The Mangystau peninsula in western Kazakhstan looks like the surface of another planet: chalk cliffs, red canyons, salt flats, and a plateau, the Ustyurt, that stretches away to a horizon without a tree. In this empty land, where the Caspian Sea lies far to the west and the nearest big town is Aktau on the coast, a number of holy sites are cut into the soft limestone, the so-called rock mosques. These are underground or cave-like sanctuaries, some hollowed out centuries ago, associated with Sufi teachers and with the ancestors of the local Kazakh clans.
Getting here is a long, spacious drive. The roads between the settlements are straight and fast where they are good and cratered where they are not, so it is important to read the surface well ahead. Wind is a constant, the sky is enormous, and the temperature swings from fierce summer heat, over forty degrees, to a bitter winter. Spring and autumn are best, when the colours of the land, ochre, white and rose, are at their softest. Camels wander across the road, and a stray herd can appear at the crest of a hill, so ride within your sight distance.
The shrines connect with a caravan history. Trade routes crossed this peninsula between the Caspian ports and the cities of Khiva and Bukhara, and pilgrims who walked the long way across the Ustyurt found shelter and prayer at these places. Names such as Beket-Ata, the Sufi teacher of the eighteenth century whose underground mosque is the most visited, run through the region, and local people still make pilgrimages, often in family groups, sleeping at simple guesthouses and eating in shared halls. Visitors should dress modestly, remove their shoes where asked, and treat the sites with respect, since these are live places of devotion, not theme parks.
Fill up there, take far more water than you think you need, and carry food. Mobile signal fades in the open desert. Tell someone where you are going, and avoid riding in the dark, when the combination of potholes, animals and distance turns small mistakes into long problems.