Kel-Suu Lake
Kel-Suu Lake
5
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Monday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Tuesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Wednesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Thursday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Friday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Saturday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Sunday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
About
Gorgeous Lake Kel-Suu was formed thousands years ago due to destruction of the mountain massif. It is located in Kok-Kiya valley (3 520 m), Naryn region, close to the border with China. Particular highlight of trip to the lake is splendid views on the way: At-bashi range, Eki-Naryn canyon (two rivers confluence Small Naryn and Naryn, Koshoi-Korgon fortress of VIII-X century, At-bashy village.
Duration: More than 3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
39 reviews
Excellent
37
Very good
1
Average
1
Poor
0
Terrible
0
len5742
San Diego, CA144 contributions
Sep 2021
(I was there in July 2021, but the review process doesn't let you specify a date that far back.)
Lots of enthusiasm for Kel Suu here in the reviews, I don't share it. Yes, it's a nice lake to look at, but after thirty minutes, then what?
Within the context of all the scenery K, has to offer, it makes no sense to me to devote the time and effort to go here just to see this lake. I suppose you could do the horse-riding thing to make it more 'fun', but there's lots of other places to do horse-riding that don't require a timed permit and a long car trip.
I hiked from the yurt camps to the lake, and then back and stayed in the Kubat Tour camp. Hike took a few hours. Actually, there's a road all the way to the edge of the lake, so no requirement to hike there.
The first 60km of the drive to the lake from Naryn were very scenic. I recommend doing this drive, and then turn around and go back to Naryn.
And about Kubat tour, don't stay at his camp. Meals are a joke. My 'lunch' was just the usual bread/tomato/cukes/candy spread that sets up every K meal. There was no actual separate dish that served as a lunch.
Lots of enthusiasm for Kel Suu here in the reviews, I don't share it. Yes, it's a nice lake to look at, but after thirty minutes, then what?
Within the context of all the scenery K, has to offer, it makes no sense to me to devote the time and effort to go here just to see this lake. I suppose you could do the horse-riding thing to make it more 'fun', but there's lots of other places to do horse-riding that don't require a timed permit and a long car trip.
I hiked from the yurt camps to the lake, and then back and stayed in the Kubat Tour camp. Hike took a few hours. Actually, there's a road all the way to the edge of the lake, so no requirement to hike there.
The first 60km of the drive to the lake from Naryn were very scenic. I recommend doing this drive, and then turn around and go back to Naryn.
And about Kubat tour, don't stay at his camp. Meals are a joke. My 'lunch' was just the usual bread/tomato/cukes/candy spread that sets up every K meal. There was no actual separate dish that served as a lunch.
Written August 16, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LittleThings23
50 contributions
Jun 2023 • Couples
Surprisingly, not many tourist come to this amazing place. It is near China border, hence requires permit to enter. The journey to reach Kel Suu is breathtakingly beautiful. From camp site to lake is about 1.5 hr trek. We were little disappointed by color of lake, apparently we were early by few days, snow was still melting. But I tell you DO NOT MISS IT. Journey is still worth it.
Written July 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
anja z
Ljubljana, Slovenia8 contributions
Jul 2023 • Couples
We organized the trip via CBT Naryn. Aizhan was very helpful with all the arrangements for our trip to Kel Suu. Also very responsive and always smiling.
I definitely recommend CBT Naryn to anyone visiting the region.
I definitely recommend CBT Naryn to anyone visiting the region.
Written July 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Амантур Б
3 contributions
May 2017 • Friends
Difficult to reach, but worth it. Kel-Suu lake is one of the highest lakes in the world. You need minimum 2 days to visit the lake and there are a few yurt camps close the lake. As Kel-Suu is located between high mountains and the path is not asphalt we recommend you to go there on 4x4 car. There are several travel companies such as CBT-Naryn, CBT-Kochkor, Kyrgyz Riders and Shepherd's Life etc. By the way the lake is almost on the border with Cine you need a permit for border zone.
Written April 17, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ewa S
London, UK16 contributions
Sep 2017
I went to Kol Suu as a part of a 3-day trip in September 2016 organised by Kubat Tour. I stayed in a yurt and did a horse trek to the lake with Miedar (the yak shepherd and yurt's owner). Miedar and his assistant are so much fun to hang out with (not sure about their English abilities as I speak some basic Russian). The lake and the area around it are just stunning, quite remote, but easily accessible with a 4x4. Great experience thanks to my driver Tolkun, a very caring, friendly and sweet person.
Written March 9, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DJ v
Deventer, The Netherlands35 contributions
Sep 2016 • Couples
We drove to the lake by ourselves in our rented Land Cruiser. The road was though, but doable by ourselves. We stopped at the yurt camp, since we spend the night there. From the camp we took some horses up to the lake which is a pretty amazing ride.
