Big Almaty Lake

Waking up early to another cold shower, I found myself outside waiting for the bus that would take me to the First President Park where I waited for another bus going to Kokshoky Village.

On the way there, I had met some local teens who were on their way to hike. I tried to pay the driver with a bill but he wouldn't take it. One of the guys gave me some coins to which I offered the driver, he still wouldn't. So I gave up and took a seat. At one point, I was confused if I was going the right way or not so I asked them if I was going to the right direction towards Big Almaty Lake and they confirmed it.

Halfway through the ride, they asked if they could come with me, and I said sure. Also around that time, a ticket inspector went in and the kids covered up for me, they paid again and this time I got the paper ticket. When we got to Kokshoky, I was going to take a cab up to the trailhead and that's when they backed out. I went ahead and paid 2,000 tenge and made it only halfway. I found out the trail was closed to private vehicles now. So what was supposed to be a half-day morning trip became a full day 6 hour hike. Well, I was already here so why not just go for it.

I was a bit worried as the guard told me it would be cold, I wondered if I packed enough for this trip, I had not much food on me and only a bottle of water. While walking, I saw two guys coming out of the side walk to where there was a waterfall. I went up to check it out before catching up with them, asking if they were doing the Big Almaty Lake hike as well. One of the guys, O from Thailand, said yes and invited me to hike with them. I agreed. The other guy, Rahul, was from India.

When we reached a crossroads, we saw two other hikers on the way down and asked them for directions. They pointed out that we do the long winding way up on the left path instead of the harder inclines on the right. They also told us about a restaurant halfway called Alpen Rose which was perfect for me to get some re-energizing. Sounds like a plan.

The hike was cold, foggy, and more or less silent. I had a lot to think about but at the same time, my body was definitely adjusting to the sudden activity. I talked with O for a bit but eventually, I started to gain traction and ended up leaving them both behind. I reached Alpen Rose and had some chicken and garlic bread for lunch and continued on.

Strangely enough, I saw a lot of people climbing on the pipes which seemed like a lot of fun and I wanted to give that a go as well but didn't have the opportunity as it seemed a bit hard to get on it from where I was at the moment. As I ascended higher, the clouds seemed to have parted and finally revealed the treasures of Almaty. Glacial mountains and clouds passing through pine forests. It was an amazing sight, one that suddenly made all my worries disappear and I realized, wow this hike was so worth it.

With much fervor, I continued up until I finally made it to Big Almaty Lake, which was frozen but still beautiful. It was only me here, sitting down admiring such a great view, what an honor. As the clouds started to roll in again, I decided it was time to head back. This time around, I wanted to take the pipes.

The pipes were definitely interesting. The clouds made everything so eerie as I couldn't see what was in front of me. Only the metallic sounds of my footsteps hitting the pipes accompanied me for a long time. The pipes were also a good shortcut as I got to cut through all the long zigzags I did in the other path. As I got closer to the bottom, I slipped because the clouds were making the pipes a bit wet. After one slip, I opted out on the pipes and started going down soil-side which was also quite difficult and I found myself losing my balance a couple of times as well. The rocks and soil were a bit loose.

After I made it back to the trailhead, there were some taxi drivers there ready to take me back. I paid one 5,000 tenge to drop me back at First President's Park, and we picked up some hitchhikers along the way.

The day was far from over however, today I was meeting with Askhat's family again for dinner. I took a bus to their neighborhood where his mom had prepared another Kazakh feast for me. This time it was Chicken Beshbarmak, an unusual dish according to them as it is usually done with either horse or beef. But I just couldn't bring myself to eat red meat, even though I had already crossed that boundary once the first night when they offered me lamb. Still, it was always fun to be with Askhat's family.

We ate until sundown and even then, the day wasn't over. Askhat wanted to show me around the city during night time so off we went in his car for a night drive. We first stopped by a nice park for a short walk before he took me to a secret spot to watch the airplanes fly up close. We then picked up Aizada and went to chill by a river and walk around before dropping her back at her place. Askhat and I then went to a sort of night district to walk around and back before I finally caved in and told him that I really can't do any more walking today, I had just finished a hike after all.

We drove around for a bit more before he dropped me back at my hotel where we said our final farewells.Read more