Why this ride
From Shetpe it runs 411 km to Shetpe; allow about 8 h 29 of riding. The stops in between: Karaman-Ata, Shakpak-Ata and back through Karaman-Ata. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o and Shakpak-Ata
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 411 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 29
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o
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.
Read the complete Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o is where the day begins. Next is Karaman-Ata.
2. Karaman-Ata
Mangystau is the bleak, brilliant desert peninsula on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, in the far west of Kazakhstan. It looks like the surface of another planet, with chalk cliffs, canyons, salt flats, strange rock formations and fossil seabeds from the days when this was an ocean. For centuries it has also been a land of Sufi pilgrimage, and its network of underground mosques, cut into the soft limestone, is the reason for the UNESCO listing that includes this site. Karaman-Ata is one of the sacred sites that mark the memory of a holy man, in a quiet spot among low cliffs, reached by a path and accompanied by a small cemetery and shrine.
Read the complete Karaman-Ata write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Karaman-Ata comes up about 54 km into the recorded legs. Next is Shakpak-Ata.
3. Shakpak-Ata
Shakpak-Ata is another of the holy places of the Mangystau region, a desert shrine in the northern part of the peninsula, where the rocky Ustyurt plateau drops into canyons and dry valleys of white and orange stone. The name refers to a revered figure, Shakpak, who is said to have been a Sufi saint of the area, and the complex is built into the slope of a ravine, with prayer rooms, an underground mosque and a necropolis of carved gravestones, some of them marked with symbols of horses and weapons that tell of the clan's history.
Read the complete Shakpak-Ata write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 205 km into the recorded legs you reach Shakpak-Ata. Next is back through Karaman-Ata.
4. back through Karaman-Ata
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Karaman-Ata write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Karaman-Ata, late in the day. Next is Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o.
5. Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o to Karaman-Ata
Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o → Karaman-Ata is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Karaman-Ata to Shakpak-Ata
Karaman-Ata → Shakpak-Ata is 151 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Shakpak-Ata to back through Karaman-Ata
Shakpak-Ata → back through Karaman-Ata is 150 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Karaman-Ata to Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o
back through Karaman-Ata → Rock Mosques and Associated Sacred Sites o is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.