Kazakh pilgrims and tourists of all ages endure a lot of hardship to climb down from the Ustyurt plateau along narrow paths and countless steps to the underground mosque of the Sufi Beket-Ata. In the chalk and limestone desert of the Mangystau region with its impressive rock formations, the sun shines in April against an almost cloudless sky and daytime temperatures often reach over 30 degrees.

Credit: Balzhan & Axel Monse (Germany)

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