Good afternoon! Has anyone driven to Altyn-Emel National Park? Please share your experience — what was it like, how did it work out?
What are the roads like there? Where can you stay overnight? And is it possible to get there in a crossover SUV, or can you arrange an excursion to the Singing Dune and the mountains once you're there?
The road to Basshi is perfect. The mountain pass is fine as well.
There is a park office in Basshi where you can purchase permits.
There are also several guesthouses in the village. Prices start from 7,000 tenge and up per person per night.
The guesthouses have their own vehicles and can take you to the Singing Dune and the Aktau Mountains.
How to find them: locate Basshi on Google Maps, click on the listings, read the reviews, and check the WhatsApp numbers.
Inside the park, the main road is more or less okay, but the roads leading to the individual sites are terrible washboard tracks — like driving over a giant corrugated surface.
Repairing the roads is prohibited, and the use of heavy machinery is restricted.
Travel within the park is allowed only until 6:00 PM.
Two days are enough: arrive in the morning, visit the Singing Dune, then visit Aktau the following day and head back to the city in the evening.
I spent three days there with tents. We camped one night at the ranger station near the dune and another night near the mountains. I didn't want to rush around and race from one place to another.
For a taxi to Basshi, check InDriver or ask the guesthouses. I think it should be inexpensive.
I don't know how much the guesthouses charge for using their vehicles.
Off-road drivers charge 180,000 tenge per day for transfers from the city and back.
Singing Dune in Altyn Emel National Park
Aktau Mountains
The routes on the Altyn-Emel National Park website are described quite well (including distances), and there are even maps.
The possible camping and overnight locations are also listed there.
We were there last year during Cosmonautics Day weekend, from Saturday to Sunday, with one overnight stay in a tent at the "campground" near the red Aktau Mountains.
Day 1: Singing Dune + the 700-year-old willow tree + a visit to the "cheese-like" Katutau Mountains.
But we should have moved faster )) because these are actually two different routes (you drive to the dune via the village of Basshi, then return to Basshi and continue toward the chalk mountains).
You are not allowed to camp at the Singing Dune.
We pitched our tent near the Aktau Mountains at around 5 PM, already close to dusk. We still managed to run up to the ridge for sunset, but we came back down in the dark, which was very uncomfortable.
On Day 2, we explored the Aktau Mountains and left after lunch. Even in April it was extremely hot during the day there. There is no shade and no water.
And yes, there were a huge number of tents near the mountains at the time. Space was limited, there were children, dogs — it felt like quite a chaotic campground ))
The roads in Altyn-Emel are perfectly fine, especially right after they've been graded. If they haven't been graded recently, then it's pedal to the metal.What are the roads like there?
You can also drive there in wet weather with a regular passenger car.
However, after heavy rain, when crossing the salt flats on the way to Aktau, you need to keep moving and maintain momentum.
That's roughly how it goes.