![Golden-coloured sand dunes with Senek village in the background and chalk cliffs further beyond.](https://www.planetesoterica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/senek-sands-barchan-dunes-and-senek-village-768x545.jpg)
Senek Sands
Senek Sands, also known as Tuyesu Sands, is an 11 x 30km area of dunes located halfway between Zhanaozen city and Boszhira. Barchan dunes cover
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.
Researchers believe they’re concretions – formed by mineral-rich water flowing through porous sedimentary rock – or megaspherulites, which are volcanic ash-formed crystalline balls exposed through many millennia of weathering. Similar-looking rock balls include New Zealand’s Moeraki Boulders, California’s Bowling Ball Beach, and Stone Mountain on Planet Mars.
Four kilometres north of the Torysh Valley is an old film set, just off the unnamed road leading to the northern Buzachi Peninsula. It was here that Tajik director Bakhtyar Khudojnazaro shot Waiting for the Sea in the early 2010s, together with an international crew from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Europe.
The full-length drama centres around Marat, a skipper recently released from prison on manslaughter charges after the deaths of his wife and crew in a storm on the Aral Sea. The film crew used the fictional Port Abasta as the setting, drawing inspiration from Moynaq fish port in Karakalpakstan. On returning to the port, Marat discovers the sea has disappeared and all that remains are vast swathes of sandy desert, the old pier, and the rusted hulls of ships. Tortured by guilt and sadness, he drags his ship across the desert searching for the lost sea, on a one-way journey marked by hardship and self-discovery.
Dotted around the former film set are rustic-looking wooden fishing boats and a few rundown buildings stood in the middle of a desolate stoney desert, so it’s a worthwhile detour if you’re in the area and looking for a quirky photo opportunity.
Torysh Valley (Toryş Alqaby/Торыш Долина): 44.3236, 51.5986
Port Abasta (Abasta Porty/Порт Абаста): 44.3979, 51.5700
Almaty Nomad’s Torysh Valley video, which includes aerial footage of the area.
1:500k Soviet map of the Torysh Valley area, shown in the centre of the bottom-left quarter, next to “Ы”.
Senek Sands, also known as Tuyesu Sands, is an 11 x 30km area of dunes located halfway between Zhanaozen city and Boszhira. Barchan dunes cover
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,
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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