Tupkaragan

Duration: 2 days
Length: 400 km
Accommodation: 1 night in tents
Difficulty: А
Seasonality: April 15 till October 15
Group: no more than 10 persons
Day 1. Depart from Aktau. Travel from Aktau to Fort Shevchenko (140 km, asphalt). The purpose is to visit museum consisting of sections such as ethnography, local folk-tale narrator Muryn and the Mangyshlak sojourn of T.G. Shevchenko, Ukrainian artist and poet. A restaurant lunch (13.00-14.00). Travel from Fort Shevchenko to Zhygylgan (60 km, graded road and country road). The purpose is to visit the grandiose geologic collapse on the sea floor and to see Neogene fossilized animal traces (hoofed and saber-toothed cats, 15 million years ago). See the Tubejik 1 archeological monument. The total length of the pedestrian route is 3 km including the plateau ascent and descent (H-100m). Travel from Zhygylgan to Sultan Epe Canyon (30 km, country road). Visit the clan cemeteries of Karagashty Aulie and Ushtam (16-19 centuries). The Saint Sultan Epe’s grave and underground mosque are located at the edge of the Canyon. Sleep the night in tents.

Day 2. Breakfast. Travel from Sultan Epe to Shakpak Ata’s underground mosque (30 km, graded road and country road). See the Cretaceous Kapamsai Canyon with Stone Age workshops (6 km tracking). Field lunch (13.00-14.00). Shakpak Ata’s underground mosque is cut out in the cliff. It has drawings and epigraphy (10-13 century). Travel from Shakpak Ata to Aktau (140 km, country road, graded road, asphalt). The route will cross the big Cretaceous Shakpakatasai Canyon where stops are envisaged for panoramic views.