Wonders of Karakalpakstan

What to see in Karakalpakstan? Perhaps everyone who has been to this remote part of Uzbekistan will answer this question in their own way and be right. I would like to share my experience and talk about those places that I consider the most interesting and worth visiting.

Words by: Fatima Arifdjanova

1. The State Museum of Art named after Savitsky I.V. in Nukus

The Savitsky Museum is one of the largest museums in Uzbekistan. The museum’s collection is recognised as the second largest in the world in terms of significance and volume of Russian avant-garde works. It is considered to have the best art collection in the Asian region, second only to the collection of the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

Formation of the collection began before the museum in Nukus appeared. After moving from Moscow to Nukus in 1957, Savitsky actively participated in archaeological research and formed an archaeological team, the purpose of which was to collect art objects of ancient Khorezm. At the same time, Savitsky was fond of collecting avant-garde works prohibited in the USSR. He managed to accumulate a large number of artworks, which became the basis for the creation of the museum.

For several years, Savitsky formed one of the most comprehensive collections of fine art of the Russian and Turkestan avant-garde, one of the most significant collections of decorative and applied art of Karakalpakstan, as well as a unique collection of archaeological exhibits of Ancient Khorezm.

In Soviet times, not a single museum in the country could have had such a collection of avant-garde, and only its remoteness from the union capital allowed Savitsky to save all the collected paintings.

Today, the Savitsky Museum is often called the "Louvre in the Desert" with its exhibits being displayed at various venues in Uzbekistan and beyond, and the museum itself is visited by more than 70 thousand tourists annually.

2. Graveyard of ships in Muynak

Upon first arrival to this place it seems to be some strange, phantasmagorical decoration for unreal reality. Where do the ships come from, dozens of kilometres away from the nearest water? What unknown force brought them here and left them to die from the hot sands of Karakalpakstan?

70 years ago, Muynak was a quite prosperous city on the shores of the Aral Sea, which supplied the whole Soviet Union with canned fish. Fish were caught in the Aral Sea, where the fleet included 158 ships, which employed 2,200 fishermen in 1965. The trouble came in 1950, when an idea to build the Karakum canal appeared, which took almost 50% of the Amu Darya water that fed the sea.

For such an intervention, nature began to take revenge and one of the four largest lakes in the world started to rapidly dry up. For several decades, where the fish swam, the sands began to reign. The Aral Sea was replaced by the Aral desert - Aralkum. The fish factory closed, but the city survived, adjusting itself to life among the sands. It is not for nothing that Muynak translates as “tenacious”.

You can get to Muynak by bus or taxi from Nukus, though the bus runs there only twice a day, so a taxi will turn out, although more expensive, but more reliable. If you wish, you can stay in Muynak for the night in a hotel, and then hire a jeep (or rather two, no one drives there by themselves) and drive 100 km to the present shore of the Aral Sea.

3. Tope aul

If you are interested in ethnography, want to take part in a master class on weaving traditional Karakalpak mats or learn how to cook Karakalpak cuisine, then you need to visit the small village of Tope aul in Chimbay district.

Here, in Tope aul, Zhizimgul-opa lives - one of the oldest keepers of the craftsmanship of weaving Karakalpak mats. Under her guidance, you can also try your hand at this seemingly simple craft. You can also not only taste, but learn how to cook traditional Karakalpak dishes, such as jueri gurtik.

Your adventure will be accompanied by beautiful Karakalpak songs, and if you are lucky you will see one of the most popular horse games in Asia - kokpar.

4. Mizdakhan

Mizdakhan is a necropolis with more than two thousand years of history that arose near the site of Zoroastrian worshipers. The most famous and visited place in Mizdakhan is the mausoleum of Erzhep Khalifa.

The mausoleum which preached Islam at the dawn of its spread across Central Asia, is the most mysterious place of Mizdakhan shrouded in legends. Pilgrims who come here believe that it is here that Adam’s grave is located, and the mausoleum itself is a world clock counting down life on Earth. The mausoleum was built in the 9th century and every year one brick falls from it. As soon as the last stone has fallen to the earth, the end of the world will come. Those who come here seek to prolong worldly life by folding pyramids out of fallen bricks.