For us this was the greatest adventure we've had in Kyrgyzstan so 5 out of 5 stars.
For us this was the greatest adventure we've had in Kyrgyzstan so 5 out of 5 stars.
Written September 27, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Noémie C
260 contributions
Jul 2019 • Couples
We went there with kubat tour and it is one of the highlights of our trip.
1) Agency tour : Kubat tour is a family run business with over 10 years of experience. Really helpful, prices are very fair and a lot of knowledge. They are really professional.
2) Family Yurt : oldest camp in the area. It's the closest one from the lake. The family is friendly and the food is delicious. They really take care of you. When we were there we had a lamp, heating, comfortable bed and surprisingly pleasant toilet. You can rent horses for 800 soms a day and a guide for the horses for 1500 soms.
3) Lake : breathtaking !! You can access it alone following the right side of the river. It's more or less 2h one way.
Highly recommended and we will come back to do a 5 days hike another year !!
1) Agency tour : Kubat tour is a family run business with over 10 years of experience. Really helpful, prices are very fair and a lot of knowledge. They are really professional.
2) Family Yurt : oldest camp in the area. It's the closest one from the lake. The family is friendly and the food is delicious. They really take care of you. When we were there we had a lamp, heating, comfortable bed and surprisingly pleasant toilet. You can rent horses for 800 soms a day and a guide for the horses for 1500 soms.
3) Lake : breathtaking !! You can access it alone following the right side of the river. It's more or less 2h one way.
Highly recommended and we will come back to do a 5 days hike another year !!
Written July 21, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vanja K
Zagreb, Croatia382 contributions
Jun 2016 • Friends
This was for me the most beautiful and scenic place in Kyrgyzstan. Drive from Naryn took 5 hours and the scenery was stunning all the way with lovely marmots running on hills.
We left Naryn after 8 am, but if you want to do the hike up to the lake the same day, it would be better to leave earlier. We were informed that walk to the Kol Suu lake is 1 hour, but in fact it is 2-3 hours, since recently the yurt camp has been moved to another place. The walk also depends on the weather conditions (we had a rain shower on our way up) as well as your own physical condition. Already a starting point is more than 3200 m, and the lake is on about 3600 m, so the walk for people that are not used to high altitudes could be slow.
Get yourself well informed before going to the lake, if there has been rain previously, since the rain can cause some parts of the path flooded. In our experience, although we organized our trip through the company that regularly does the tours, we were not informed or warned about it. Luckily, the guide that we met on the way had a horse and helped crossing. You can also rent horses to go up to do lake, which can be a good option if you don't have enough time or if you are not fit.
This is still not well known destinations, but in few years it could become quite popular, go there before it gets crowded and stay for few days in isolation, exploring the nature and enjoying fantastic scenery. There is no signal there, so it is a real get away.
We were definitely overcharged for the trip, so when asking the price of the tour, ask for specifications of the costs.
We left Naryn after 8 am, but if you want to do the hike up to the lake the same day, it would be better to leave earlier. We were informed that walk to the Kol Suu lake is 1 hour, but in fact it is 2-3 hours, since recently the yurt camp has been moved to another place. The walk also depends on the weather conditions (we had a rain shower on our way up) as well as your own physical condition. Already a starting point is more than 3200 m, and the lake is on about 3600 m, so the walk for people that are not used to high altitudes could be slow.
Get yourself well informed before going to the lake, if there has been rain previously, since the rain can cause some parts of the path flooded. In our experience, although we organized our trip through the company that regularly does the tours, we were not informed or warned about it. Luckily, the guide that we met on the way had a horse and helped crossing. You can also rent horses to go up to do lake, which can be a good option if you don't have enough time or if you are not fit.
This is still not well known destinations, but in few years it could become quite popular, go there before it gets crowded and stay for few days in isolation, exploring the nature and enjoying fantastic scenery. There is no signal there, so it is a real get away.
We were definitely overcharged for the trip, so when asking the price of the tour, ask for specifications of the costs.
Written September 9, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
רועי ב
3 contributions
Jul 2016 • Friends
Worth the long driving. Be sure to tell your drivers to go all the way to the lake- its possible. Check the weather and come when its sunny.
Written July 25, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
tamara b
Providence, RI60 contributions
Sep 2015
Best place in At-Bashy region. Long drive and rough roads, but worth the trip! Stay at a yurt camp close to this amazing location. Hike, explore, or kayak in the mountains. Clean, pristine, and peaceful destination.
Written April 5, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
How much doe a horse ride and boating cost at Kel Suu lake?
Written April 11, 2024
If we were to visit around late June to mid July 2020, will we be able to see the lake with water?
Written November 9, 2019
Hi, yes last year the lake was full of water during the entire whole year. But as mentioned above, it may change year to year.
Written February 28, 2021
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