Aktobe
Aktobe is on the western end of the Kazakh Steppe, less than 100km from the Russian border. As the capital city of the Aktobe Region,
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 most defining feature of Sor Tuzbair is its vast expanse of salt flats backed by waterworn, chalk-white cliffs. Until at least a few million years ago, the area was part of the Paratethys Sea. If you poke around the slopes and rock faces, you’ll find belemnite and ammonite shells, and numerous other fossilised marine organisms. There are even shark teeth to discover, such as from the Parotodus mangyshlakensis, which is an extinct genus of the mackerel shark and highly sought after by fossil collectors.
From the Western Chink Ustyurt – which extends from the Karynzharyk Depression in the south to northern Kaydak Bay – there are three dirt roads leading to the salt marsh. The closest is near to Kertt Spring and the other two, in the Bagda and Baurbas Ravines, are 15+ kilometres to the east. Don’t venture onto the salt flats with your car, unless you’re an experienced off-roader, as the area is prone to flash flooding and it’s easy to get stuck in sections of thick, salty mud.
* In Kazakh, and several other Turkic languages, ‘sor’ means a salt pan or a shallow, salty lake.
Sor Tuzbair (Сор Тузбаир): 44.0248, 53.1969
Kertt Spring (Kerta Būlaq/Родник Кертты): 44.0332, 53.4100
Bagda Ravine (Bagda Sai/Овраг Багда): 43.9488, 53.6131
Baurbas Ravine (Baurbas Sai/Овраг Баурбас): 43.9391, 53.6922
1:200k Soviet maps of Sor Tuzbair’s northern half, shown in the bottom-left edge, and the southern half shown at the top edge.
1:100k Soviet map of Sor Tuzbair’s southern portion, with the marsh sprawled across the top edge.
Short cinematic video of Sor Tuzbair.
Beautiful photo story of a bikepacking trip in the Ustyurt region.
Aktobe is on the western end of the Kazakh Steppe, less than 100km from the Russian border. As the capital city of the Aktobe Region,
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
Boszhira is Central Asia’s rival to the USA’s Monument Valley National Park, with the bonus of no crowds. Packed into a 7km x 7km area
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