Advertisement
Published: September 19th 2016
Edit Blog Post
I didn't made up the name Karakalpakstan. This is a true region, even a former republic. The place had been part of Russian empire in the past, but it's now part of Uzbekistan! As would say a drunk man in the street of Kungrad at 3pm...welcome to Karakalpakstan, we do have the Titanic here....welcome to the Aral Sea!
I have to admit, I've reached a less traveled place on this blog. The train from Beyneu was packed, but I was happy to have a decent berth....at least I could sleep....if only for a very short night.
An hour after we left Beyneu, it was already time to cross to Uzbekistan. The train is full of migrant workers, most of them working in wealthier Kazakhstan but coming from Uzbekistan. Just crossing the border took us a good 4 hours. You first exit Kazakhstan, than the slow ride between the two countries, and the Uzbeks immigration come finally into the train. Was a funny experience. You have to declare on a form everything you have with you, cameras, computer, phones...any currency...but the form was only in Uzbek and Russian! Good luck to me. Once the customs lady
approached me...she asked in English...nothing to declare...no weapons....my answer...sorry, nothing special today...and that was it. She came back 20 minutes later...and asked me to follow her. What did I do? Actually nothing, they had a french speaking custom officer....he just wanted to say hi and have a chatto practise his French...so cute! All of this going with smiles all the time!
Getting a visa to Uzbekistan was a pretty easy affair. I did it in Bangkok. You just have to clearly state when you enter the country and leave. But no hotel booking, no flight tickets...they just ask you if you plan to do the usual tourist tour...and if you travel with a group or on your own.
The train would take few more hours across a very dry desert to the city of Kungrad. At each stop, local people board the train to sell you everything and anything...and to change money too. Now read this....I didn't plan much ahead, and I had no idea of the current black market rate. But basically, official rate is 3000soms to one USD...on the black market, I got 6100soms per dollar! I have lived in Argentina for
a full year with a black market rate...and few years ago, even Vietnam had it for a while. The idea of it, is that you do not use your credit card, you do not withdraw money from ATM...and you go all cash changing money on the street. No the question was....did I had enough cash with me for a full week in Uzbekistan!
We know this is illegal, but this is the way few countries do operate in the world. The result of this for Uzbekistan makes it one of the cheaper country in the world, but you need to get ready for it, and to learn that you will need negotiation skills....as the people you deal with will be more than happy to take benefit of you if you do not know what you are doing. As an economist point of view, black market for a national currency is never sustainable on the long term for a country. It's simply the government trying to fix a rate that is not the market rate...and the consequences of it generally means huge devaluation in the medium run, hurting even further the local population.
So after
my more the 24 hours train ride, I made it to Kungrad by 2pm. My aim was to reach this afternoon the little village of Moynaq. You have never heard about this place....but you may know what is the Aral Sea. Today, the Aral Sea disappearance is one of the worst ecological disaster in the world. Due to the abuse usage of the water of the Aral Sea to sustain the cotton industry in the region...the water has slowly recessed. Today, the water has recessed more than 200km away from Moynaq. The village used to be the main fishing port of the Aral Sea.
Sadly,Uzbekistan doesn't have any money to save the Aral Sea. On the other side of the border, Kazakhstan is finally winning the war for water. Water is back using dams...there, the Aral Sea is nearly back to the orignal size...but Uzbekistan is another story!
You can go way further than what I did. But that's a pretty expensive experience if you are on your own. There are no roads, so you need to book a SUV and camp on your way. This is not on my program. Instead, I spent
some time at the look out. Today this is a cliff, around 15 meters high. The sea was all over, and today, there is just sand and new vegetation. They have also regrouped few fishing boats left here, plus a basic monument. Fishing boats are all rusted. Think about it, back in 1964, there was a sea here...today, the water is 200km away!
To get to Moynaq, I have rented a shared taxi. Was a slight challenge as no other tourists around. The two guys sharing the 100km in the seats behind, are fully drunk....vodka is flowing...and with a road in truly bad shape, the taxi driver is going over 100km per hour, with cows crossing all over! I was happy to make it alive!
Less than 2 hours after arriving in Moynaq, we were on our way back. I transferred to another shared in Kungrad, to make it just before night time to the industrial city of Nukus. I'm staying at the Joly Jipek hotel. Booked through booking.com what they have left, the best suite. Well....rate is officially 70usd...they "have" to apply the official rate...so what looks like expensive at first sight, is
a nice suite for 35usd at the end, including a nice breakfast. Welcome to the cheapest country in the world...trust me...I know!
Next morning, I'm visiting the Savitsky Museum. Just 2usd to enter, around 15usd if you want to take pictures....so no pics of the inside. The museum is the biggest collection of "not-authorized" art during the USSR time. Savitsky thought it was a remote enough place away from Moscow to "hide" art that would have been destroyed by the Communists if he did create a sanctuary for those artists.
I spent close to two hours in the Museum. So weird...such a place...a little industrial city with not much...and this Museum! By lunch time, I'm on my way into another shared taxi...direction, the jewel of Central Asia, I name Khiva!
Few people have asked me...but is the place safe. Beside a drunk driver or two, yes, the place is very safe and very friendly. Well....this knowing I'm writing these lines sitting in my hotel room in Kinshasa....were at least 17 people were killed today in a protest just 7km away from my hotel....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.075s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 15; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0469s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb