Sights Western Ustyurt

Tuzbair saline land.

Tours on jeeps on Mangyshalk.

«Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves»

Jean-Jacques Roussea.

Trip to Tuzbair saline land on Mangyshlak.

Saline land Tuzbair is located in the eastern part of the Ustyurt plateau, in the western part of the Western cliff of the Ustyurt plateau, in the southeastern part of the Kasykyrzhol ridge, 42.4 kilometers southwest of the Sai-Utes railway station, 28.8 kilometers north-east of the village Sazdy in the Mangistau district of the Mangistau region.
Approximately near Saline march Tuzbair is in a middle part of the Western chink of Ustyurt the well-known Arch of Tuzbair which reminds one of cretaceous columns in Baysara valley which are between the mountain Bokty and Boszhira valley.
Saline march Tuzbair is located between slopes of the Western chink of Ustyurt which breaks in decrease to Saline march. From the northwest of Saline march Tuzbair is limited by the ridge Kaskyrzhol, from the West sands Sengirkum and Sauskan.
Tuzbair from the West on the East makes Saline march length 24 kilometers, the greatest width of 6 kilometers from the North on the South. The dominating height in vicinities litter Tuzbair is the mountain Tuzbair 272 meters high above sea level which is located in a northwest part of the Western chink of Ustyurt.
The Ustyurt plateau breaks the cut-up gorges washed out by water from the East and the northeast on litter Tuzbair. Extent of the Western chink of Ustyurt which breaks to litter Tuzyubair makes 27 kilometers of majestic breaks.
Saline march Tuzbair is located between slopes of the Western chink of Ustyurt which breaks in decrease to Saline march. From the northwest of Saline march Tuzbair is limited by the ridge Kaskyrzhol, from the West sands Sengirkum and Sauskan.
Tuzbair saline land is located on the east of plateau Ustyurt, on the south of Manat area and the road from Aktau to Beyneu. That place has magnificent landscapes, it is made of white salt, white limestone, white clouds and sometimes when the sky is blue all that makes Tuzbair saline land look surreal.
Those brown blotches in the mountains there make salt look even whiter. If you drive to Tuzbair saline land from west then the view of it that you will see is very unexpected, suddenly you see something totally different from the previous landscapes in front of you.
The view depends on the time of the day when you see it. You realise what an amazing creation it is when you see it. From the West part of plateau Ustyurt you see cascades of clay-limestone "stages", at the base of which lies the salt marsh, that locals call "Sor" (land saline) there.
It is not easy to find out about the beauty of that place just by looking at it from a distance, because all you see are just two outlier-mountains that lay close to the main plateau. You have to drive forward to them so you can see that creation of wind and water.
Though it is dangerous trying to get close to it, because it is something that looks like a lake, which has very high cliffs. Only very confident experienced drives can drive through the wetlands of Tuzbair. During the rainy season the water in it looks like a huge mirror, which reflects the sky in it.
At the base of elevation of the land called Kyzylbas you can see a "natural Sphinx", which proudly looks at the impregnable bastions of plateau Ustyurt. If you climb up on the high point of the plateau you can find some really good viewing spots.
From there you can see those surreal alien landscapes of weird but beautiful mountains, where if you are lucky you can find fossils such as teeth of ancient sharks. Sor Tuzbair - the majestic creation of natural elements.
In this place the precipice of the Ustyurt Plateau abruptly falls in a cascade of clay and limestone steps, at the base of which lies the extensive saline amrch, called saline land in these parts of the country. Tuzbair is a low-profile place, located near the motorway at the Manat ascent.
From a distance, it attracts the eye only with two mountains adjacent to the main plateau. Only you approach them closer, before the traveler’s gaze a panorama of the unimaginable riot of natural elements of water and wind opens up.
Approaches to it are cut off by steep walls in places of fifteen floors. The plummets of the cliffs are carved by numerous ravines and deep channels. At the very base of the cliff there is a giant natural arch. During periods of rain, the saline march is filled with water, turning into a huge mirror in which the sky is reflected.
At the base of a small elevation of Kyzylbas, the natural sphinx guard Tuzbair settled down, proudly looking at the impregnable bastions of the Ustyurt plateau. If you go up a cliff of Ustyurt along a trunk grader, a barely perceptible old road leads to a magnificent panoramic point.
Before your eyes will open a whole archipelago of mountains, ridges and cliffs with deep steep lagoons of the ghostly primitive ocean, the memory of which is stored in the salt-washed whites of the Tuzbair litter, occasionally found teeth of fossil sharks.
Adjacent to the panoramic platform there are two stone structures in the form of extended rows of stones installed by a human hand. These are hunting pens of aran intended for hunting on steppe inhabitants - saigas.
Local old people say that in the 30s of the XX century these buildings were used for their intended purpose. Now it is the historical monuments of the Ustyurt plateau.
Geographic coordinates of Tuzbair Saline land: N44 ° 00'19.65 "E53 ° 15'10.74"