Chatyr Kol Lake

Chatyr-Kul lies in a high basin between the At-Bashy and Kakshaal ranges, near the Torugart Pass. The slightly saline lake has no outlet and no fish, but its shores and marshes attract waterbirds, including bar-headed geese. Snowfields and glaciers crown the mountains around the basin, whose position placed it near an old route between Central Asia and China.