Beach recreation on Zaisan lake.

“Not all those who wander are lost”

J.R.R. Tolkien.

Beach vacation on Caspian Sea Kazakhstan.

The Konyr-Auliye cave is located at an altitude of 738 meters above sea level in the western part of the Kanchingiz ridge on its western slope in the Abay district of the East Kazakhstan region. The entrance to the cave is located 582 meters from the right bank of the Kardybulak stream on the western slope of Mount Konyr, 771 meters above sea level.
2 kilometers northwest of the cave is the mouth of the Sargaldak and Kardybulak streams, after the confluence of which the Shagan River is formed. This picturesque place is located in the valley of a small stream Kardybulak.
In the northwest of the cave there is a small Kyzylzhal ridge, and in the southwest the Suykzhal ridge. The small village of Toktamys is located 18.7 kilometers (in a straight line) northwest of the cave. From the district center of the Abai district of the village of Karaul to the cave is 55.4 kilometers (in a straight line).
On a dirt road that leads to the cave to the northwest, through the abandoned village of Zhasar - 70 kilometers. There is a small lake in the cave, the water of which is considered to be healing. The entrance to the cave starts from a narrow crevice facing west.
The height at the entrance is more than two meters, after one and a half meters there is a small platform, which is littered with large fragments of stones. The cave with a gradual decrease goes deeper. There are slippery stones under your feet, after about 70 meters a small lake appears with clear, cold bluish water.
The dimensions of the lake are 17 x 18 by 12 x 15 meters. The water temperature is 8 degrees. The temperature in the cave is constant all year round, about +7 degrees. At a distance of about 50 meters from the shore of the lake, the vault of the cave drops very low above the water.
From an archaeological point of view, the cave is of no interest, since it is damp and cold and may be of interest only to speleologists.
Legend about cave Konyr-Auliye in Abay region.
There is a legend that in the 18th century, Kabanbay batyr, took refuge in a cave with a detachment of several thousand people, and after some time suddenly hit the rear of the Dzungar troops. One of the legends says that there is a secret door under the fifteen-meter water column at the bottom of the cave.
So, behind this door the main cave is hidden, which became a crypt - the last resting place of the mysterious khan. Locals claim that the spirits living in the cave do not favor every visitor. They say that there, in a cave, in the lake, four white snakes live.
They say that even the ancestors of the Kazakhs healed their wounds here in between battles, when a temporary truce was declared. Fighting in sacred places was considered sacrilege. 
History of Konyr-Auliye cave in Abay region.
Information about this cave dates back to ancient times, but for the first time it was described and studied in scientific language at the beginning of the 20th century. Mukhtar Auezov also wrote about this cave in his novel “The Way of Abai”.
In the town archive there is a historical document "Notes of the Semipalatinsk subdivision of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society", dated 1912. In "Notes" there is an article by the official Bryukhanov, who described the lake and the cave:
"Beyond the Chingiz ridge, having rounded the foot of the Aktas mountain from the north-west and going to the Chaganka river, you can see the entrance to the Konyr-Auliye cave."
There is a strict custom to enter the cave with pure thoughts, and for women to be with their heads covered. At the foot of the mountain there are houses for lodging for the night, where pilgrims can perform a purification ceremony before entering the cave and stay in this house for the night.
Geographical coordinates of cave Konyr-Auliye: N49°06'19.41" E78°32'04.86"

Authority
Alexander Petrov.
The official site of the Semipalatinsk deanery of the Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk diocese of the Metropolitan district of Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan. http://vko-eparhia.kz

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.