Altyn Emel and Butakovka Falls

The Altyn-Emel State National Nature Park is a national park in Kazakhstan. It was created in 1996. The park covers about 4,600 km² between the Ili River and the Aqtau mountain range, near Lake Kapchagai, and consists mostly of desert and rocky terrain I visited the park fr the 4-th time in May 2026 ith my wife and 3 sons The Singing Barchan dune is 1.5 km (0.93 mi) long and 120 m (390 ft) high. The barchan is crescent-shaped. When the wind is blowing from the west dispersing the sands, it can sound as if a pipe organ is playing. The cause of this phenomenon is still a mystery, but scientists theorize that in hot dry weather the sand gets electrified due to friction and creates a certain sonic vibration The main attraction of the Butakovsky gorge is waterfalls. There are two of them: the lower one, 15 meters high, is the most popular among tourists. We hiked to the falls from the end of the road while there was a jam at the entrance ti Ale Alatau National Entrance where 1150 tenge fee ( 2.45 usd) is charged from an entering car. It is veery hard to find a parking space there with 150 or 200 cars already parked there on Saturday May 9. There were dozens of children (age 10+) hiking to the Falls from parking lot ) and a space under the falls perpetually filled with people , who like to take selfy there. We hiked back or rather after the falls to Medeo through the pass and Leonid walked all the way by himself , inspite of Peter taking a childcarrier. The total distance Leonid walked in Butakovka -Falls -Medeo hike was about 10 km, while stepcounter installed on my phone counted 17 km for the whole day.