One of our favourite travel sayings is ‘Think about where you are on the map’ and that line has never been more relevant than when the six of us, Julie and I plus our travelling companions Dave, Warren, Nichole and Jan stood on a remote vantage spot looking down on what is called the Mars Panorama. 

Towering sandstone mountain buttes, soaring weather-carved monoliths, vibrant desert colours and a fierce desert wind combined to create an extraordinary moment.  It was a fitting highlight to our exploration of the Mangystau region of western Kazakhstan near the Caspian Sea.

How in the heck did we get here?  Well, it wasn’t easy to be honest – it took us three days and three flights from Sydney before landing at the western regional centre of Aktau and the next day climbing into two four-wheel drive vehicles with our non-English speaking Kazakh drivers for a three-day exploration of this vast and spectacular desert landscape. 

What do we know about Kazakhstan?  Well, prior to this trip not that much.  Formerly a cross roads for Silk Road travellers moving through it’s vast open plains, in the early 20^th century Kazakhstan became a satellite country to the USSR.  It got it’s independence when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 and has since prospered more than other Central Asian countries due to it’s extensive oil and gas reserves.  It shares a long border with Russia and many economic and social aspects of life with it’s northerly neighbour.  All citizens speak both Kazak and Russian, signs are in both languages and the motherland still has a strong following. 

The western region of Kazakhstan which we find ourselves in is where the gas and oil reserves are but it’s remote location, harsh conditions and thin population means we sometimes felt like we had the entire area to ourselves.  Our two four wheel drive vehicles headed north from Aktau with occasional glimpses of the Caspian Sea to our left, eventually hitting the dirt tracks to visit some of the unique and wonderful natural settings of the region. 

The vast dry desert, ancient ocean seabed, white sandstone mountains plus endless time and harsh weather have transformed the area into an continuous string of beautiful natural sights, including a novel place called Valley of the Balls.  No one knows how these balls were made so I’ll let the photos do the talking.

After stopping at numerous locations to explore these wild natural scenes, and being equally taken by the dozens of necropolises, or fancy Muslim cemeteries, that are often seen outside the villages, and the roaming camels who are kept by the villagers for milk, meat and hide, we camped for the night in the aptly named Valley of the Castles, a grass-lined valley surrounded by spectacular mountains with soaring cliffs, sandstone towers and vertical escarpment walls. 

We set up at the base of one of these walls, our tents a tiny speck to the vast scale of the walls above us.  Julie and I rated this campsite a rare but well-deserved perfect 10.

The next day we headed southward and then eastward across the endless flat desert landscape, only camels and the occasional pecking chicken oil drill to break the horizon.  The wind was blowing fiercely hard and every time we stepped out of the car we were greeted by a searing hot wind that covered us in gritty dirt.  No wonder nobody lives here.

By mid afternoon we had arrived at the breath-taking Boziyra Plateau, a stunning natural wonder that featured eroded rock formations, vibrant desert colours and beautiful deep canyons.  And this is how we found ourselves gazing down on the Mars Panorama, an apt name to describe what we were seeing.  For Julie and I it brought back memories of Monument Valley in Arizona, it was that good.

 We then drove along the rim of the canyon to another viewpoint, this time looking down on what is called Dragon Crest.  The idea that the passage of time and the extreme weather has carved these beautiful sandstone structures from what is essentially an ancient ocean floor was hard to get our minds around. 

We then drove down into the valley, our vehicle going into 4 Low across some of the more sketchy sections, until we crossed the same plains we were viewing down on before.  After walking to another viewpoint and being totally overwhelmed on all the wow factors around us we stopped at a flat open area to camp for the night.

This was another stunning spot but the wind was absolutely howling and we were afraid our poor tents wouldn’t survive.  In the hope that the wind would drop we waited until around 10pm to put them up (it didn’t work).  Dinner that night was chicken, rice and a fair amount of sand and grit mixed in as we huddled behind one of the vehicles to shield ourselves as best we could. 

The next morning the wind had dropped and the stunning 360° views reminded us how lucky we were to be in such a unique and spectacular place.  But wait, there’s more. 

We drove to another viewpoint at what is called Fangs Formation for more photos and more oohs and aahs.  After changing a flat tyre on one of the vehicles we made our way out of the valley and continued on to a very special place for all the Kazakh Muslims.

Betek Ata was an important Sufi scholar of the 19^th century who built an underground mosque in the Mangystau region and was later buried there.  This is now an important pilgrimage site for local Muslims and we wanted to check it out. 

What we didn’t know is that it is a four kilometre return walk straight down and back up a series of steep steps and we didn’t count on the 30C+ temperatures of the desert.  Never mind, we’re tough and despite the somewhat underwhelming nature of the underground mosque we were heartened to talk to all the friendly pilgrims in the rest shelters during the climb back up.  Prior to this we thought the Kazakh people were a bit dour and unfriendly but we changed our mind after that wonderfully friendly walk up the mountain.

We crossed the desert westward again until we returned to Aktau and civilisation before our drivers dropped us off at the airport.  We flew back to Almaty for one last night before catching another flight to our next Central Asian country.  We’ll be back to Kazakhstan later in the trip but we loved our first introduction to this huge country and this fascinating region.