Sibiny Lakes

The Sibiny lakes, five of them in a chain, lie in the Kalbinsky range southwest of Oskemen among granite outcrops weathered into rounded blocks with pine growing between, and they are the summer destination for the east of the country: camps, guesthouses and holiday bases line the shores of the larger lakes and fill in July and August. The water is clear and warms enough for swimming. Above the third lake stand the remains of the Ablaiket monastery, a seventeenth-century Dzungar Buddhist foundation built in the rocks, with fragments of wall and inscriptions surviving. Walking and scrambling routes cross the granite. Outside the summer weeks the area is quiet.

What you actually see

• The lake chain - the five connected waters among the granite.
• Granite outcrops - the weathered rock blocks with pine between.
• Ablaiket ruins - the seventeenth-century Buddhist monastery remains.
• Summer camps - the holiday bases along the shores.

When to go

June to August for swimming and the warmest weather; July and August are crowded. Winter is severe and most bases close. Spring and autumn are quiet with cold water.

Honest expectations

Summer weekends are very busy and litter around the accessible shores is a problem. Accommodation is basic Soviet-style bases. The Ablaiket ruins are fragmentary and need a walk to reach. Roads to the lakes are rough in places.

Nearby

Oskemen lies northeast; Lake Zaysan is southeast.