Issyk Lake private guided tour

Tour distance by car: 180 km

 Issyk Lake is a mountain lake situated in the emerald Tian-Shan mountains in Kazakhstan approximately 90 km from Almaty city. The lake is 1756 m above the sea level. According to the scholars the lake appeared on the planet about 8-10 thousand years ago as a result of a strong earthquake which formed a natural 300 m high dam on the way of the river. Initially the Issyk lake was 1850 m long and 500 m wide. Its maximum depth was 50-80 m. The water was green-blue and there was no fish.
 In 1959 the natural park was organized. The Soviet engineers built a hotel with a restaurant, constructed an asphalted highway and a small bus station started operations there as well. Thousands of tourists visited the lake each year. The pictures taken on the lake were used for postcards and published in guide books.
 On July 7th of 1963 (Sunday) a huge mud slide destroyed the major part of the lake's natural dike and killed a plenty of people who had rest there that day. For some years instead of a big lake there was just a small puddle. In 1990 the dyke and water pipe system reconstruction was completed. The lake is now being filled up with mountain water and now has 75% of the initial volume.

 Just on the way to Issyk Lake there is a burial mound which was discovered by chance in 1969. It is 6 meters high and it is dated to the 4th or 3rd century BC.
 Right there one of the most famous symbols of Kazakhstan the great Golden Man was discovered by arqueologists. The tomb contained a skeleton of an 18 year old Saka (Scythian) prince with warrior's equipment and rich funerary goods, including 4000 gold ornaments.

 The Golden Man was adopted as one of the symbols of the Independent Kazakhstan. A likeness of the Golden Man crowns the independence obelisk on the main square of Almaty and a replica of the Golden Man is demonstrated in the State Museum of Kazakhstan in Almaty city.

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