KARAKALPAKSTAN · 4 DAYS
Karakalpakstan and the Aral Sea
The Savitsky collection in Nukus, the ship graveyard at Moynaq, a night on the old seabed and the desert fortresses of Khorezm.
Guide price from US$790 per person
Uzbekistan · 3 to 4 days
Nukus and the Aral Sea
The far west: the Savitsky Museum's hidden avant-garde collection, the ship graveyard at Moynaq, and the shore the sea has retreated to.
Why go
Why Nukus and the Aral Sea
Karakalpakstan is the opposite of the Silk Road cities. Nukus is a Soviet grid town in the desert, and inside it is one of the great art collections of the twentieth century, saved from Stalin's censors by a man who hid it here. North of it, Moynaq's fishing fleet sits on sand. The sea is now 150 kilometres further on.
It is a trip for people who have seen the cities and want the other story.
See and do
What to see
- The Savitsky Museum
- Russian avant-garde painting and Karakalpak folk art. Allow half a day.
- Moynaq
- The ship graveyard and the small museum of the port that was.
- The shore of the Aral Sea
- A 4x4 day across the dry seabed to a yurt camp on the Ustyurt plateau.
- Mizdakhan
- A necropolis on three hills outside Nukus, used for two thousand years.
- The fortresses of Khorezm
- Ayaz-Kala, Toprak-Kala and Kyzyl-Kala, on the road to Khiva.
In pictures
A closer look
Practical
When and how
- How long
- 3 to 4 days
- Best time
- April to May and September to October. The plateau is brutal in summer and freezing in winter.
- Getting there
- Fly from Tashkent to Nukus, about ninety minutes. Khiva is three hours away by road.
Tours
Trips that go to Nukus and the Aral Sea
Plan a trip
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