Abai Region Unveils Roadmap to Enhance Accessibility to Kazakhstan’s Alakol Lake for Tourists
Alakol Lake in Kazakhstan has a new development roadmap that includes 40 measures to improve the quality of services and allow tourists to access the stunningly beautiful lake more comfortably. One of the main strategies is to improve the infrastructure, ecology, and safety of tourists, targeting those seeking slow-paced holidays to ease mind and body. The administration is investing in constructing a fire station, lakeshore protection, and drainage canal construction. Alakol Lake is a naturally formed river-water-fed lake, considered locally as a swim and spa destination, with mineral-rich warm waters known for therapeutic effects. The lake is 104 kilometers in length and 52 kilometers in width and has a pebble beach. The water is warm, shallow, and swimmable. At the right time of year, the water temperature reaches 24-26 degrees Celsius. Alakol straddles the border between Abai and Zhetisu regions, with Akshi and Koktuma resort villages on the western shore, 60 kilometers from the Chinese border. The salt lake is considered therapeutic due to the composition of the water. Bathing in such water is beneficial for people with joint-system diseases and skin conditions. There are large mud bath locations, and during the Soviet era, cosmonauts came here to heal in these waters and remove radiation remains. To get to Alakol, flights operate twice a week from Almaty to Urzhar, Semei, Urzhar, and back to Almaty, and from June to August, the frequency of flights will increase to three-four times a week. From May 15, Qazaq Air will launch direct flights from Astana to Urzhar. The bathing season usually opens in mid-June and ends in September. The most favorable period here is July and early August when the water is warmest.
