I hired a car and driver for my trip to Big Almaty Lake. It was such a good decision because my driver was excellent and spoke great English. He collected me from my hotel and then we drove to the lake. As we reached the national park you are given a sense of the beauty of this area. I was there in October and the weather and colours of the leaves couldn’t have been better. My driver knew this location very well. His frequent visits there means that he has befriended the park rangers and knows different areas of the lake to visit. There is an entrance fee into the national park which he took care of. We then drove to a car park area. Interestingly enough he explained the rather dark and sad history of the lake to me. Pre-1963 it was a huge lake, larger and deeper than it is today. It provided fresh water and was used by Russians as a healthy place to visit. There was boating, walking, picnics etc Buses used to bring many of the visitors and as you look at the main car park you can see the concrete remnants of the bus stop. There are also all sorts of other clues to the lakes past as you walk around the area. Sadly in 1963 a Kyrgyzstani Shepherd saw a river of mud flowing towards the lake but couldn’t communicate in Russian what was happening. This mud slide hit the lake and damaged the natural dam holding the lake, which meant that huge amounts of water were released into the valley, killing many who lived there. There are two items positioned overlooking the lake, they are there to commemorate the lives of those lost in this disaster. One is a gold cross and the other a small marble arch. They can be viewed by climbing a number of steps easily located in the main viewing area for the lake. The view of the lake from where they are positioned is beautiful. The colour of the lake is breathtaking. There is a snow leopard living in this mountain region which is wonderful to know. There is a sign indicating this but understandably any chance of seeing it, beyond remote. There are also brown bears living in this area. My driver/guide took me down to the lakeside and we enjoyed tea and biscuits in one of the most glorious settings I have been lucky enough to experience. A must visit location if you’re heading to Almaty

1. If you are English-speaking only, I would not recommend taking a taxi to the area. The taxi driver will be unlikely to wait for you since the hike up to see the lake is likely to take at least two hours just to go up, and about the same coming down. Since I did not have a taxi waiting for me at the bottom, I had to walk an additional 2 miles down the road before I could get cell phone service to arrange another taxi. In retrospect, I think it would have been best to arrange a tourism service, even though it is more pricy. 2. Bring snacks and a good amount of water. There were only two refilling stations that I saw. One was at the very start of the trail and the other one one near the top of the trail was not marked. 3. You'll be scaling a steep hill adjacent to the water supply pipe. It has rebar steps, wire hand guides, and is somewhat narrow. This is the hardest part of the trail, but the roads you can walk on near the top aren't too steep, just lengthy. There are signs saying not to walk on the pipe directly, but I saw many disregarding this. 4. I went in April and the lake did not look how it looks in all of the photos advertising it with the turquoise or opal colors seen in many images. When I attempted to approach the lake on what I thought was a designated path, the guard tower said something to me, so I backed off. Many other hikers did not proceed either, perhaps due to the avalanche risk warning. The only way I could get a view of the lake was to continue hiking up more inclined roads. And when I caught a glimpse of the lake, it was an unimpressive, frozen white color. 5. If you're going to go on the weekend, get there early. When I was leaving, I was stunned by the amount of cars parked there versus when I had initially been dropped off.

Green blue waters ; be prepared to spend money or hike a long way. We followed Instructions From Reddit and trip advisor. Thanks To The Community For All The Little And Help. We took Yandex up to ayushi visitor center and rented E bikes for 20,000 tenge each. The E bikes were comfortable in getting us to the big Almaty lake. We stopped at several points along the way to enjoy the picturesque beauty of the place. There were also taxis transporting people up to the lake. The cost came out to be similar between the option to take taxi from the check post or e-bike. The e-bikes can be pre-booked on their website . There are military checkpoints, and it is highly recommended to take passports. the reviews I read mentioned hefty penalty for the lack of passport. An alternative is to hike 11 km along the tar road or 7 km with a steep incline along the water pipe. Please do not underestimate this hike and be prepared for different seasons within the same day. Even while biking, it was pretty cold on the way down when we went to the lake in the beginning of September.

I’ve just came back from visiting Big Almaty Lake. Prior to visiting I spent a lot of time researching the best way to visit and this was my experience. Firstly I pre-booked an e-bike through “electrobikes.kz”. It cost 20,000 Tenge. There were three time slots for the “tour”, 9am, 12 and 3pm. I took the 9am slot, however it wasn’t a tour, it was hiring the biked for 2 hrs which I had much preferred. I took a Yandex from my hotel in Gogol street it was easy to find a driver to take me to the Ayusay (Ayusai) visitor centre and cost 4,110 Tenge. I arrived at the visitor centre at 8:45am, the cafe and the main part were open and there is free WiFi, the password was located at the information desk and c,ran toilets too. Even through I booked the e-bike for 9am, no one opened the office until around 9:20pm. I was given my bike, helmet and vest. They took a photo of my booking and passport and I had to sign a form to say I will return the bike within 2hrs. The bike was simple to use and went quite fast. The route was super simple, turn right onto the road from the visitors centre and keep following the road until you get to BAL. The ride up felt like forever, however I managed to get there within 40 mins without stopping. BAL was beautiful and a lovely colour this time of the year. However I feel it has become very over hyped. If I didn’t take the bike I wouldn’t have been impressed hiring for hours to see it. The cycle on the way back was much more enjoyable. It was fun speeding downhill, however being careful and slowing down on the bends. But feel I was able to enjoy the scenery a lot more which was amazing. It took me about 35 mins to get back down. Getting the Yandex on the way back to Almaty was straight forward. There was free wifi near to the e-bike office and I didn’t have to wait long and cost 3100 Tenge. Overall I think if you like cycling and enjoy amazing scenery then visit, if you are going to hike for hours to visit a lake I would say not to bother.