Mangystau, the lunar desert of Kazakhstan

Low sky, white earth and in the middle the void. Nothing is heard, nothing moves. Only rocks, plateaus, canyons, craters and limestone formations that rise like towers, still for millennia. In Mangystau nature reigns supreme and it is the light that shapes the landscape: it sculpts the contours, defines the colors and confuses the distances. In this boundless land the horizon disappears and time loses its meaning, leaving room for contemplation: the spectacle before us is of a disarming beauty, the only thing to do is stand still and watch.

Mangystau: An Extraordinary Geography

Located in the south-western tip of Kazakhstan , bordering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, Mangystau is one of the most fascinating and rugged places, as well as one of the least visited, in Central Asia : approximately 400 ^km2 of uninhabited area where two protagonists – the desert and the steppe – share ancient origins and an extremely arid climate.

This immense depression, which overlooks the blue Caspian Sea for hundreds of kilometers, offers some of the most incredible views a traveler can imagine and fuels the suspicion of having taken a journey into space and having landed on another planet rather than on Earth. There is stone everywhere, the wind sculpts towers, pinnacles and craters, the silence is absolute: could it be the Moon ?

Millions of years ago, the plateau that hosts the Mangystau lay on the bottom of the Tethys Ocean , which, as it retreated, shaped the landscape, leaving geology to dictate the rules: gorges, amphitheatres, spires and cathedrals of rock emerge today in the boundless expanse of the Eurasian steppe like fossil traces of an ancient submerged world.

Shapes that defy logic

In Mangystau there are no monuments and no architecture, but the land itself becomes a spectacle . Some places, more than others, tell the essence of the region, made of solitude, full of strength and full of mystery. Let's see together the most representative ones:

• Bozzhyra , a white and solitary valley watched over by two limestone spurs known as the Fangs that jut out for over 200 meters towards the sky. All around the landscape is bare, the rock takes on unexpected shapes, the light softens the colors and transforms the scene into something surreal;
• Torysh , a vast plain strewn with spherical rocks , small and large, that seem to have rained from the sky. The geological phenomenon, similar to a meteorite field, is still devoid of scientific explanation and leaves room for all kinds of interpretations;
• Sherkala , an imposing and solitary mountain that changes shape depending on the observation point and becomes a yurt, a crouching lion or a dome : at its foot and on the summit are the remains of caravanserais, proving that the famous Silk Road passed through here;
• Tuzbair , a vast salt plain that unfolds beneath the white cliffs of the Ustyurt Plateau and seems to stretch on forever; it becomes particularly scenic in spring, immediately after the rainy season, when it transforms into a mirror of water that reflects the sky and amplifies the sense of emptiness;
• Kyzylkup , a series of hills formed by the colored sediments that emerged from the bottom of the Tethys Ocean, whose shapes and shades are reminiscent of tiramisu, hence the nickname “ Mangystau Tiramisu ”.

Mangystau. A place hard to conquer and equally hard to forget!