Tour to Mount Sherkala from Aktau city
Looking at Mount Sherkala from afar, you can see the magnificent Roman pantheons, ancient monuments. As you approach the mountain, you will see columns of separate walls, columns of white mountains, similar to destroyed statues. Sherkala in translation from Arabic means "tiger city". Once upon a time on this ridge on the road from the Bozashi peninsula to Khorezm and Khiva there was a military fortress. The fortress was built at the foot of the north-eastern slope of the pyramidal mountain. After that, a tunnel was dug, which rises into two sections and rises to the top of the ridge. The length of the fortress is 300 m. There is a place for archers with a capacity of two or three people.
- Distance of the route:
320 km
- Season time:
May - September
- Best time:
June - August
- Group size:
not more 12 person
- Days & nights:
1 day
Tour itinerary:
Aktau city – Shetpe village – Mount Sherkala (175 km).
We leave the city of Aktau in the north direction on the road to the city of Shevchenko, which is 42 kilometers away. We will move along the highway, and then turn right, in the direction of the village of Shetpe. After driving 152 kilometers, we pass the village, after which our road will lie in a north-easterly direction to the mountain called Sherkala. It is located among the central and western system of the Karatau ranges and in the northern part of the Akmyshtau mountain. From the Turkic "Sherkala" translates as "lion fortress".
At the foot of the mountain we will be able to see the remains of the walls of an ancient caravanserai, and on the slope of the mountain, there are niches of guards, as well as traces of rope ladders and a secret passage. It used to lead to the top of the mountain. Sherkala is a lonely mountain of an interesting shape, resembling a very large white yurt, and on the other hand, Sherkala looks like a sleeping lion that has put its huge head on its front paws. There are many legends about this mountain.
We walk around the nearby territory, no more than three kilometers, and then we return to the city of Aktau, driving along the road to the remains of the city of Kyzylkala, which existed in the Middle Ages. While exploring the remains of the city, we will be able to see ancient rock carvings that were drawn by nomads.
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