Aral SeaKarakalpakstanNature
The Aral Sea: Witnessing an Environmental Story
Rusting ships in a desert that was once a sea — a haunting, unforgettable journey to Moynaq.
Nigora Yusupova
Few places tell a story as powerfully as the Aral Sea. Once the world's fourth-largest lake, it has shrunk to a fraction of its size, leaving fishing boats stranded in the sand near the town of Moynaq.
The journey through Karakalpakstan is long but rewarding. In Nukus, the remarkable Savitsky Museum holds one of the world's great collections of Soviet avant-garde art, hidden for decades in the desert. Further north, the ship graveyard stands as a stark monument to environmental change.
This is travel with meaning — sobering, beautiful and unlike anywhere else on earth.
