Aktau and Mangystau region

Duration: 3 days  -2  night
Season: End of March – beginning of October 
Route: Hotel in Aktau –  Valley of Balls (Torysh)  - Kokkala tract  – Sherkala mount – Ethnic Auyl  Kogez (overnight)  – Valley of Castles (Ayrakty)-  Tuzbayir salt marsh (overnight) camp – Bozzhira mountains  ––  Kyzylkup mountains (“Tiramisu”) – Aktau
Route type: Adventure, safari 4x4, nature 

Route description:

Day 1

Route: Hotel in Aktau –  Valley of Balls (Torysh)  - Kokkala tract  – Sherkala mount – Ethnic Auyl  Kogez (overnight)
Transport: 4x4 vehicle
Meals inclusive: L D

Detailed itinerary:

  • Pick – up at the hotel
  • Transfer to Torysh valley, famous valley of “stone balls” – this is the valley of spherical concretions, they were formed by the growth of minerals or mineral substances around certain bodies. These were shark teeth, shells, stones, plants and other objects that became a magnet for minerals in the water of the Tethys Ocean.
  • Departure to Kok kala- a small gorge with bizarre bright rocks, where multi-colored layers of limestone, clay and ancient sediments are mixed. Scientists have determined that this earth rock belongs to the Jurassic period. 
    Lunch (“field kitchen”)
  • Departure to Sherkala Mount Sherkala is one of the main symbols of Mangistau in Kazakhstan and its appearance, depending on the angle, resembles a huge Kazakh yurt.
  • Departure to the Kogez ethnic auyl. https://etnoayyly-kogez.com/
  •  Dinner. Overnight in Yurt 

Day 2

Route: Valley of Castles (Ayrakty)-  Tuzbayir salt marsh – Overnight at the camping
Transport: 4x4 vehicle
Meals inclusive: BLD

Detailed itinerary: 

  • Breakfast at the ethnic center
  • Departure to the “Valley of Castles” Ayrakty – Shomanay a group of picturesque mountains with steep walls and bizarre crevices that seem man-made, but in fact were created by water, wind and time. Each mountain looks like an impregnable fortress, their edges are like towers, and therefore they are called the “Valley of Castles”. Such a capacious and beautiful name was invented by the Ukrainian writer and poet Taras Shevchenko, who was in exile in Mangistau in the mid-19th century, and he also made the first sketches of these mountains.
  • Departure to Tuzbairю.This is a rocky area and salt marsh in the Mangistau region in southeastern Kazakhstan, near the large Ustyurt plateau.  
  • Lunch 
  • Dinner at the camp. Overnight at the camp

Day 3

Route: Bozzhira mountains  ––  Kyzylkup mountains (“Tiramisu”) – Aktau
Transport: 4x4 vehicle
Meals inclusive: BLD

Detailed itinerary:

  • Breakfast at the camp
  • Departure to Bozzhira one of the most beautiful places in Kazakhstan, which is a whole range of rock formations of different sizes and shapes. It is located at the bottom of a huge canyon in the western part of the Ustyurt plateau on the Mangyshlak Peninsula. There is also a mountain of the same name, the height of which at its peak reaches 287 meters. The entrance to the tract is preceded by peculiar “fangs” - outcrops that have become the hallmark of these places.
    Lunch at Bozzhira.
  • Departure to Kyzylkup (“Tiramisu”)
  • The Kyzylkup tract, also known as “Tiramisu,” is a group of brightly picturesque hills made of red and white layers of ancient chalk rock, scattered for several kilometers across the yellow Kazakh steppe. The epithet “Tiramisu” was invented by local guides as a marketing ploy, since the slopes of these hills and cliffs resemble the famous Italian dessert.
  • Departure to Aktau 

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