Discover Kazakhstan
Kolsay lakes experience
Kolsay Lakes lie four hours southeast of Almaty, where the Kungey Alatau range rises along the Kazakh Kyrgyz border. Three glacier fed lakes sit at ascending altitudes between 1,818 and 2,850 metres, each colder, quieter, and more remote than the last. The best months to visit are June through September, when the trails are clear and the lakes are fully thawed.
The Pearl of the Tien Shan
EXPLORE KOLSAY LAKES
THE EMERALD GATE
A trail through ancient spruce opens to water so vivid it looks lit from beneath. The first lake holds its colour long after the sun drops behind the ridge.
ASCENDING SOLITUDE
Three lakes rise in steps through the Kungey Alatau, each one higher, colder, and more silent than the last. Altitude here is measured in solitude.
TEN THOUSAND YEARS
The lakes formed when ancient glaciers retreated from the Kungey Alatau, leaving three basins stacked along the valley floor. What the ice shaped, the forest claimed. What the forest claimed, time has left alone.
Clear focus on cuisine, relaxation, and entertainment offerings make this feel like a luxury hotel you never want to leave — one that happens to be floating at sea.
Condé Nast Traveler
INTO THE HEART OF KOLSAY
EMBARK ON A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY
The trail begins where the water turns emerald and the spruce closes overhead. Each lake reveals itself slowly — the first in a clearing of impossible colour, the second through meadows of wild tulip and edelweiss, the third only after a climb that earns every step. Beneath the surface of the first lake, a ghost forest of drowned spruce stands in perfect stillness, visible only on the calmest mornings. Above the last lake, the ridge opens to a silence so complete you hear the mountains breathe. Few places left on earth feel this untouched. Kolsay is one of them.
INSPIRING kolsay lakes
