Saty - Kaindy

Sat 1/6/24

We set the alarm for Subuh prayer at 4am, realizing that it was already almost sunrise. Apparently, there is no daylight saving in Kazakhstan. So it was another 3 hours to wait for breakfast to be ready at 7am, which could have been spent starting out the day already. I've even asked for earlier breakfast from 7.30am to 6.30am, but it was too short a notice for our host, so we agreed at 7am.

We served with yummy homemade pancakes and oat porridge with tea and coffee for breakfast by our lovely host, Naila. 

oat porridge

pancakes

We left Naila's house at 8am setting out to Saty, a 3 hour journey covering about 230km. We drove through the A351 highway from Akbastau to Shelek but didn't have to pay for any tolls there. The road condition towards Saty was not really good with uneven surfaces and holes, so it was a good decision to opt for a SUV. However, the views were beautiful along the way. We didn't stop as there didn't seem to be space to park by the road to take pictures.

mountain and field views along the way

On the way to Saty, we stopped at Black or Aktogay Canyon. The canyon is about 200 to 300 meters deep with a river flowing in the ravine. The viewing spot is on top of the canyon, there is no way down to the river. We took pictures and flew the drone here. 

river in Black canyon

plateau across the Black canyon

We then continued driving and arrived at Saty around 12.20 pm. We took some pictures at the Saty signage, which is also located at the car park to Kaindy lakes. We had lunch at a random local restaurant of manti dumplings and homemade noodles with black tea which cost KZT 4800.

view from Saty signage

manti dumplings

homemade noodles

After lunch, we decided to proceed to Kaindy lakes as it was still early, and we would only be going to Kolsay lakes tomorrow. We decided to take the transport service to Lake Kaindy as there are river crossings and unpaved road of about 10 km to the lake, although some were daring enough to even drive a normal car! We did have a SUV but was not confident enough. The price to pay for transport in a Russian made Lada jeep was not cheap - 18000 KZT for 2 persons for a return trip (about MYR 190 per person) - we only managed to negotiate down the price from 20000 KZT. It would be cheaper if you had a bigger group to share the cost. Or you could also hike on foot to Kaindy lake.

inside the Lada jeep

our Lada jeep

About halfway of the ride, we had to stop to pay for the entrance fee to the national park which cost 2307 KZT for 2 persons and 1 car, which is a daily rate. You could use the same ticket to enter both Kaindy and Kolsay lakes also on the same day if you want to save cost.

We reached the Kaindy lakes car park about half an hour later, then we hiked for about half an hour to reach Kaindy lake located about 1.5 km away. You could also opt to ride the horse to the lake, which I did not enquire on the cost . It was an easy hike though. 

the trek to Kaindy lake from the parking lot

views from the trek to Kaindy

views from the trek to Kaindy

views from the trek to Kaindy

Kaindy lake is a submerged former forest, formed by an earthquake. There were remnants of trees protruding from  the lake with beautiful emerald coloured water. The lake is small though, so we didn't spend too much time here to take pictures. We also didn't fly the drone here as we were in a low position and small area with other people around. Perhaps a vantage point location would have a better view, there was indeed another trail, but we didn't have the time to trek to the second trail, plus it was also drizzling.

Kaindy lake

Kaindy lake

Kaindy lake

We took the same jeep with the driver waiting for us to return back to our parked SUV and arrived to our guesthouse - Kolsay Rooms at about 5pm. Our room with breakfast cost RM 250 per night booked from booking.com, paid by cash. We also booked for dinner for 2 persons which cost KZT 6000. We were served with homemade dumplings with salad and tea for dinner.

homemade dumplings with salad

After dinner, we walked a bit around the vicinity of the house which is surrounded by farms with cows, horses and goats / sheep. There is also mosque located nearby. 

the farm behind our guesthouse

mosque in Saty

We called it a day after maghrib and had a well deserved rest.