On our way to lake Issik we stopped at the observation tower. This tower is about 50 meters high, maybe more. It is actually was a bit scary to climb up the top and going down. The stair cases were fairly steep and on one side there were no bars to keep you safe. So you’d climb a stair, walk across, climb a stair, walk across – and here you’d hold to the inside rail, because just 3 feet away is an opening, no bars, and it is really high. But the view from above is pretty cool and totally worth the trouble of getting up there.
This photo was taken south west facing, into the mountains. Lake Issik is somewhere there a few miles away. As you can see, river is very rocky, and rock slides are all over. You won’t see huge boulders, these rocks break apart into smaller ones. Do not ever try to hike into those rocks, extremely dangerous, they will slide under your feet and can actually start a mini avalanche, just enough to do some serious damage to your body.
Kazakhstan looks amazing, I have been wanting to do some trekking there. Did you do any while you were there?