Skazka Canyon

Skazka means fairy tale, and the name attaches to a stretch of soft clay and sandstone on the southern shore of Issyk-Kul that water and wind have cut into ridges, fins and hollows in bands of red, orange, ochre and purple. Local naming does the rest: the Great Wall, the Dragon, the Castle. It is small enough to walk in a couple of hours and disorienting enough that people lose the path regularly, since the gullies all look similar and the ridges connect in ways that are not obvious from below. The best of it is walking the narrow spines with the lake visible beyond and the Tien Shan on the far shore, especially in the last hour of light when the colour saturates.

What you actually see

• The Dragon ridge - the long serrated spine that gives the canyon its emblem.
• Coloured clay bands - red, orange and purple layers across the formations.
• The lake view - Issyk-Kul and the far mountains from the higher ridges.
• Sunset colour - the last hour, when the clay saturates.

When to go

May to October. Late afternoon is the best light by a wide margin. Avoid it during and immediately after rain, when the clay becomes greasy and the ridges genuinely dangerous.

Honest expectations

The clay is slippery when wet and crumbly when dry, and the ridges have real drops with no barriers of any kind; people fall here. There are no marked paths, so getting turned around is normal. There is no shade and no water. It is a short stop rather than a destination, usually combined with the south shore drive.

Nearby

Bokonbayevo and the eagle hunters are west; Barskoon valley lies east.