Altyn Emel is a national park of enormous scale in the Ili river basin, east of Almaty, and its name is often translated as golden saddle. The land is flat steppe and desert plain, rimmed by two ranges of hills: the Aktau, white mountains, and the Katutau, a banded landscape of reds, oranges, yellows and greens, laid down in layers and baked by the sun. At sunset these hills glow, and photographers arrive from across the country to catch them.
The park's most famous feature is the Singing Dune, a huge sand ridge, around a hundred and fifty metres high and several kilometres long, that hums or booms under the right conditions, particularly in dry, hot weather when sand slides down its face. Nobody quite agrees on the exact mechanism, though the vibrations of sliding grains seem to be the cause. The sound is something between a distant aircraft and a cello, and it is an eerie experience when you hear it.
The park also protects wildlife that has returned thanks to reintroduction. Przewalski's horses, the only truly wild horses left, were brought back here, as were kulan, the Asiatic wild ass, and goitered gazelles roam the plains. Further into the park are ancient burial mounds of the Saka people, the Iron Age nomads often grouped with the Scythians, including the large Besshatyr mounds, where rich gold finds were made. This is a place where natural and human history overlap.
Entry requires a permit and a fee, and the tracks inside are mostly gravel and sand, so check conditions and consider going with a local guide or ranger. The weather swings from hot and dry in summer to cold and windy in winter, and in spring the plain is bright with grass. Camping and basic accommodation can be arranged near the entrance, and the star-filled night sky is a quiet bonus.