Features of Altyn-Emel
The national park of “Altyn-Emel” has some features, which are favorably distinguishing it from other national parks of Kazakhstan. Tourism in park develops, first of all, as ecological, in the form of excursions for groups of tourists accompanied by guides-conductors along the established tourist routes. In this regard, in the territory of park purity and an order are maintain, finding of strangers excluded, and to tourists safety and comfort are ensured. Besides, the Altyn-Emel Park has the developed tourist infrastructure in the form of well-planned hotels, the equipped tourist routes, highways of high quality that allows to accept tourists of different categories and to satisfy their requirements.
The national park of “Altyn-Emel” is the only desert park in the republic located in the Iliysky valley that allows to see on open space not only various landscapes (mountains, the plain, the floodplain of the river, the tygai woods, sand), but also in rather short distance to find desert hoofed animals – a pendent and a dzheyran. Thereby tourism in national park has informative and eco-educational character. It not a type of mass recreational tourism.
“The singing dune” – the nature sanctuary of republican value, which is in “Altyn-Emel” This one of favorite places of visit
of tourists. It is located on the plain between Keesha’s mountains and Ulken Kalkan. Similar natural phenomena in the world no more than ten – in China, Russia, Arabia and America. Many years scientists guess concerning an origin of a sandy barkhan, unnatural for the local rocky and steppe district.
“Chokan Valikhanov’s spring” – directly at the bottom “The singing dune” is the well-known spring with crystal-clear water. In the people, it is famous as sacred, possessing healing water, curing of many diseases. In this place, in the territory of the present reserve “Altyn-Emel”, traveling from Russia to Kashgaria, the well-known traveler and the scientist Chokan Valikhanov stopped on a halt. So surprising oasis entered its notes, and received a name of Valikhanov later.
Steles “Oshaktas”. In 1200 during invasion of army of Genghis Khan the camp near a cordon, Mynbulak where the huge center was built from two-meter stones for a big cauldron for cooking for soldiers was organized. Other version is an alarm point with which the smoke for the warning of appearance of the enemy moved.
Petroglyphs “Tanbalytas” meet in all territory of national park of “Altyn-Emel”. Especially there is a lot of them in Tierekta Sai’s natural boundary. Rock paintings of masters of a bronze age represent scenes of hunting, wild and pets, rituals, and other deities. It is considered that ancient artists represented on rocks of wild goats – tics and arkhar which and now live here, and also marals and even saigas who aren’t meeting in the territory of Altyn-Emel park.
“Besshatyr” – in the center of park «Altyn-Emel» the well-known barrows “Besshatyr” are located. It is a necropolis – a tomb of east Scythians, or juice, – a tigrakhauda, living in this territory in the VII-IV centuries B.C. The tomb consists of thirty barrows of different size and hundreds of ritual menhirs. The sizes of funeral barrows reflected division of saksky society into estates. The largest, majestic barrow about 17 meters high belongs to the unknown saksky tsar. It is fram by burial grounds of notable juice and the leader’s confidants, small barrows of soldiers, the commanders who made heroic feats built further. In this place the staff of Altyn-Emel park plans to create the Kazakhstan’s first historical and ethnographic visit center.
Mountains of “Katutau” are located in east part of park. Is one of ridges of the southern slope of the Dzungarian Ala Tau at the height of 800-1600 m above sea level. Have mountain plains and strongly dismembered gorges with sedimentary breeds. Not less than six types of rare communities are noted. Mountains of “Katutau” of a maloizuchena are also perspective object of scientific tourism.
Mountains of “Aktau” – are located on the right side of Ili River in Altyn-Emel Park and represent the most picturesque, rare landscape on beauty. Therefore can be consider as the landscape reserve. Besides have special value as the paleo-botanic area where there are congestions the paleo-botanic of the remains of flora of an early Miocene. According to scientists, mountain deposits make 60–70 million years and are very mysterious, unique creation of the nature.
“Ungirtas” – is in the gorge Kaskyrsay a cave “Ungirtas”. This unique creation of the nature. Height of an entrance to a cave makes about 25 meters, the cave on twenty meters inside goes deep. According to the assumption of paleontologists, at the time of the Stone Age, there could live the small tribe of people here, walls are very carefully sand and stones unnaturally laid. In a cave from a rain and snow shepherds hid earlier, and the flock from 500 sheep held here entirely. Sometimes in “Ungirtas” wild goats get.
“the 700-year willow” – scientists estimates age of a tree in 700 years. The local population considers it as a sacred tree.