Thank you very much! If anyone has contact details for drivers who can take visitors from Basshi to the Singing Dune and the Aktau Mountains, I'd really appreciate it. 🙏
We're planning to drive our own car as far as Basshi.
Just search for Basshi on Google Maps.
Open the guesthouse listings, check their contact details, then give them a call or send them a WhatsApp message. That's the easiest way to arrange transportation.
We're planning to spend three days in Altyn-Emel over the May Day holidays. I'd like to take the family there and show them the park.
What's the best way to plan the route so we can visit both the Singing Dune and the Aktau Chalk Mountains, with an overnight stay somewhere inside the park?
The official Altyn-Emel National Park website has the routes laid out quite well. They include distances, route maps and the designated camping and overnight areas.
We visited over Cosmonautics Day weekend last year, staying from Saturday to Sunday with one night in a tent at the campsite near the Red Aktau Mountains.
On the first day we visited the Singing Dune, the 700-year-old willow tree, and also made a detour to the Katutau Mountains, often called the "Cheese Mountains" because of their unusual rock formations.
The only thing is—you have to keep moving if you want to fit all of that into one day. The Singing Dune and the Aktau Mountains are on two separate routes. You drive to the dune via the village of Basshi, then return to Basshi before heading out again towards the chalk mountains. Overnight camping at the Singing Dune isn't permitted.
We only managed to pitch our tent near the Aktau Mountains at around 5:00 pm, just before dusk. We hurried up to one of the ridges to catch the sunset, but ended up coming back down in the dark, which wasn't much fun.
On the second day we spent the morning exploring the Aktau Mountains before driving back after lunch.
One thing to keep in mind—even in April it was already extremely hot during the day. There isn't any shade and there are no water sources, so take plenty of drinking water with you.
Also, when we were there the campsite near Aktau was surprisingly crowded. There were tents everywhere, not much space left, lots of children running around and plenty of dogs. It felt more like a busy campground than a remote wilderness camp.