Balkhash: a mysterious lake with different chemical compositions (6 photos)

In this reservoir, one half is salty and the other is fresh. Impossible? It would seem, but it exists. Varying degrees of mineralization are perhaps the biggest mystery of Balkhash. And not the only one.





Balkhash is the second largest perennial salt lake in the world after the Caspian Sea/lake, and 14th in the list of largest lakes.

The western part of the lake is fresh, and the eastern part is salty. Since ancient times, the eastern coast has been called the sea. And this is what they called him before, in chronological order

Xi-Hai, Western Sea - this is what the Chinese who discovered it called the lake.

Ak-Dengiz, the white sea - later the Mongols called the body of water that way.

Tengiz, sea - and this is the Kazakh, later, name of the lake.

Balkhash comes from the word "balkhi". In the Altai, Tatar and Kazakh languages ​​it means “tussocks in a swamp.”



The lake looks like a crescent or boomerang, tapering in the middle. The middle of the lake is a strait approximately 3 km wide, connecting different parts of the lake. The salty and fresh halves never mix and scientists cannot yet explain this phenomenon.

Balkhash spread across the steppes for 600 km. The lake is replenished by five large rivers and none of it flows out; the lake has no outlet and the water evaporates from it. Here is another feature of Balkhash, or rather a mystery.





The land around the lake is mostly salt marshes. It is surprising that with such thick salty soil the vegetation did not disappear. The incredible amount of salt that enters the lake with its tributaries can destroy it in a maximum of 30 years, but Balkhash has existed for thousands of years. Most likely, Balkhash itself gets rid of salts with the help of biological filters - algae, bacteria and other things. This is such a phenomenal ecosystem.



There is another curious mystery. On the coast, near the Beketau-ata tract, imprints of huge people were found on the stones. The size of the foot was approximately two meters. Based on this, we can assume that the height of the giants should have been about 18 meters. There were more than ten tracks, they went all the way to the shore of the lake. Geologists have suggested that this is such an interesting erosion under the influence of water and air. But these footprints are very much the same and look like foot prints.

Legend



Well, where would we be without legends of love if there is a body of water that is 35 thousand years old?

The rich sorcerer Balkhash announced that he wants to marry off his beautiful daughter named Ili. Of course, for the richest, handsomest and strongest. A lot of suitors came: the son of the Emperor of China, merchants from Bukhara, the sons of the Mongol Khan. All, of course, with gifts, and what kind! But the girl’s heart was given to the poor shepherd Karatal.

The shepherd won all the competitions, but he still had no chance of winning Ili’s hand. There was no way out and one night Ili rode away from the house with Karatal. Without thinking through the moment that her dad was a sorcerer. He cast a spell on a pair of lovers and turned them into two rivers. They ran from the mountains, hoping to unite, but Balkhash turned himself into a lake and collapsed between the two lovers.

So the rivers flow into the lake, never meeting. Moreover, Or is more full-flowing. Maybe because her love was stronger?

Rest on Balkhash



The lake is shallow and good for swimming. There are hotels, recreation centers, and equipped beaches. The water is warm, and the sand on the beaches is clean. Summer, thanks to the continental climate, ensures consistently hot summers. Well, practically Türkiye and Egypt, only the infrastructure is worse, and this may be a matter of time.

And the hydrogen sulfide mud of Balkhash is known for its healing qualities, thanks to its rich minerals.