Kazakhstan 3 – Kaiyndy Lake

One of our destinations today was Kaiyndy lakes national park, a lake created as the result of an earthquake induced landslide blocking the river, in the Kolsai Lake National Park. The trees in the region were flooded and died.  However, the water is so cold that the trees did not deteriorate, and instead remain standing, making an almost abstract scene.

The scene is breath-taking, however many tourists have taken the identical shot. Adding a little in-camera vertical movement while the shutter was open gave something closer to what my mind’s eye was seeing.

Kazakhstan - observatory

At the highest point in the steppes, we came across the Assy-Turgen observatory, named after the Assy plateau and the Turgen gorge leading up to this peak. The observatory is in current operation, and we were prevented from passing the razor wire boundary.  Though the observatories themselves are standard construction and look well maintained, the administration was clearly Soviet construction and bore signs of urban decay (lower right).  If we had been allowed inside, we could have gotten more details and see an operating telescope…

Kazakhstan - high alpine yurt lunch

In past years, the area around the observatory would be filled with yurts from animal herders (sheep, cattle and horses) arriving for their summer pasture.  This was a very long Winter though, and it is still too cold for the animals at night.  As such, there was only a lone yurt, with Clara, a woman entrepreneur, who had agreed to feed our band of hungry photographers (lower center) and our drivers, Arthur, Constantin, and Dimitri.

Kazakhstan - yurt raising

We then went to Saty village, to watch a yurt being raised.  At first I thought it was a tacky version updated to make it easier to assemble.  We later found though, that modern yurts, as used by animal herders in this region, do indeed include a wooden door with hinges, with the sides made from garden accordion fencing.  The modern Kazakh have updated the production of their mobile homes to make use of modern alternatives.

After the yurt was raised, the family engaged in a traditional picnic, thanking their gods and asking for a bountiful season.

Kazakhstan - Kolsoi lake trees realistic

For those wishing to know what the Kolsai Lake trees really looked like, here is an addendum to satisfy curiosity…

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