“Rising incongruously above the steppes of southeastern Kazakhstan is a structure as famed for the myths that surround as for the sound it produces – a single, singing dune. Located between the folds of the Tian Shan mountains near the Chinese border, the 150-metre-high by three-kilometre-long dune generates a low-pitched, organ-like rumble in dry weather. Before physicists established that the sound came from sand grains rubbing against each other, legends about its origins abounded, some claiming the great Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan was buried beneath it. The sand hill is one of the main attractions of the Altynemel national park some 180 kilometres (110 miles) northeast of Kazakhstan's commercial hub Almaty. The park also features volcanic mountains, millennia-old burial sites of the rulers of the Saka, an ancient nomadic tribe, and numerous wild animals including goitered gazelles known for their lightning-fast, bounding gait. Altynemel is adjacent to another national park, Charyn, set up around a 154-kilometer-long canyon that travellers do not notice until they are nearly on top of it. The part frequented by tourists is called the Valley of Castles, where some rocks are shaped like the towers of a mediaeval fortress”. – Shamil Zhumatov and Olzhas Auyezov via Reuters



A tourist stands at an edge of the singing sand, the 150-metre-high by three-kilometre-long dune that generates a low-pitched, organ-like rumble in dry weather, in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 12, 2016. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





A long exposure photograph shows star trails in the night sky over a camp in Altyn-Emel national park, in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 13, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





Footprints are seen on the singing sand, the 150-metre-high by three-kilometre-long dune that generates a low-pitched, organ-like rumble in dry weather, in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 12, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





Singing sand, the 150-metre-high by three-kilometre-long dune that generates a low-pitched, organ-like rumble in dry weather, is seen in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 12, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





A long-legged buzzard takes off from a pole in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 14, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





A Steppe Agama is seen in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 13, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





Singing sand, the 150-metre-high by three-kilometre-long dune that generates a low-pitched, organ-like rumble in dry weather, is seen in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 12, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





An airplane leaves a trail over the Aktau mountain range in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 13, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





Bowers for tourists are seen in the Aktau mountain range in Altyn-Emel national park, in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 13, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





A skull of gazelle is seen in front of the singing sand, the 150-metre-high by three-kilometre-long dune that generates a low-pitched, organ-like rumble in dry weather, in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 12, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)





A photographer walks through the Aktau mountain range in Altyn-Emel national park, in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 13, 2016 (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)