forbidden artworks and disappearing waters

DAY 1 - Nukus

• Meet-and-greet at either Nukus International Airport or Nukus Central Railway Station in accordance to your previous travel schedule.

• Introductory briefing about the region, the route and the set of rules to observe while travelling in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan created by the Soviets as an administratively and politically regulated homeland for the aboriginal Karakalpaks, Turkic-speaking secular-muslim people whose ethnonym literally means “black hats” (kara: black; pak: hat).

• Highlights of our gallivanting around Nukus will include the über-authentic central bazaar, the oddly comforting Soviet mass-housing architecture, the surprisingly rich Savitsky Collection of Renegade Soviet Art and little nostalgic gems of Soviet modernism scattered around downtown.

• Overnight in Nukus.

DAY 2 - Ustyurt Plateau

• From Nukus we’ll head north towards the rather desolate city of Kungrad, once a thriving staging spot along the Karakalpak branch of the Silk Road.

• After a short visit to Kungrad’s central bazaar, we’ll drive further north to reach the otherworldly salt fields of Baras-Kermes.

• From Baras-Kermes we’ll then move east to visit the Sudochie Lake, an almost intact natural reserve within the vast Amu Darya delta and a key location for the preservation and maintenance of the biodiversity of the region.

• Near the lake we’ll visit traditional fishing hamlets and stop at the desert village of Urga, before eventually entering the mighty Ustyurt Plateau, an endless transboundary clay desert shared by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

• First stop on the plateau will be the remote Soviet settlement of Kubla-Ustyurt (formerly Komsomol), which harbours an extremely photogenic abandoned airfield.

• From Kubla we’ll then descent to the current shores of the legendary Aral Sea: formerly the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea has been shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet irrigation projects.

• The southern shoreline of the Aral Sea, our goal for the day, is now more than one hundred miles further north than it used to be and what’s been left behind is a somber windswept desert named Aral Kum (Aral sands), while former fishing towns along the original shores have now become ship graveyards.

• Once we reach the shores of the we'll set up a camp and prepare for a night full of stars, hundreds of kilometres from any form of civilisation.

• Dinner and overnight on the current shores of the Aral Sea.

DAY 3 - Moynaq

• Full morning devoted to the Aral Sea enjoying the absolute silence and admiring the resilient nature around us while reflecting upon the endless catastrophes caused by human greed and arrogance.

• We’ll then say goodbye to the ever-shrinking waters of the Aral Sea and head south across surreal landscapes and remote post-Soviet hamlets to reach the one-time fishing harbour of Moynaq, an end-of-the-world outpost of Soviet civilisation located on the former shores of the now disappeared southern portion of the Aral Sea.

• Moynaq Soviet Tour: Ship Graveyard, Aral Sea Memorial, Aral Sea Museum, House of Culture and a vast array of abandoned USSR-era remnants.

• During your time in the area you'll have the unique chance to meet with local Karakalpak artists, students, former fishermen and herders, who will share with you their memories, their dreams and the secrets of their endangered culture.

• Dinner and overnight in Moynaq.

DAY 4 - FAREWELL TO KARAKALPAKSTAN  

• After sharing a last Karakalpak meal together, we'll take care of your transfer to either Nukus International Airport or Nukus Train Station for your trip back home.

• If you are fit enough you can also prolong your stay in the area and indulge in a full-day historical tour of the ancient fortresses of Southern Karakalpakstan; please contact us to learn more about this option.

• Possible tour extensions to this itinerary include: Turkmenistan and/or Kazakhstan.

1295 €

© Gianluca Pardelli | www.gianlucapardelli.com