Kaindy is a lake with a ghostly forest. When an earthquake shook the Tian Shan in January 1911, a landslide dammed a valley, and the water that backed up flooded a stand of Schrenk's spruce. The trunks of the drowned trees still stand upright in the water, bare and pale, preserved by the cold, and the lake itself is a deep, clear turquoise. It lies at around two thousand metres, in the Kolsai Lakes National Park, in the mountains of south-eastern Kazakhstan, close to the border with Kyrgyzstan.
The way there is part of the adventure. The road from Saty, the last village, climbs on a rough track of gravel and stones, with steep gradients, ruts and stream crossings, and is best suited to a trail bike or 4x4. The last stretch is on foot or by a local shuttle, depending on the season and the state of the road. Conditions vary after rain, when the track can turn to mud. Roads are normally open from late spring to autumn, and snow blocks the area for the winter months. The water is cold even in summer, so swimming is not advised, and the sight of the sunken trees is best from the shore.
Nearby, the Kolsai Lakes, three alpine lakes at different heights, lie among spruce forests, and the Charyn Canyon, a long red sandstone gorge sometimes called the Valley of Castles, lies within a day's drive. The area is part of the old nomad lands of the Kazakhs, and herders still bring horses to the high pastures in summer. The nearest town on the Kyrgyz side is Tyup, about thirty kilometres away, but the border zone has rules, and foreign visitors should check permit requirements before they travel.
Fuel is not available at the lake, so fill up before the final approach, in Kegen or the larger centres, and carry extra if your tank is small. Guesthouses in Saty serve simple meals of soup, bread and local honey, and tea is always offered.
Go early in the day. The light on the water is clearest in the morning, and the quiet is complete.