Tour in Mangystau - Boszhira
Day trip to the Boszhira valley –
Traveling around Mangyshlak –
Boszhira valley is the shore of the ancient Tethys Ocean, scientists and researchers say so. In the distant past, there was no desert here, the waves of the ocean lapped here. Boszhira Gorge is a natural object located 300 km from the city of Aktau. The center of the Mangystau region is the territory of the Karakiyansky district. This part of the plateau consists of desert landscapes formed by limestone, high cliffs up to 250 meters high. On this territory you can find ancient fossils of snails, sea urchins, belemnites, and even the tooth of a shark that lived in the Tethys Ocean of the Mesozoic era. Limestones and rocks formed on the site of the ancient ocean have become a proud "masterpiece" of Mangystau. The gorge contains archaeological sites dating back to the period from the Paleolithic to the Early Middle Ages. Boszhira Gorge is included in the list of specially protected areas of Mangystau region and is part of the state nature reserve.
- Distance of the route:
540 km
- Season time:
May - September
- Best time:
June - August
- Group size:
1-25
- Days & nights:
1 day
Tour itinerary:
Aktau city - Sautta site (panorama to the Karagie depression) - Zhanaozen city - Senek village - Boszhira valley tract (270 km).
We leave the city of Aktau along an asphalt road to the Karagie depression, which is the deepest dry depression in Kazakhstan and is located thirty kilometers from Aktau. Our road along the depression will reach -119 meters below sea level. After fifty kilometers of the way, we turn right, onto a country road, which will lead us to a place where a picturesque view of the Karagie depression opens up. Having reached the place, we take pictures, walk. Then we drive back to the paved road, which will lead us to the small town of Zhanaozen.
We leave for the Upper Plateau of the Boszhiry tract, which is located 120 kilometers from the town of Zhanaozen. Having reached the place, we take a walk on the Dreadnought - the remnant of an ancient chink that survived the destruction. The dreadnought has the shape of an elongated oval and extends across the plateau from the northwest to the southwest. From the west and east, this chink breaks off with steep twenty-meter slopes, in some places the cliffs reach even greater heights. The length of the Dreadnought chink is two hundred meters, starting from the ancient stone wall, in which the passage is located, and ending with the cliff to the Fangs. On the southern side of the Dreadnought, its width is no more than twenty meters, at the very beginning from the north - about forty meters.
The road to the Dreadnought originates from the southern part, where the road ends, resting on chalk depressions. On them we will climb a medium-sized chalk plateau, located between Mount Borly-tau and Dreadnought. Having made the ascent to the plateau, we will move to the north-western side, crossing a medium-sized canyon along the way, we will also bypass the chalk mountain on the right side, adjacent to the Dreadnought from the east, and then we will begin to climb to the eastern slopes of the mountain and conquer the slope itself along chalk gullies moving south. As such, there is no path, but the easiest path is along the eastern slope, which will lead us to the point where the path begins, leading to the stone ancient wall.
This ancient wall was built to separate the surviving chink's secluded, precipitous spot from the rest of the Dreadnought, providing some sort of cover. Having passed the gates of the ancient wall, we come to the surface of the surviving ancient chink - we are on the Dreadnought. We can notice that in some places the surface of the chink is covered with cracks.
When approaching the edge of a cliff, extreme caution must be exercised. A very popular photo spot is located on the edge of the southern cliff, which offers a beautiful view of the Fangs of Boszhira.
Having finished our excursion, we leave back to the city of Aktau. The length of the route will be 270 kilometers.
Photogallery:
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