Is an Altyn-Emel Day Trip from Almaty Worth It? My Experience

When people think of day trips from Almaty, places like Big Almaty Lake, Kaindy Lake, and Charyn Canyon usually get all the love. But if you’re willing to endure an extremely early wake-up call, Altyn-Emel National Park offers some of the most unusual landscapes in Kazakhstan… with a tiny fraction of the crowds. 

I joined a guided day tour to visit the park’s four most famous attractions: the Aktau Mountains, Katutau, the 700-Year-Old Willow, and the most famous sight of all, the aptly named Singing Dune.

I will admit that it made for a very long day… but also a very worthwhile one. It was filled with scenery unlike anywhere else I’ve visited in Central Asia…. and I say that after spending a month traveling four countries in the region. It reminded me more of the American Southwest mixed with the Sahara Desert. It was incredible.

In case you’re wondering what an Altyn-Emel day trip looks like, I’ll break down how the day unfolded — including times — so you can know if this is the right trip for you. There are also overnight options as well if you prefer to not wake up with the birds!

Our tour included breakfast and dinner, but not lunch as there wasn’t a good time and place to eat in Altyn-Emel as the amenities there are rather sparse. We were advised to bring snacks and enough food for the middle of the day. 

A Typical Altyn-Emel Day Trip Itinerary

A Very, Very Early Start

The tour starts early, and I mean early: departure time was planned for 4:30 AM. Everyone in the group managed to arrive early, and by 4:20 AM we were already on the road.

Normally, a 4:30 AM departure time would have me feeling like the walking dead. But strangely, in Kazakhstan, in May the sun rises incredibly early. As in, by 4:20 that morning I already felt like I was walking in actual mid-morning light!

About 40 minutes into the journey, we stopped at a supermarket for 10 minutes so everyone could buy water, snacks, and anything else we wanted for lunch. Don’t skimp on this stop. You won’t have another opportunity!

Also, you will definitely want and need more water than you imagine! Tip: buy both a really large bottle for the day and a smaller bottle for taking on the hike with you. I only bought one comically large 2L bottle and brought it on the hike with me. It was far too warm and not at all refreshing for the entire rest of the day.

After another couple of hours on the road, we made a quick bathroom stop around 6:40 AM before continuing onward for another hour.

Breakfast in Basshi

At approximately 7:40 AM, we arrived in Basshi, the small village that serves as the gateway to Altyn Emel National Park. So all in all, it took us about 3 hours to reach the park, given the two stops we made. 

Breakfast was served at a local guesthouse and it was extremely hearty, which was great as my lunch was just a random assortment of cookies and other things of zero nutritional value.

We got served two fried eggs, a bowl of kasha porridge, bread, jam, and baursak (Kazakh doughnuts, typically served with tea or coffee). It was the perfect start to fuel a long day.

By 8:30 AM, we were back in the vehicle and heading toward our first stop.

A 700-Year-Old Willow Tree

Our first stop was a massive willow tree, estimated to be possibly around 700 years old. While not the most famous attraction in Altyn-Emel, it was still an interesting sight in the park and a stop that I enjoyed.

After all, how many willow trees spring up in the middle of a desert landscape? This one is fed by nearby springs — my guides filled up their water bottles here (I chose not to, to be on the safe side!).

And of course, they’re being protected but the most adorable, fierce guardians.

We spent about 20 minutes here, exploring the way the willow tree has interwoven with the landscape, before continuing deeper into the national park.

The Aktau Mountains

Around 9:15 AM, we left the willow tree behind and began the drive toward the Aktau Mountains, our first major stop of the day. 

The scenery gradually became more dramatic as the landscape shifted from flat desert to colorful badlands. By around 10:00 AM, we began driving into a more noticeably mountainous terrain. Just a few minutes later, we parked and began our hike.

The Aktau Mountains are among the most visually striking places in Kazakhstan. The name Aktau means “white” in Kazakh — and while there are some white mountains, the reality is the white mountains are surrounded by a scene far more colorful.

While you look at the white mountains in the distance, a rainbow of earth tones is in front of you.

Layers of sedimentary minerals have painted bands in the mountains: red, white, yellow, and even some pale, barely-there green. The variety of colors come from various mineral deposits, including iron, chromium, and chalk.

My guide said that the colors are even more pronounced after fresh rain, but they’re faintly visible even when the mountains are dry, which they often are in this desert environment. 

Because of their striped appearance, they’re also sometimes nicknamed the “Tiger Mountains.”

We spent about an hour and a half exploring the area on foot, covering roughly 4 to 5 kilometers in the scorching sun (with those early sunrises, a 10 AM hike is hot, hot, hot!) at an elevation of around 2,400 meters (7,875 feet).

This, plus the heat, meant the hike was actually rather on the strenuous side despite being mostly flat until we reached the main vista point we’d be climbing. 

