Lake Yarovoye

This trip happened last summer.
It was me, my two sons, my brother and his son — five of us packed into one car for an eight-hour drive. Long roads always feel shorter when you’re not alone. We laughed, argued about music, stopped for coffee, and somewhere along the way I couldn’t resist pulling over to photograph a field of sunflowers under a sky that was slowly turning dark blue. That quiet moment before night always feels cinematic.

By the time we reached the campsite we had booked, the weather had clearly made up its mind — grey clouds, heavy air, wind picking up. Still, we managed to grill шашлыки, drink tea in the evening and play cards with the kids. Simple things. The kind you remember later more than any luxury.

The next morning the boys spent hours in the pool before insisting we finally go to the lake.

I came here with a purpose. I had heard about the healing properties of Lake Yarovoye for years — especially for joints and legs — and wanted to see for myself. This isn’t a polished resort. People come here from all over Russia not for comfort, but for the water and the mud. No fancy infrastructure, no overpriced beach clubs. No one really invested big money to turn it into a business project. And maybe that’s exactly why it still feels real. You don’t pay for access. You just come, step into the water, and that’s it.

Lake Yarovoye is a salt lake located in the Altai region, in the middle of the Kulunda steppe. The water is so dense that you float without effort — very similar to the Dead Sea. You lean back, lift your feet, and the lake simply holds you. It feels strange at first, almost unnatural.

But what makes this lake truly special is what lives inside it.

In this extremely salty water survive tiny crustaceans called Artemia — brine shrimp that can only live in such conditions. They are small, almost invisible at first glance, but they play a huge role in the ecosystem. When they die, their remains settle on the bottom and contribute to the formation of the mineral-rich лечебная грязь — therapeutic mud the lake is famous for. That mud contains salts, organic compounds and microelements, and people use it to treat joint pain, skin conditions and general inflammation.

You come here not for entertainment — you come to soak, to cover yourself in dark grey mud, to sit under the open steppe sky and let the salt dry on your skin.

The kids, of course, were not impressed. You can see it in their faces. No slides, no attractions, just salty water and serious adults talking about “healing properties.”

But we had a backup surprise prepared for them — the famous Pink Lake, which we visited the next day. That’s a different story, and I’ll tell it in the next post.

I write my texts myself, correct mistakes and translate via ChatGPT (which is not a violation on Hive)!
All photos were taken by me personally - I am a beginner photographer, so I ask professionals not to judge strictly.

Thank you for sharing these moments with me! Until new stories and new holidays! ✌️.

Camera 📷: Sony Alpha 7 IV full-frame
Lens 🔭: Sony FE 70-200mm F: 2.8 GM OSS II
Lens 🔭: Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
Lens 🔭: Sony FE 24–70mm f/2.8 GM II
Processed 🛠: Lightroom

photo by openai