“Dead Lake” Kara-Kul

One of the most frequently visited sights of Issyk-Kul is a natural medical complex - the “dead lake” Kara-Kul, 400 meters from the Issyk-Kul shore, Kyrgyzstan.

Lake Kara-Kul is located at an altitude of 1604 m above sea level, stretches for 1 km and is just 600 m wide. The lake called “dead” because of the high salt concentration, no living creatures, except for some bacteria, can survive. Kara-Kul began to form when the water level in Issyk-Kul was much higher than nowadays. Water filled the surrounding area, but retreated in the XIX century. As a result, reservoirs formed in basins framed by hills and uplands. In 2001, one of them - the “dead” lake Kara-Kul - was accidentally discovered. It was named after the well-known Dead Sea in Israel. The isolated reservoir has a connection with Issyk-Kul via the ground flow, whereby the lake’s water supply replenishes.

Dead Lake has healing properties: salinity is more than 70 percent or 132 grams per liter. That is why it is good for treating gynecological and skin diseases, musculoskeletal maladies. Mud baths are offered on the coast of the curative reservoir, as the local mud is favorable for skin, rejuvenating it. A unique characteristic of Kara-Kul is that here you can stretch and lie on the water surface without fear of drowning. You can swim in a dead lake, and then walk and rinse in Issyk-Kul.

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