The views at the top of the vista were incredible — different in every direction we looked. One way, you looked and saw undulating waves of striped rock, a Utah-like lunar landscape.

Another way you turned, you saw the stark white mountains that give Aktau its name off in the distance, and the faintest trace of green in the rock face.

We spent about two hours on this hike — including photography time on the top of the vista point, which took a white — and we got back to our 4WD around noon.

Katutau

After leaving Aktau, we continued to the Katutau rock formation. This took about one hour, arriving shortly before 1 PM.

Unlike the colorful sedimentary formations of Aktau, Katutau has a volcanic origin giving it all one color, a rust-tinted color between brown and red.

Its name translates roughly to “frozen” or “stuck” in Kazakh, a reference to ancient lava flows that cooled into bizarre rock formations, with lots of holes and small tunnels in the rock. 

You can tell the rock solidified from a once-liquid state: its twisted shapes, hollows, and unusual formations tell the story of a jagged volcanic landscape that has had its rough edges smoothed down by hundreds of thousands of years of erosion.

Uniquely, the volcanic rock is fairly hollow on the interior! Softly striking rock produces a surprisingly resonant tone, like knocking on a wall.

While Katutau is less famous than the Singing Dune or Aktau Mountains, it was still an interesting stop nonetheless!

The Singing Dune

Around 1:20 PM, we left Katutau and began the drive toward Altyn-Emel’s most famous attraction, the one we had been really aiming for all day: the Singing Dune.

The journey took roughly an hour and a half, giving us plenty of time to admire the vast emptiness and beauty of the sprawl of the national park’s steppe landscape.

And then suddenly, you get there. The Singing Dune rises dramatically from the surrounding landscape, reaching 120 meters (390 feet) high.

We spent about an hour and a half here, trying to climb the dune. Emphasis on trying to, because we were supremely unsuccessful.

First of all, it is beyond steep. But more than that, the sand here is incredibly fine. It’s even harder than normal to gain purchase with every step, which sinks in sand almost knee-deep with every step you take.

That, combined with wind that not only pushed us backwards but blew up the sand in our faces, made climbing to the top very difficult.

As the wind grew stronger, the ultra-light particles of the sand stirred, swirling around our faces like gnats, stinging as it whipped us in the face. It was vicious, otherworldly, and powerful. I loved it and hated it at the same time.

Luckily, most of my group also seemed to collectively decide that making it to the top of the dune was fruitless. One by one, we slowly gave up. On our guide’s recommendation, we stepped on the other side of it, where we were sheltered from the bite of the sand. 

And this is when the real magic happens. Under the right conditions, the dune produces a low humming or vibrating sound as the sand moves in large cloud-like waves, the phenomenon responsible for its famous name. To my ear, it sounds a bit like a jet engine off in the distance, but more ethereal, more peaceful. 

To go down the sand dune, we scooted down on our butts, and as I went down the mountain, I heard the dune singing louder, like it was revving up an engine with each time I moved the sand with my body. It felt weirdly interactive and surreal that I could “make” nature do that.

So while I didn’t get to reach the top of the dune (where apparently, you can see a lake and some rivers — I did manage to see a river from where we climbed to), I still had an incredible time at Altyn-Emel.

I asked my guide if it was normal for groups not to reach the top. She said that it really depends on the weather. On a clear, not windy day, typically the group reaches the top.

However, on a windy day like what we experienced, it’s rare for the group to get further up than halfway. That made me feel a little bit better!

As the clouds darkened and the winds picked up, the sand color darkened, and it was coming off the mountain in sheets.

It was a beautiful sight to leave behind, and a great last image of Altyn-Emel.

Dinner & The Journey Back

After leaving the Singing Dune, we began the long drive back toward Almaty. Dinner was included with the tour, at the same guesthouse where we had breakfast. We had beef plov, salad, and more bread and boursak.

The journey back felt really long… mostly because I didn’t sleep through the whole thing this time. We got back around 8:30 PM and taxi’d home, exhausted but happy.

Is Altyn-Emel Worth a Day Trip?

Was it worth it? I’d say yes, for sure! We got to experience some of Kazakhstan’s most uncannily beautiful scenery in a single day. 

Yes, it’s a long day with a very early start, but Altyn-Emel showcases a side of Kazakhstan that many visitors never see.  It packs an incredible amount of variety into a single day. While you can do it on a two day tour, frankly, I felt the pace was fine for a one day tour.

We spent long enough at each sight to properly enjoy it, and honestly, it actually felt less rushed than the two-day, one-night Kolsay/Charyn tour that I took. That said, if you think two days is better and you have the schedule for it, I can only imagine that the experience is even more magical.

Have you been to Altyn Emel recently, or do you have any questions? Let me know below in the comments!

Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016, visiting 75+ countries in total. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. As a former educator, she merges her writing and educational experience to encourage ethical, sustainable travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and TBEX. Her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. When she’s not on the road, she lives in Bangkok, Thailand.