Kapamsay is a chalk canyon several kilometres long on the Tyub-Karagan plateau. Cream-grey walls rise tens of metres, boulders litter the floor, and a small grove grows in a grotto under a vault pierced by rain.
Kapamsay is a chalk canyon in the Flint Valley of Mangystau, 110 kilometres from Aktau. Cream-grey and in places dazzling white walls rise tens of metres, and the floor is strewn with huge boulders.
Archaeologists say a deep river once ran at the foot of these cliffs — it carved the canyon. The river is long gone, but a grotto remains: rainwater pierced its vault, and in the shade and damp a small grove has grown — a green oasis among bare stone.
You walk the canyon on foot: the convoy reaches the entrance and the rest is yours. The walls give shade even in heat, so Kapamsay fits well into summer routes.
Honest numbers before you take the wheel. We are not selling an adventure — we are explaining what you would be dealing with.
Driving here yourself requires four-wheel drive and a water supply: there are no fuel stations or services on the route.
Shots from our trips — click to enlarge
Leave the logistics to people who drive here all year round: prepared vehicles, satellite communication and a guide who knows where the ground holds and where it does not.
Kapamsay Canyon → The Shakpak-Ata mosque → Shakpak-Ata Sai and 5 more stops
Karagiye → Onere (spring) → Karynzharyk and 24 more stops
The Karagiye Depression → Kyzylkup → Boszhira (upper plateau) and 14 more stops