15. June 2026

Day 40: Kazakhstan

Overview

Driving duration: 2:56 h
Distance: 64 km
Avg Speed: 22 km/h
Start: Mangystau
End: Mangystau
Night Location: 43°24'26" N 54°6'27" E

Kazakhstan

Our first goal for the day was to finish the dirt road and reach Beket Ata. We even passed on breakfast and started the bumpy ride. After an hour we did a stop and accepted that we first need breakfast before we can (or want to) continue. Then it was just another 30 minutes and we reached a paved road again, how smooth tarmac can be!

We visited Beket Ata, which is an underground mosque. Unprepared we walked inside and after a couple of steps we realized that it consists of a hike into the valley down below, around 150m of elevation. Not an issue to go down, but getting back up in the midday heat (34 degrees) will be fun. And thanks to our not so great preparation, we didn’t bring any water. Nonetheless, we started the hike down. There were multiple shade spots and at one close to the bottom and the entrance, a man from Kazakhstan spoke to us in German. His son lives in Switzerland, or to be more precise in Rheinfelden. This blew our minds a bit, the world is sometimes just a small village.

The mosque itself is a small building, half built into the ground. But it had some power to it, we sat there for a couple of minutes. On the way back up, we saw a lot of people, so we were early and it felt a bit as if this is some sort of pilgrimage point.

Back at the top, there is a room where food and chai is offered to visitors. We sat there for a short moment and on the way out a young boy showed us his English skills and felt quite happy to finally be able to use them after all the studies.

Now it was time for a quick 13 km on the tarmac, pure blessing for our poor car. Then back on the dirt track and we visited the different viewpoints of Mangystau. It’s really breathtaking, but the thing that surprised me the most was that there are 0 people. Yeah, sometimes there was a car with 2 or 3 people, but compared to similar places in the USA, it’s just crazy deserted.

But as we reached the main viewpoint, we saw a bit more people and there is also a construction site and one of the guides with whom we spoke told us that they are building a hotel and restaurant here. So soon there will be a better road and tourism will really arrive. Everywhere the same in the end?