Saty Village and the Kolsay Lakes

Why you stay here

The Kolsay lakes and Kaindy are too far from Almaty to see properly and return the same day. Saty is the village at the end of the road, and staying there is what turns a punishing round trip into two comfortable ones. Accommodation is a family guest house: clean and warm, but a home rather than a hotel, and we say so on every trip that includes it.

Kaindy

An earthquake flooded a spruce forest here and the trunks are still standing upright out of the water, bare and grey above the surface and preserved below it. The water is cold and startlingly clear. It is a short, steep walk in from the road.

Kolsay

Three lakes in a chain up a forested valley. Most visitors see the first, which is reachable by road; the second is a walk of a couple of hours uphill and is where the crowds stop. Horses can be hired at the first lake if you would rather ride than walk.

How long to give it

One night, in a home stay rather than a hotel.

When to go

Average daytime high, night-time low and rain days for Saty Village, from five years of recorded observations rather than a forecast or a brochure.

Comfortable months: Sep.