Marvels of Mangystau

1 Day

Aktau

Arrival in Aktau. Check in at the hotel.

Lunch.

Aktau city sightseeing tour. During the sightseeing tour you will explore the past, present and future of Aktau city, visit the Local History Museum, see the Main Square and Aktau seaport, monuments and architectural sites. You will walk along seafront line – “Rocky Path” and much more.

Dinner.

2 Day

Aktau

Check out.

Jeep Tour. Departure from Aktau at 8 to the Valley of Balls - Torysh, which consists of numerous ball-like rock formations across the steppe land. The balls range in size from tiny marble-like rocks to huge boulders the size of a car.

Sherkala, meaning "Lion’s Fortress" from Turkic language, is a mountain with an unusual shape resembling a small bowl or a gigantic yurt, one of the main tourist attractions of the Mangystau region.  In the Middle Ages there was a fortress inside the mountain which people used for guarding the caravan trails of the Great Silk Road.

Ayrakty-Shomanai (Valley of Сastles) mountains really look like fairytale castles with spires, towers, colonnades and walls.

Tuzbair (lower panorama) is a salt marsh. Almost the entire territory of this region is covered with saline and deserts, water sources are absent. This picturesque area combines three colors: white – salt, limestone, clouds; blue – the sky; yellow-brown – the color of the soil, which emphasizes the whiteness of salt. 

Overnight in tents.

3 Day

Tuzbair - Beket Ata Mosque - Bozzhira

Departure from Tuzbair to Beket Ata underground mosque (upper panorama) which is an important and extremely popular place of pilgrimage, a spiritual, historical and architectural monument. This is the final resting place of Sufi mystic and teacher, Beket-Ata (1750–1813). Throughout the year, pilgrims from all over the country come to this place to bow for the spirit of the saint. People say that even mentioning Beket-Ata’s name in a conversation can prevent a misfortune, and a prayer in the mosque does wonders. The mosque is near the bottom of a picturesque desert canyon.

Bozzhira (upper panorama) is a magnificent place of nature of the Ustyurt Plateau. The plateau abruptly ends here with a cascade of clay-limestone steps. Such a natural formation is called a “chink”. The cosmic landscapes of Bozzhira consist of limestone deposits, which were once the bottom of the ancient Tethys Ocean, which existed over 10 million years ago and gave rise to all modern seas and oceans. At the bottom of the giant canyon, you can still easily find petrified shells and teeth of ancient sharks.

Bozzhira (middle panorama) – Overnight in tents.

4 Day

Bozzhira– Bokty Mountain – Seneka Sands - Karagiye Depression-Aktau city

Departure from Bozzhira to Bokty Mountain. The peculiarity of the mountain is that it is an almost regular trapezoid and the boundaries of rocks of various colors are clearly visible in it: from yellowish and white to brown and coral. Due to this, it looks like a boat with a waterline turned upside down. Around the mountain tourists can find the fossilized teeth of ancient sharks inhabiting the ancient sea.

Seneka Sands or Tuyesu sands are located on the outskirts of the Senek village. The sands of Tuyesu stretch from southeast to northeast for 30 kilometers, the greatest width from north to south is 12 kilometers. Sands are striking in their originality of purity and pristine. You will trample the dune, and the wind will smooth out all the traces of your stay in a few minutes.

Karagiye Depression (panoramа) stretches from north to south for 80 km with a width of 25 — 30 km. The deepest mark of Karagiye is 132 m below sea level, which gives it the status of one of the deepest in the world. Here you can meet the fossilized remains of Paleogene  era marine fauna— whales, sharks, turtles and shells of extinct mollusks.

Arrival to Aktau city. Dinner. Check in at the hotel.

5 Day

Aktau

Free time

Transfer to the airport. Flight back home.