Karakabak is the trace of an ancient settlement on steppe hills: stone foundations, the outlines of dwellings and burial structures. Nearby lie grottoes with mirror-still lakes under rock vaults.
Karakabak is an archaeological site 130 kilometres from Aktau. Among hills and stony plains lie the remains of a settlement that stood on the route of nomadic tribes and trade caravans: stone foundations, outlines of dwellings, fragments of masonry and burial structures.
Archaeologists believe this was more than a village — a multi-purpose point where craftsmen and merchants lived and where someone kept the roads. The plan of the ancient town reads best from above: rectangles of walls emerge from the steppe like a drawing.
Beside the site are grottoes holding shallow lakes under rock vaults. In still weather the water becomes a mirror and reflects the whole ceiling.
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.
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