The fence that somewhat obscures your view of Lake Masazir in Azerbaijan.
Lake Masazir near Baku in Azerbaijan is rumoured to be one of only 8 “pink lakes” in the world. Pink? Yes, the water has a pink and red colour to it, making it stand out. However, Azerbaijan is a rather off the beaten track place to go backpacking, so visiting Lake Masazir isn’t actually the easiest thing to do. But I was bang up for seeing it, whether it’s pink or not…
The road to Lake Masazir in Azerbaijan.
Getting to Lake Masazir Near Baku, Azerbaijan
Lake Masazir is known locally as Masazir Gol by the way (useful to know as locals won’t speak much English). How do you get there? OK, I’d say you have three main options in terms of getting to Lake Masazir:
1. Bus – buses in and around Baku can be confusing, and you’ll need to ask lots of people for confirmation. I believe bus 215 is the bus you need, though we spent a while trying to work it out. Head to 20th January Bus and Metro station area and look around. We got a tad confused, but the 215 bus should take you to Masazir, and from there you can walk down to the lake.
Beyond the fence is Lake Masazir, a natural pink tinted lake in Azerbaijan.
2. Taxi – not the cheapest option by any means, but we got a guy to take us there and back, and also to speak to the guards at the fence. We paid 10 Manat for it, which I guess is a bit expensive but hey…
Visiting Lake Masazir near Baku, Azerbaijan.
3. Hire a Car – If you hire a car it’s obviously easier to get to Lake Masazir.
Wearing red on my visit to the pink lake in Azerbaijan.
Is Lake Masazir Really Pink?
Yes it is but don’t expect to see it looking like this (Lake Hillier from the sky in Australia):
Wow! It’s really pink – this is Lake Hillier in Australia, not Lake Masazir in Azerbaijan.
How Many Pink Lakes Are There on Planet Earth?
This website reckons there are 8 of these: Pink Lakes I’ve actually seen one in Bolivia too (Laguna Colorada) and I also visited the Torrevieja pink lake in Spain, without actually realising it was that special. Previous posts on Don’t Stop Living:
– Spain’s Torrevieja and Alicante
The path that leads down to Lake Masazir, Azerbaijan.
What do you do at Lake Masazir in Azerbaijan?
Right so you arrive by the Lake (our driver took us to the road that runs by the lake) and you walk up to it. The Azerbaijan government now man the lake 24 hours a day. It’s not even a tourist place to visit to be honest! There are no guided tours, no entrance fee, no other backpackers and certainly no adverts for it.
It’s kind of pink…Lake Masazir in Azerbaijan.
Once you get there, you will see that the entire lake is fenced off, protected and has security guards around it. Our driver spoke to the security guard o let us go inside. However we didn’t take any liberties with them. I was tempted to go in for a swim of course, or a dip, but it wasn’t really an option.
Our driver left us here by the fence at the side of the lake.
The reason the lake is protected is because it’s used to extract salt. Azerbaijan is a wonderful country to travel in, but it just does’t have a real tourism infrastructure just yet. It doesn’t need one to be honest and this makes it a joy to backpack round (we also visited Quba, Xineleq, Qobustan, Mud Volcanoes, Baku and Seki).
Visiting Lake Masazir near Baku, Azerbaijan.
Go to the lake – marvel at the slight pink tint, take your photos and that’s it. No fridge magnets, no postcards, no tourists etc.
Yes folks – it’s ONLY A LAKE. But hey I love travel so it was cool to see.
Salt and pink tinted lake, Masazir, Azerbaijan.
Is it worth a trip to visit Lake Masazir in Azerbaijan?
To be honest, I travel a lot and am biased so anything is worth it to me. But if you don’t want to have a disappointing trip, then leave it out. It’s nothing really that special! It’s a blue lake which has a slight pink tint to it.
Salt and pink tinted lake, Masazir, Azerbaijan.
My videos from Visiting Lake Masazir are here:
And just for fun, here’s the Pink Panther theme, some Pink Floyd and a song from Pink:
205 does take you within couple hundred metres of edge of lake,
Don’t ask a local and take bus 199, unless you fancy a few km walk asking lots of bemused locals 🙂
Thanks for the update Keith – I’m not always the expert traveller I craveto be – time and work take over sometimes and I knew there were other options. Hope you enjoyed it! The one in Bolivia was better though. Safe travels. Jonny
Really informative post! I am a travel junkie and always curious to know about unknown places. I was searching about the best places to visit in Azerbaijan as I am travelling to Baku this August with Dook Travels. Then I found your post on Google about Lake Masazir. I will definitely ask to my tour operator if they can include this place in their given package.
Just got back from vacations in Azerbaijan and Georgia. I had read your blog before going also but didnt think it was worth visiting. Accidentally though, I went up a mud volcano on the northern side of Baku and from the top, I saw this lake and was able to take some photos from there.
Hi Farish, thanks for the comment. Yes the pink lakes are always more pink in photos than in real life. Glad you had fun though. Safe travels. Jonny
Hi Anvi, thanks for the comment. I hope you had fun in Azerbaijan – Lake Masazir was great if a little less “pink” than expected! Stay safe! Jonny