Our spirits are elevated by those of the canyons and highlands, valleys and lakes, in the Tian Shan mountain range of Kazakhstan.
Like the sirens of the Rhine, mountain landscapes entice us.
And our drive from Almaty eastward toward Kyrgyzstan promised many, many mountains. These comprise the Tian Shan mountain range, peaks (and valleys) that divide the two countries.
Wherever you go here, there are splendid views, gorgeous mountain lakes, incomparable hikes, high meadows, and unusual rock formations. We were fortunate we could spend enough time there so the spirits of the region could touch us.
Charyn and Black Canyon
The Grand Canyon of Kazakhstan is Charyn, a deep gorge that meanders for over 150 kilometers (just under 100 miles) through part of the Tian Shan range.
We hiked down along a shallow riverbed into the so-called Valley of Castles to marvel at the unusual sandstone formations and reach the charming river deep within.
Along the way, a signboard told of the dualistic nature of early Kazakh beliefs, which despite adherence to Islam, survive from their nomadic traditions and those of their neighbors.
This yin/yang belief inspirits a legend recorded on another signboard. The spirit of the river, Charyn, was charged by other natural spirits with waking a very sleepy figure called Tectonics in order to sustain the upthrust mountains and gorges. Otherwise, the spirit of Erosion would do its slow work to turn the mountains into plains. So far Charyn is doing his job.
Near Charyn we discovered the Black Canyon, a very different and quite picturesque gorge cut through basalt rock. Deep below another section of the Charyn River flows through it out of the green plains.
Saty, Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes
Our last stop in Kazakhstan was the village of Saty, set within a wide valley ringed by snow-topped mountains.
The main attraction for visitors and locals here is a pair of high lakes. The smaller one, Kaindy Lake, feels like a huge well, quite recently formed by a rockslide that dammed up the river. In the water, the remains of trees inundated by water marks the suddenness of the event.
The second, Kolsai, is an elongated mountain lake at 1800 meters (about 6000 feet) in altitude. We could readily see why the second attracts many Kazakhs in the season, most of whom stay for a while at the many hotels, yurt camps, and guesthouses sprouting over the nearby landscape.
While we were there, many locals were paddle-boating around the lake. During the season, it’s likely that most of the hundred-plus of them would be criss-crossing the lake. The more adventurous do take on the challenging hike to a second and third lake at higher altitudes.
As our friend Seitek demonstrates, however, we could still find a quiet spot in the off-season (despite the paddle boats) to contemplate the lovely scene and let the spirit of this lake sing to us.
Otherwise, the lakes felt a bit touristy for us. Fortunately instead, we stayed nearby at a pleasant guesthouse in meadows outside of Saty. There we had only the cattle, horses, and sheep for company – with a vista up a broad valley to the snow-capped mountains.
Lolling on our deck for an afternoon was delightful in itself. But we also enjoyed a three-hour hike up to billowing mountain meadows where the cattle and free-range horses had wandered to graze under the snowy mantle of distant peaks.
Descending into a paradise of a valley, with a snaking stream and wandering horses, we had thought to follow the stream back to our house. That didn’t work out because the stream disappeared into a narrow gorge with no dry passage.
So, instead we followed a few sheep trails up and over the hills in the general direction of our guesthouse. Luckily no canyon blocked our route and we eventually reached the dirt trail we had climbed away from the guesthouse.
Though the Charyn Canyon was dramatic, the quieter pleasures of our Saty hike raised our spirits even more.
For more posts from Kazakhstan, click here. For more posts from Asia, click here.