Not quite mountains in height, but not quite hills either, the Ak-Sai canyons, cut by thousands of winding passages, occupy a fairly large stretch of coastline, about 15 kilometers long and 4-5 km wide on the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan.
Behind them in the distance you can see how gradually rise more impressive, high mountains, which this country is rich in. Between the canyons and the mountains there is a green valley, houses — civilization. But all this noisy fast life slows down in the canyons and on the narrow, almost deserted strip of coast, cut off by them from the rest of the world. A secluded, peaceful piece of nature. Only the sounds of nature remains: wind, water.
I like this place, I've been there several times and soon, perhaps, I'll go again: my friends' glamping is located there, and if everything works out, we'll spend a nice weekend. But for now, looking forward to the new photos that I can take there, I share with you those from the previous times that I haven't shown yet — especially since I still have quite a lot of them :)
The photos above and below show a trail up a high hill: this is a nice viewpoint overlooking the canyon panorama stretching ahead. It is easy to climb up there, and as a viewpoint it is popular among people who come to see the canyons.
 |  |
|---|
The sunrises and sunsets there are very nice, both towards the lake and especially towards the mountains. But it is also interesting to wander through the canyons during the day. Although it is a real labyrinth, as you can easily imagine. If it works out, during one of my future visits there I will try to make a project of a small map of the routes along which it will be most interesting and convenient to walk.
Honestly, I've never done this, but it would be interesting to try, the help of a drone and a navigator would be very useful for this, in order to mark points and the route in general. Do you think something will come out of this idea? :)
I would like to swim in Lake Issyk-Kul again, but in October the water is already quite cold, and I think I would be too lazy to take there and put on a wetsuit for this. Although maybe I will be able to try SUP boards. I have never did it, but in recent years people have become interested in this, so perhaps it is worth trying.
In any case, I look forward to coming there: walking along the shore, going to the canyons and, of course, the opportunity to see and photograph the beauty and unusualness of the surrounding world. Actually, this is why I try to travel to all sorts of interesting places :)
I hope you enjoyed the views of the Ak-Sai canyons as much as I did. If you're interested, more posts with photos from there are here and here.
It's better to watch the photos in high resolution.
Camera: DJI Mavic 3 Pro
You can also see my photos in my blog LJ and in my profile on RTraveler. You also can read a short interview with me here.
