Ybykty-Sai is a lace canyon where wind and water have carved honeycomb cells and stone filigree into the walls. Light drops in through narrow openings above, and the walls seem to glow from within.
Ybykty-Sai is a canyon 70 kilometres from Aktau whose walls have been eroded into stone lace. Cellular weathering has left thousands of niches and honeycombs in the rock; travellers often compare it to Antelope Canyon in Arizona, though this one looks wilder and untouched.
Light is the main event here. It falls through narrow openings above and spreads across the walls, so the rock seems lit from inside. Green moss clings between the ledges in places — a rare contrast for this region.
The canyon is narrow and you walk along its floor; you only grasp the scale when someone stands beside the wall. Midday is the best time to shoot, when the light reaches the lower tiers.
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.
Ybykty-Sai → Karaman-Ata → Kyzylkup and 3 more stops
The Karagiye Depression → Tousled Canyon → Tuzbair and 2 more stops
Torysh Valley of Stone Balls → Kok-Kala → Mount Sherkala and 8 more stops