Tuzbair salt flat > Kazakhstan > Asia
[Visited: Tuzbair]
- After a cosy night in a yurt in the desolate landscape of Mangystau, we are on our way to further explore this great region. We drive an asphalted road, until our driver turns onto a dirt track once more. We drive into mountains where we do not see any other house or car: we are alone. Clouds are descending on us, so much so that we are eventually enveloped by fog. While until now, we were impressed by how our driver never had a doubt about which road to take, he now starts to show signs of uncertainty. He stops, he drives back, he turns left and right - he is looking for the right track. And we realize there are lots of tracks, crisscrossing the foggy landscape. We end up driving down a track through the mountains that are getting whiter as we get lower. We hope that he has found the right track the longer our descent lasts.
- When the driver steers our car onto a flat surface, we get the confirmation. We have arrived at the salt flat that we want to see, we don't have to turn back. Clouds are still coming down on the white mountains, but at the same time, it seems like light is filtering through from above. Indeed, soon after we start driving along the edge of the salt flat, we see patches of blue sky above us. When we stop to have a first look, the sunlight reaches the flat itself. Before our eyes, the clouds blow away, to the top of the mountains where they seem to stick for a little while, and then they mysteriously disappear into the blue sky. We now also see the plains on our right: an enormous space of emptiness where it is difficult to even see the horizon. The chalky, cragged mountain slopes on our left are impressive, and we now see how they ring around the salt flat of Tuzbair.
- We drive further around the flat, following the edge, and stop again at a white arch. Erosion has shaped it over the centuries. I wonder if water ever covers the entire salt flat, and if it would run under this arch. We now drive towards the water, and the driver stops before reaching it. As soon as we get out, we understand why: the cracked surface is softer than it seems. Every step we take, our shoes sink into the muddy terrain, and we get in deeper the closer we get to the water. When we reach the delicate layer of water, we see how the remote white mountains are reflected into its perfectly still surface. No, it is not as massive and overwhelming as the world-famous Uyuni salt flats, but we are still impressed by the silence, the serenity around us, the white frame of this enormous open space.
