Sor Tuzbair
Eight kilometres south of Kyzyl Ravine is Sor Tuzbair*, a salt marsh stretching 15km along the edge of the Western Chink Ustyurt. Along with Boszhira, it’s one of Mangystau’s most recognisable and visited natural landscapes. The far western end of Sor Tuzbair.© Matthew Traver Map Data: Google, © 2021 Landsat / Copernicus The most defining […]
Ayrakty-Shomanai
Fifteen kilometres north-west of Shetpe town is Ayrakty-Shomanai, or as 19th-century Ukrainian artist-poet Taras Shevchenko preferred to call it during his stay in Mangystau, ‘The Valley of Castles’. The peaks are freestanding, sitting between the Karatau Range to the south and the North Aktau Ridge to the north. Given its otherworldly landscape comprising fin-like rock […]
Otpan Tau
Otpan Tau (532m) is the Mangyshlak Peninsula’s highest point. From the summit, you can see unrestricted views of Mangystau’s vast steppe, the Caspian Sea, and endless numbers of weather-worn ridgelines and rock features. It’s in the middle of the West Karatau Range and previously served as a watchtower and fire-signalling point to alert residents to […]
Torysh Valley
Eight kilometres east of the Aktau–Buzachi Peninsula road and 30km west of Sherkala is the ‘Valley of Balls’. Locally known as Torysh, the valley lies on the north side of the West Karatau Range and features hundreds of spherical sedimentary rocks up to 4m in diameter. © Mulderphoto Researchers believe they’re concretions – formed by […]
Sherkala
Sherkala (332m) is 5km west of Ayrakty-Shomanai on the northern side of the West Karatau Range. Its name is derived from the Persian words for lion (shir) and fortress (qalat), as its western aspect resembles a resting lion. Its southern aspect looks like a yurt and features on Kazakhstan’s 1,000 tenge banknote. Sherkala’s west face. […]