Richard And Jo Demeester's photos with the keyword: Aktay

Most of the graves were simple walled affairs, perhaps a stone marker, or maybe just piled earth or rocks within. Some were buildings with roofs, perhaps with a dome or a peak, appearing like a little mosque. These tombs, for the most part, were plain inside. Bare bricks, or a plain plaster render. We found four, though, that had interesting paintings on the walls. Pictures which, in some way, reflect the personality or wishes of the person now entombed within.

After wandering around the cemetery for an hour or so, we came across some fenced off areas where some of the oldest graves are. How old, we don't know, but certainly to be measured in hundreds of years. This one particularly prominent grave marker we thought to be outstanding.

Not far from Aktau, Koshkar Ata cemetery feels like a small city. When you wander deep within, and then seek a vantage point, there is almost nothing that can be seen in any direction other than tombs.

At the Caspian Riviera Grand Palace Hotel, the basement room has two huge aquariums - a million or so litres. One aquarium is under the glass floor in the middle of the room, with dining tables. The other takes up an entire wall. The tanks are full of sturgeon. Associated with the hotel are pools where they breed and raise these huge fish, which are released in to the Caspian Sea not more than 100 metres away.