Tours Mangyshlak Peninsula in Kazakhstan.

“Nature is wise. You can learn everywhere and from everything”

Leonardo da Vinci.

Ramblers Walking Holidays in Kazakhstan.

To strangers, Mangystau may appear to be colourless and dry fatigued by the sun and the wind. For those people, who have sent down the roots here, this place is a blessed land. Each stone bears the history of those people, who once inhab­ited Mangystau.
This is not a dull region. Take a closer look and you will see green oasises, poppy fields, petunias and wormwood. The superlative degree is used here and there in this land. The deepest trench in the CIS countries is Karagie.
The aura of mystery and magic is wo­ven in its vast valleys. One third of all Ka­zakhstan's monuments are found on the Mangyshlak peninsula. Shell rocks are scattered across the territory of Mangys­tau.
For some people, it is just a stone, but for a talented master it is of great value. In the hands of a master, the stone is transformed into a sacred object of culture and art. Underground mosques, cut out in rocks, are the region's places of interest.
And the mountains of Karatau. They are not high. But, being soaked in the blood of those tribes that lived there, cloaked in the mystery of legends, they entice and attract many people. Those, who visited this place once, are hooked and return here again and again.
Along the Silk Way route, which passed through Mangyshlak, the wells were dug up. The soil is replete with salt here. Then where do the fresh water sources come from? The bowels of the earth conceal life-giving source of mois­ture, available only to the few selected, dying to know this land.
Since ancient times, Mangystau has been called the land of 360 saints. Why? Because 360 Murids, followers of Khodja Akhmed Yassawi, Shopan-Ata, Shakpak- Ata, Koshkar-Ata, Massat-Ata, Sultan- Epe, Kenty-Baba and other were sent to Mangyshlak to spread the philosophical doctrine of Yassawi.
Sufism got well es­tablished in Mangystau very fast. The fol­lowers of Yassawi praised their teacher and spread around the canons of Sufism during their life in Mangystau.They were buried in the land of Mangystau and are still venerated by the locals.
The necropolis of Sisem-Ata is con­sidered to be the pantheon of batyrs. Many notable representatives of various c|ans and tribes of the Kazakh land rest in peace in Ustyurt. The majestic domes of mausoleums are found side by side with humble, even unprocessed stones.
The shrines of necropolis are being pre­pared to come under the protection of UNESCO. Restoration works are in full swing. "May you have a long way to the Sistem-Atal", - say the aksakals, wishing someone a long life and strong health.
At the same time, the locals frequent the Sistem-Ata necropolis to pray to their ancestors. When a river has dried up, it is impos­sible to count the waves. As is impossible to separate the historical facts from leg­ends after a period of time.
The aksakals say that if it was a bright and good even, it should be attributed to history, and if it was a dark and unpleasant event, then it is better to refer it to legends. Other aksakals insist that dark legends are not kept in people's memory.
Legends exist for the sole purpose to enrich the mem­ory of people with ancient wisdom. Some of the legends, which could be the stories of Mangystau, have been told and retold, and survived to this day.

Authority:
From the advertising guidebook across Kazakhstan. The ministry of tourism of Kazakhstan.

Photos
Alexander Petrov.