According to tradition, the pyramid should have 7 stones, same as the number of companions of the prophet buried here and the number of domes above the shrine of Shamun. Having made a pyramid, you can make a wish and believe that it will come true. Well, of course, you can’t break other people's pyramids to build your own or take stones as a keepsake.

In general, a lot of legends and beliefs are associated with the number 7 in Mizdakhan. According to one of them, it is believed that if on Thursday you come to Jumard Hill, next to the tomb of Shamun, and roll off it, having turned seven times over your head, you can get rid of infertility.

Mizdakhkan today is one of the most revered Muslim shrines of Uzbekistan. The spirit captures from contemplation of the vast space on which the ancient necropolis is located. The traditions of Zoroastrianism and Islam are intertwined here: old burial grounds, ruins of medieval mausoleums and ancient buildings, from which only the very top is visible, as most of them are hidden under layers of time and sand. Here, unique finds have been discovered associated with ancient funeral rites (ossuary vessels, sarcophagi, pottery, coins), according to which archaeologists were able to recreate the details of the dominant culture.

5. Sudochye Lake

Sudochye Lake is one of the richest in the diversity of avifauna in Uzbekistan. Here you can see flamingos, pink and curly pelicans, cormorants, herons, golden eagles and more than 200 species of birds. To preserve birds, in 1991 the Sudochye State Ornithological Reserve was created here, and in 2008 Lake Sudochye received the status of Important Bird Area (IBA).

Once, Sudochye Lake was a large, albeit shallow-water basin. There were fish factories on its shore, and up to 2000 tons of fish were caught here.

After lowering of the water level in the Aral Sea, the lake began to dry up, since most of the water from the rivers that fed Sudochye was taken for irrigation. So, by the end of the 60s, a large lake broke into several small reservoirs: Akushpa, Bolshoi Sudochye, Karatereny and Begdulla Aydin.

Now Sudochye is one of the favourite places for nature photographers and birdwatchers.

6. Ustyurt Plateau

One of the most beautiful and unusual natural places of Karakalpakstan is the Ustyurt plateau. An area of 200,000 km² is divided between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Sometimes Ustyurt is called an island and this is not surprising. If you look at the plateau from a bird's eye view, you can see huge stone walls - chinks, up to 300 meters high, towering above the sandy desert. These walls are so steep that you can climb a plateau in only a few places.

The colour scheme of chinks is striking; it shifts with gradients from white to pink, from pink to red, yellow and even blue.

However, despite its inaccessibility, the Ustyurt plateau was not a place avoided by people. More than 60 sites of the Neolithic era were discovered on the plateau, and traces of the presence of Scythians and Mongols were preserved. The Great Silk Road passed along Ustyurt as well. Unfortunately, time does not spare evidence of past life, and only a few dilapidated ancient monuments have survived to this day.

The best time to visit the Ustyurt plateau is in April-May or early autumn. Summer is hot and long. The average July temperature is 26-28°, and in some years the temperature reaches 40-60°.

7. Barsakelmes

The name Barsakelmes translates as "you will go - you will not return". Barsakelmes is a Salt Lake located on the site of the former Tatis Sea, which "died out" many millions of years ago. It is precisely its territory that is now occupied by such deserts as Karakum and Kyzylkum.

The very definition of "lake" for Barsakelmes is not entirely correct, since there is no water here and only in the spring a small layer of brine - saturated saline solution - appears on it. In fact, Barsakelmes is a basin at the foot of the Ustyurt plateau, filled with a huge reserve of salt formed in the days of the ancient sea.

It’s not safe to go deep into the lake; you should always remember how its name is translated. The reason is that under a thin salt crust there may be dips of unknown depth or wet sludge. It’s best to come here closer to sunset and enjoy the view from the plateau as the setting sun disappears in white silence.

Aral sea

Uzbekistan’s hiking routes