Altyn Emel National Park

Today was a trip to the so-called Singing Dunes in the National Park. There were actually two drives to choose from but Victor suggested that the second route might be beyond the capacity of our car which is a model VS Polo. So we chose the route to the dunes. Which was a fun gravelly drive most of the way - about 44km on gravel. With a few stops on the way to take photos we arrived at the dunes about midday. Boy was it hot. There were maybe five other sets of tourists there as well. I ventured up the dune, Dana stayed at the base. Got maybe a little less than half way up. It was just so hot. I was basically doing intervals of 30 steps and then taking a rest and then doing another 30 steps. The combination of the heat and the difficulty of tramping through the sand of the dune meant that I decided that going to the top would be too much pain and who needs too much pain. So about half way up just before a sharp right in the ridge I decided to call it a day and slide down the dune. I'd anticipated that it would be like a slide but in fact I had to paddle my way down, but this did indeed make the dunes sing. In fact it was more a low drone than a song but very loud nevertheless. I asked Dana if she could hear it from her vantage point at the base but apparently not. It was loud to me though and you can make it on the video once you get past my huffing and puffing.

After that a drive back and a quick trip to the secret lake recommended by Victor This was more of a challenge to the car and confirmed my view that the second route to the petroglyphs would be beyond us.

Rested the rest of the day but were visited in the evening by a couple of lovely cats and a hedgehog.Read more