YANGI-KALA ― WONDERFUL TURKMEN CANYON

Tourists of the world adore this place, because it has very beautiful, picturesque nature, an impressive view of the ocean. One can take plenty of stunning photos here!

Especially on the cliff where tourists line up. It is on it that travelers take so-called “dangerous” pictures, in which people literally hang from this cliff, risking falling down. Why “so-called”?

Because they only look extreme. In fact, everyone can hang from this cliff or even jump from it, because its height from the surface of the earth is only 91 cm!
Very similar “dangerous” pictures can be taken on the cliff of Yangi-kala canyon in the west of Turkmenistan. The main thing is to find a good angle.

The canyon is located in the Balkan region and is popular among tourists, lovers of the extreme, and jeepers. It has even become fashionable to shoot video clips and photo shoots of newlyweds here. In general, a great place to get a lot of emotions, adrenaline and pictures for memory, which in terms of expressiveness are not inferior to the “dangerous” shots on the coast in Rio de Janeiro.

Translated from the Turkmen language, the phrase “Yangi-kala” means “Fiery Fortresses.” By the way, the locals call these mountain ranges Kyzildag (Red Mountains). Indeed, the picturesque ridge, as if composed of white, yellow, red, orange layers, cut by rains and winds, looks like bizarre castles, watchtowers of ancient fortresses.

Once upon a time, millions of years ago, these mountain ranges were the bottom of the sea. And today, here, on the flat bottom of the canyon, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, you can take a jeep safari or walk on foot, admiring this natural park of stone monuments.

You can also climb the tops of the mountain plateau and inspect the steep gorges from a height, and if you’re lucky, find fossilized shells and stones of a mysterious shape and color. The Yangi-kala canyon is especially beautiful at sunset, when everything around is painted in fiery tones. There are similar mountains in Chinese Xinjiang and they are also called “fiery or flaming mountains”.

It is almost impossible to go around the vast territory of canyons, but we advise you to visit another wonderful place – Kemal-Ata canyon. Here, in the middle of the desert, it is not clear from where, a source appeared and cut a small canyon in the rocks. Herds of sheep and camels are brought to the source for watering. But the most interesting thing is the unusual stone formations that resemble dinosaur eggs or embryonic eggs from the cult movie “Alien”. There are many of them, and many of them are half “walled up” in the walls of the canyon.

We recommend staying overnight in the center of pilgrims at the burial place of Saint Gazli-Ata, next to the graves dating from the 9th-10th centuries. The center is also located in one of the canyons and is also surrounded by “fiery” mountains and cliffs.