyon and Moon Canyon; each with a river running between them. They were beautiful but very small and nothing too special for me. For some people in the tour it was the first canyon they’ve ever seen. I forget how spoiled we are in America with places like the Grand Canyon and all the canyons in Utah and Colorado. Not to mention the massive canyons I’ve also seen in Peru and Colombia. We continued down the road to a cafe where we had to pay for our own lunch – $4 for plov and manti – before making it to Charyn Canyon National Park.

Charyn Canyon (3.31 miles; 787 feet elevation gain) 

Charyn Canyon is a 90 kilometer long gorge formed over 12 million years ago by wind, rain, and erosion of the Charyn River through red sedimentary rock. We stopped at the most accessible section of the park, which has a walking trail that goes through spired rocks leading down to the river. The rock formations reminded me of the southwestern U.S. 

We had three hours to explore the area. A big group of us walked together to the river where we dipped our toes in the water and hung out in the shade of the trees. We were really enjoying ourselves and no one was ready to leave the river, but eventually the time came to walk 45 minutes back up to the bus. It was the dead heat of the day and there was absolutely no shade. Oh the joys of hiking in a canyon. 

It took about 3.5 hours to get back to Almaty with one stop for the bathroom and snacks. We arrived in the city around 7pm. At midnight that night was one of the British guys in my home stay’s birthday so he invited a bunch of people to come drink at Almaty Backpacker Hostel later that night. I figured why not ride the high of being with this group of people while the going was good. This would probably be the last time I’d see them. I invited Ken, but he wanted to have a chill night. Earlier in the day he went to the bazaar and was approached by a woman who invited him and a few other backpackers to her grandmother’s house for home cooked Beshbarmak. One might expect this type of generosity toward strangers in the countryside, but to happen in a big city is unheard of in western society, and yet another example of the Kazak hospitality and friendliness. He said it was a great experience and he spent a few hours there socializing with the family and other backpackers.  

Almaty Backpacker Hostel was much more social than the Five Seasons. It was full of young backpackers chatting around an outdoor table drinking and playing card games. There were about 10 of us from the tour that showed up (or were already staying at the hostel). I hung around drinking and chatting until about 12:30. The birthday boy and quite a few others were getting ready to go out and tried to convince me to join, but after two straight days of non stop socialization it was time for this old man to crash. 

Hike Big Almaty Lake Loop (6.16 miles; 2,582 feet elevation gain)

I was glad that I didn’t go out late the night before so that I could fully take advantage of my final day in Kazakhstan. After getting breakfast with Ken, I took a 50 minute Yandex out to Ile-Alatau National Park to hike to Big Almaty Lake. Ken didn’t join me because he had already been to the lake multiple times while doing treks in that area. The southeast part of the national park has a network of trails and is much more highly developed and built up than the southwest area where we did our seven day backcountry trek a few days before. I would like to come back some day and explore this area more. 

The Yandex driver could only take me so far up the road before dropping me off at a gate. I had to continue up the road for about 10 minutes before hitting a trail that goes next to a giant hydraulic pipe. The first section was very steep gaining about 1,000 feet of elevation in a mile. It started out with a staircase before turning into a dirt path. There was a metal wire to hold onto next to the pipe but I had my poles and opted for going along the steep trail. 

The trail continued at a more moderate incline and then started leveling out to where it was actually easier to walk on top of the hydraulic pipe than next to it. Even though the trail was pretty crowded, I was embracing the quiet solitude of hiking by myself. While I do enjoy hiking with other people, most my time on trail at home is spent solo, and I really like walking at my own pace and getting lost in my own world in the surrounding nature.

The next mile was a switchback road where you could take a shortcut along a path to cut out the corners. Then I arrived at the massive glacial blue lake. The color of the water was absolutely stunning! There was a grassy patch to sit and enjoy the lake. 

Instead of going back the same way, I took the option of making the trail a loop. The back half was way less crowded. It descended through a meadow surrounded by trees. Eventually I looped back around and linked up with the bottom half of the hydraulic pipe for a steep final downhill. Once I hit the gate, I caught a cheap taxi ride down to the base of the national park where I caught a bus back into Almaty.