Express One day tour to Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes via Charyn Canyon

Your guide and driver collect you from your hotel early morning and head out along the Khorgos-Almaty highway – the new Silk Road of our times. It’s a long and scenic drive to the first stop (around 4–5 hours, 290 km / 180 miles), so settle in: have a nap, or let your guide take you through the story of Kazakhstan – its culture, its people, its layered history. We’ll stop along the way for fuel, coffee, and a comfort break.

Watch the landscape shift around you as you go: lush orchards and village farmland giving way to the vast open steppe, where the occasional lone herder guides a small flock through the silence.

The first destination is Kaindy Lake – and it’s worth every kilometre of the drive. Sitting at 2,000 metres above sea level in the Kungei Alatau mountains, this extraordinary lake was born from a massive landslide triggered by the 1911 earthquake, which dammed the river and flooded the valley. What emerged was something otherworldly: a lake filled with the silver trunks of Tien Shan fir trees, their needles perfectly preserved beneath the ice-cold, crystal-clear water, their bare stems reaching above the surface like something out of a dream. You simply have to see it.

After Kaindy, we head to Satty village for a home-cooked lunch at a local guesthouse – generous, warm, and exactly the kind of meal you’ll still be thinking about on the drive home.

Next stop: the first Kolsay Lake, just 20 minutes from Satty. One of three lakes formed by an ancient earthquake, it sits in a valley of towering Tian Shan spruce, the air so clean and resin-scented it feels almost medicinal. We take a leisurely walk along the lakeshore, soak up the views, and breathe it all in. Boat rides are available if you fancy getting out on the water (not included in the tour price).

The final stop of the day is Charyn Canyon. If you have the energy – and we think you will – we make a gentle descent into the Valley of Castles, where towering formations of sand and clay rise around you, giving way to ancient basalt layers deeper toward the river. A short rest on the bank of the Charyn River, then a ride back up to the surface on the canyon’s own taxi service.

On the drive back to Almaty, we stop at a traditional Uyghur village market for dinner – vivid, lively, and filled with the irresistible smell of grilled meat and tandyr samsa, a flaky savory pastry baked fresh in a clay oven. The perfect way to end a day like this.

Late night arrival back in Almaty. Your driver drops you at your hotel or airport – right where you need to be.