Chatyr-Kol Lake

A high-altitude saline lake at 3,530 m on the Torugart Pass road to China, framed by the snow-covered At-Bashy and Torugart-Too ranges.

Chatyr-Kol (‘Celestial Lake’ in Kyrgyz, sometimes transliterated Chatyr-Kul or Chatyr-Kol) is a vast saline lake — 23 km long, 11 km wide and on average 6 m deep — at 3,530 metres altitude on the high plateau between the At-Bashy and Torugart-Too ranges, less than 5 km from the Chinese border at the Torugart Pass. The lake has no surface outflow and drains entirely through underground karst conduits, leaving its waters slightly saline; this combined with the high altitude means the lake never fully freezes despite winter temperatures dropping to -40°C. The treeless, almost lunar landscape around the lake is breeding ground for migratory waterfowl in summer (mountain geese, ruddy shelducks, several species of wader) and an important wintering ground for argali sheep and snow leopard. Chatyr-Kol is most often seen as a stop on the Bishkek–Kashgar overland route via the Tash-Rabat caravanserai and Torugart Pass border crossing, or as the high point on the alternative Pamir Highway side route through Naryn. Border-zone access regulations are strict, but EcoNomad arranges all paperwork as part of its trans-frontier itineraries.