The Singing Dune, Red Canyons & Hot Springs

Leave Almaty early in the morning for Altyn-Emel National Park, about 290 km away: 4600 km² of open desert with herds of kulans and goitered gazelles, where the space is felt physically. In the first half of the day, visit the Aktau chalk mountains, bands of pink, green, and blue rock from the Paleocene, 66–56 million years old, the colorful trace of an ancient sea. Closer to lunch, stop at the colored Katutau mountains, volcanic rocks carved by the wind into sharp shapes. In the afternoon, make a short stop at the 700-year-old willow in the village of Basshi, a living tree whose trunk remembers the era of the Golden Horde. Then settle in at Basshi, the gateway to Altyn-Emel, a quiet aul at the foot of the range where the air smells of steppe and the guesthouses serve a simple but hearty dinner. Overnight in a guesthouse in Basshi village.

Start with the Singing Dune, a 150-meter dune 1.5 kilometers long. Climb it and slide down: the dry sand gives off a deep hum that rises from right under your feet. Around midday, stop at the Zharkent Mosque, built in the 1890s in a Chinese-influenced style. In the afternoon, relax at the Chundzha thermal springs, mineral water at 39–45°C that soothes tired legs after the dune and the long road. Overnight at the Chundzha thermal base.

Leave Chundzha early for Charyn Canyon, which stretches for 154 km. Descend and walk through its best-known section, the “Valley of Castles”, a 2–3 km trail between serrated towers along the river, where the midday sun melts the cliffs into copper. Later in the morning, take in Moon Canyon, a neighboring valley of Charyn with gray and bluish rock formations. Around midday, visit Black Canyon with volcanic walls and narrow passages, a dark counterpoint after the red of Charyn. In the afternoon, walk around the first Kolsai Lake (1818 m), turquoise water surrounded by centuries-old Tien Shan spruces. Then drive back to Almaty (about 290 km), arriving late in the evening. It is a long day of about 13–14 hours, much of it on the road.