Intro
In a land far away, in the rural regions of Central Asia, just South of Kyzylorda, there stands an abandoned city made of sand and mud that goes by the name of Sauran. The ancient capital of the ferocious White Horde is now available to see, for all those willing to venture into the desert to see it.
Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
Sauran itself was first mentioned around 600 years ago, though there’s been a settlement here for at least 1500 years. Sauran is approximately 50 km north of Turkestan and makes a good half-day trip. It’s a large city surrounded by mud-brick walls, though the vast majority of the site is not excavated. You’ll notice this as you walk,you’ll see that you’re actually treading on ancient pottery and you’ll be surprised that cars, horses and camels will be treading on these old artefacts. Whenever we found a nice colourful piece of old pottery, we’d chuck it to the side of the path so that it would be saved. There’s old pottery EVERYWHERE. Sauran is definitely a top highlight of Kazakhstan for us, especially since we hadn’t even heard about it until a few days prior to going.
Things to See and Do in Sauran
There’s a 2 km wall to walk round, 7 towers to see, excavated villas and houses to look at and a gazillion pieces of pottery to be inspected. As far as we’re aware, there’s no museum (or anything else) here, as they haven’t excavated much (we have literally no idea why).
Transport In/Out of Sauran
We took a taxi from Turkistan. It cost us 5000 KZT there and back and the taxi driver waited for over an hour for us to see the ruins. The drive there will take approximately 50 minutes. The whole trip can be done in 3 hours.
Things to Eat in Sauran
Bring food with you, there’s no food or facilities at Sauran, only a very basic toilet and a car park.
Accommodation in Sauran
Stay in Turkistan.