After a hard day’s driving from Almaty towards the Aral Sea, we arrived after dark at the walls of the abandoned city of Sauran, 70 kms north of Turkistan. This remarkable site was once the largest city on Kazakh territory, but now only majestic ruins remain. The city fell victim to the collapse of the Silk Road trade following the opening up of sea routes from Europe to the East in the seventeenth century.

Sauran survived the Mongol onslaught even though nearby Otrar was completely destroyed for failing to negotiate a deal with Genghis Khan.

The Sauran ruins stretch for several miles,  but the main town walls are almost complete, together with a reconstructed main entrance.

Wandering across this massive site you come across countless fragments of fired blue tiles and shards of pottery. One excavated spot shows just how impressive it once was.

We camped beneath the walls and left early the next  morning to continue our journey, past Kyzylorda towards the Aral.