World Mangistau

• World Mangistau

We went on an expedition to the wonderful world of Kazakhstan, on the Mangyshlak Peninsula, or as they call it local - Mangistau (Mangystau).

It really is a different land, a different planet, unique, wild nature reserve, hundreds of kilometers away does not meet a single person. Only here the locals are not up to the beauty of these places, tourism is to develop not though (maybe thankfully). There are huge deposits of oil and the peninsula mainly those lives.

We will make a short photo in this unusual edge.

The tract Aktolagay. Hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago, it housed the world's ocean floor.

Getting here is not easy. We are very much on the steppe winds. There are no asphalt roads to this place do not lead. And the old dirt roads that are marked on Soviet maps genshtabovskie has long been overgrown. Google-Satellite images also no information about the roads do not give. And drove 40 km just in the direction to a point across the steppe.

The place is amazing in its atmosphere. And even here the clouds are smiling

Before natural boundary stretches perfectly smooth, the length of several kilometers, the plateau on which is more than you can go 120 km / h, the car will not move.

In one of the Cretaceous washouts we found bones of ancient animals. In general, the edge is replete with ancient remains. Everywhere are scattered fossilized squid limbs, and our friends found here shark teeth. This artefatkam millions of years, can not believe.

The Sands of Seneca. It is very unusual to find in the desert sands. Mostly dunes rising up to 50 meters.

Almost a real desert.

The Ustyurt Plateau.

In some places, there are rattles a few centimeters in thickness and length of hundreds of meters. Cracks perfectly smooth, pass through the hills, buttes. I suspect that their formation is caused by the tectonic plates shift.

During our stay here we have not met a single person.

Only the camels and horses - permanent residents of these edges. Against the backdrop of a mountain Sherkala - a sacred mountain for the locals. It should be noted that this is the only place where there are hordes of tourists here and bringing their buses. This fact was unexpectedly surprised. Presumably, the proximity of the road. At all other places Mangishlak travel is possible, as a rule, only for four-wheel drive.

On the beach, pebbles, frolicking dropsy snake, the assurance of local fisherman - not poisonous.

The tract Boszhira. Klondike of different travelers. The whole mountain was surrounded by camps of the groups on the SUVs. In general, Russian. On Boszhire met with the guys from Almaty, they are making a movie using the copter about Mangistau, then it will be interesting to see. During the ascent to the hill at the photograph of this, in the middle of the mountains from my hands I dropped the camera and 50 meters of tumbling and jumping, falling down. Surprisingly, after the fall of optics and camera survived was legal competence, even the battery does not fall out, which greatly surprised me.

encamped us. We spent a wonderful night under the bright stars, the songs and socializing with different travelers.

In the morning, the tract was covered tumankoy, giving even more unreal this place.

Sunsets in Kazakhstan is particularly picturesque.

Karagiye. The deepest dry basin in Kazakhstan and one of the deepest in Asia (132 m below sea level).

At the bottom of the trough lies Lake Batir, the water level and the area of which are highly variable. When the lake dries up, the bottom of the depression becomes covered with salt marshes. We could not deny myself the pleasure to walk on salt marshes.

On the way to depression accidentally stumbled upon the Valley of the figure. For example, Fist of God.

The islet in the picture seemed to come close, and created the illusion that stands in the water. We walked on foot up to it about 5 km. The water was not there, and the temperature in the sun is over a 35 degree angle.

Oil - the main wealth of Kazakhstan. Oil pumps dotted with all the up to the horizon.

We would like to mention expensive. There are few roads. Only one portion of the Aral Sea to Beineu is commendable. Basically, killed graders and bad primer, and steppe, bare steppe, which helps when it becomes impossible to go on graders.

Cape Zhigylgan (Fallen Earth). Steppe, many kilometers of flat, like a table, and suddenly - a gigantic failure, the edges of which have an almost perfect circle with a diameter of at least 10 kilometers. failure height is 80 meters.

Why is it so happened, the exact version does not exist.

On a nearby headland I saw a similar picture seems to be, the earth collapsed billions of years ago and then, but it's been a long time and the surface is beginning to level off, skidding porostat sands and greenery. Perhaps someday the same will look and Zhigilgan.

And this is the incredible beauty of the emerald Caspian Sea. In the foreground abandoned village, which was formed here in the 60s as a fishing village on the production of fish. Now there live only 3 poacher. One name is Bach, he treated us to tea and fed fresh fish. No electricity, live on batteries that are charged in Aktau there too and carry their catch.