Köl-Suu
Interesting facts
- The lake lies at about 3,514 metres and covers roughly 4.5 square kilometres.
- Its range, the Kakshaal Too, carries the Kyrgyz–Chinese frontier and also holds Jengish Chokusu, the highest summit of the Tien Shan at 7,439 metres.
- Despite its length, the lake is shallow: published accounts put its deepest points at no more than about ten metres, varying from year to year.
- Its water drains via the Kurumduk and Kökkyya into the Kakshaal, a river that crosses into China and ends in the Tarim basin.
- The name combines two Kyrgyz words, köl for 'lake' and suu for 'water'.
Why it is worth it
Köl-Suu, also written Kel-Suu, is one of the strangest and most dramatic lakes of the Tien Shan. It lies at about 3,500 metres in the Kakshaal Too range of the At-Bashy district in Kyrgyzstan's Naryn region, close to the border with China, and it does not look like an ordinary mountain lake at all. Narrow and winding, roughly five kilometres long and in places only about a hundred metres across, it fills a deep cleft between sheer rock walls, so that from the shore it resembles a fjord carried far inland and lifted into the high mountains: a long dark ribbon of water against pale stone, with the summits of the range above.
The lake is held back by a natural barrier, and it behaves accordingly. It is fed and drained by the Kurumduk river, but the drainage happens out of sight: the outflow emerges from underground, the water gushing out between soil and rock below the lake. Because of this hidden plumbing, Köl-Suu changes size and shape with the seasons, and it can drain far lower than expected. In 2019 it emptied almost completely, a behaviour that recalls the famous Merzbacher lake, another Kyrgyz mountain lake known for draining away. Early summer is usually when the water stands highest.
Part of the lake's power comes from its remoteness. Nothing on the approach prepares you for the moment when the valley narrows and the water appears between the cliffs, and the experience is entirely one of rock, sky and silence. Visitors stay in seasonal yurt camps in the valley below, with felt walls and the simplest comforts, and continue to the shore on foot or on horseback.
Getting there
The base is the town of Naryn, about 94 km away in a straight line but some 150 to 180 km by road, a drive of five hours or more on rough tracks to the yurt camps in the valley. From the camps the last 6 to 8 km to the shore are covered on foot or by horse. Because the lake lies in the border zone, a border permit must be arranged in advance, most easily through a tour operator. The nearest airport, Kashgar (KHG) in China, about 126 km away, lies across the frontier; inside Kyrgyzstan, Issyk-Kul International Airport (IKU) is about 218 km away, but most travellers arrive at Bishkek's Manas airport (FRU) and travel on by road through Naryn. The usual season is June to September.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Köl-Suu is an alpine lake in At-Bashy District of Naryn Region of southeastern Kyrgyzstan. It is located at 3514 m elevation in the Kakshaal Too mountain range, central Tian Shan. It is fed and drained by the river Kurumduk, a left tributary of the Kökkyya, which is a right tributary of the Kakshaal. It is 5 km long, and its area is 4.5 km2 (1.7 sq mi).
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