Singing dunes and hot springs

 Early start to get to the dunes before the heat of the day . We were the first ones there so had the whole place to ourselves till we were leaving. 

The sand dune is 150m high and between 3-5km long and Hakim asked not to read the plaque explaining the phenomenon behind the singing till we returned . Jeevan and Savik were literally wanting to run up the dune while Aanya and I were a lot more scared. I had to keep a brave face on to help Aanya which helped ease the fear for me too . The top was totally worth the climb and the best part was sliding down the dune . We heard the singing on the top ,it is like a droning sound which got much more intense as we slid down . We have never heard anything like it before . The legend goes that Genghis Khan is buried underneath and screaming as you are sliding over him . Reality is the dry sand is rubbing over the wet sand underneath and the friction is making the noise but the first story is more fun . So much sand to remove from our clothes before getting in the car . We saw people climbing the dune and one of them just sat midway , I could understand how they felt but wish I could have encouraged them to make it all the way as such good things awaited .

Back to the village to clean up , lunch and then head off to the Hot Springs .

We have had two days of long driving but it makes me appreciate Kazakhstan’s stunning beauty . It is so vast , the flowers are in bloom , the snow capped mountains in the background, have seen rabbits hopping , heaps of sheep , horses , shepherds on horses with their dogs and statues of various animals atop hills as we drive along. 

I was expecting Hot Springs to be little pools in the ground but our hotel has made 4 swimming pools with the water ( very nice and warm ) so the kids had the best ending to the day.