Picture for a moment what you think the landscapes look like in the area between Mongolia, Siberia, China, and Kazakhstan. Does that picture look like this?
It’s fair to say this spot might not be representative of the Gobi desert to the east, but Lake Kucherla is a hidden gem within the remote Altai Mountains on the border of those countries and territories.
This lake sits in a thin valley on the north side of that mountain range. It’s about 4 kilometers long and only about 600 meters wide, and appears to be dammed by a moraine – a pile of dirt and sediment left behind when glaciers retreated thousands of years ago. The water itself is likely almost direct melt off of glaciers and is probably very pure. It reportedly is a tourist location and does host grayling, a type of fish related to salmon.
The surrounding Altai Mountains are the source of several rivers, including the Ob and the Irtysh, and have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site
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From @payelmia