Mangystau and the Aral Sea in 9 days: from the Caspian to Karakalpakstan

Highlights

• Torysh, Kokkala, Sherkala and the Ayrakty “floating castles”
• The Kyzylkup “Tiramisu” hills and sacred Mount Bokty
• Bozzhyra, Mount Naiza and Tuzbair on the Ustyurt Plateau
• A night in yurts on the shore of the Aral Sea, and sunrise over the water
• The ship cemetery of Moynak and the Mizdakhan necropolis
• The Savitsky Museum, the “Louvre of the Steppe”, and the yurt makers of Chimbay

By road

1. 1 Mangystau By road → Karakalpakstan
2. 2 Karakalpakstan
3. 3 Muynak & the Aral Sea By road → Nukus
4. 4 NukusDays 7–8 By road → Tashkent
5. 5 TashkentDays 8–9

Positions are exact; lines show the order of the route, not the road.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. 6
7. 7
8. 8
9. 9

1. Day 1Flight to Aktau

   International flight to Aktau, for example with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul.

2. Day 2Aktau – Torysh – Kokkala – Sherkala – Ayrakty – KogezMinibus and 4x4

   Morning arrival in Aktau. Welcome to Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia, and to Mangystau, its most mysterious region, in the far west on the borders of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with hundreds of kilometres of Caspian coast. Coffee break with the local team near the airport, then off by 4x4 onto the Ustyurt Plateau.

   First the Torysh valley and its strange spherical stones, then the many-coloured Kokkala canyon and Akmysh. Picnic lunch. On to Mount Sherkala, where an ancient fortress served as a beacon for Silk Road caravans, and Ayrakty, the valley of the “floating castles”. Night in yurts at the Kogez ethnographic village.

3. Day 3Kogez – Kyzylkup – Bokty – BozzhyraBy 4x4

   Through the Kyzylkup hills, the “Tiramisu hills” with their coloured layers, to sacred Mount Bokty, a symbol of Kazakhstan pictured on its banknotes. Picnic lunch, then Bozzhyra, perhaps the most iconic sight of Mangystau. Dinner and night in igloo tents.

4. Day 4Bozzhyra – Mount Naiza – TuzbairBy 4x4

   Through the central and upper canyons of Bozzhyra towards Mount Naiza, with a picnic lunch, then down to Tuzbair, the salt lake below white cliffs and one of the jewels of Kazakhstan. Dinner and night in tents.

5. Day 5Upper Tuzbair – BeyneuBy 4x4

   A last drive along the upper rim of Tuzbair for the great views over Mangystau and the Ustyurt Plateau, then on to the small town of Beyneu and a hotel.

6. Day 6Beyneu – Uzbek border – Aral SeaAbout 400 km

   Drive 90 km to the Kazakh–Uzbek border and cross it. Meet the Uzbek team and continue in their 4x4s: asphalt as far as Jaslyk, then tracks north to the Aral Sea.

   Settle into a yurt camp near the shore. Walk along the water, with the chance of a swim. Dinner and night in the yurts.

7. Day 7Aral Sea – Moynak – Mizdakhan – NukusAbout 380 km

   Early rise for sunrise over the Aral Sea. After breakfast, drive to Moynak, once one of the great ports of Central Asia: until the late 1970s it stood on the southern shore of the sea, and its fishermen landed 160 tonnes of fish a day from what was then the fourth-largest lake on Earth. See the ship cemetery on the dry seabed and the local museum. Then to Khojeyli for the 14th-century Mizdakhan necropolis, and on to Nukus. Dinner is free.

8. Day 8Nukus – Chimbay – TashkentDomestic flight Nukus → Tashkent

   Visit the Savitsky Museum, the “Louvre of the Steppe”, with the world’s second-largest collection of Russian avant-garde art and galleries of antiquities and Karakalpak folk art.

   Drive 56 km north to Chimbay, the “town of craftsmen”, where generations of masters still build Karakalpak yurts by hand. Back to Nukus for the flight to Tashkent. Dinner is free.

9. Day 9Departure from Tashkent

   Transfer to the airport for your international flight.

Hotels, transport & meals

Gallery

Questions about this tour