This is probably the first thing that appears under the search results for Almaty attractions. If you are short on time, Big Almaty Lake is only 30 minutes from Almaty city. It is also renowned for its turquoise colour in literally every season apart from winter. Yes I do know that, so stop asking me why we went in the middle of winter. We had planned to visit again in Spring, but because coronavirus happened, we got recalled back to Singapore before we had the chance. Just a heads up, “because coronavirus” is used a lot in my posts to explain a lot of stuff.
Getting to Big Almaty Lake
This trip can easily be self-driven, but in the winter you might want to take extra precaution. The roads are especially icy and slippery, which amidst navigating through the hairpin bends and steep inclines, may be challenging. So rent a four-wheel drive with snow tires, have a relatively skilled driver behind the wheel and go forth and conquer! However, even our very skilled driver got the car stuck in thick snow, and we had to call on another car to help pull it out. So, for the risk-averse, maybe don’t go in the winter.
With winter also comes a lot of fog. In fact, it was a race against time with it. Here is a beautiful panorama of Big Almaty Lake:
Here is the fog chasing us from the left one minute later:
And here is Big Almaty Lake submerged underneath the fog five seconds later:
There you have it! High risk, but not very high reward if you like turquoise waters. If for you (and I really mean me) the reward is inherent in the risk, snow-capped mountains behind a frozen lake has an ethereal feel to it, which makes it captivating, nonetheless. You can also have the lake to yourself in the winter, whereas during summer season it will be packed with tourists, locals and picnic baskets.
Hi! I am Joey, a University student from Singapore, attempting to show my appreciation for the world’s most powerful passport by literally milking its visa-free benefits one country at a time. I describe my travel budget as shoestring and travel style as audacious.
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