The Republic of Karakalpakstan occupies almost a third of the territory of Uzbekistan in the west of the country .The vast expanses of the republic are inhabited rather poorly, the inhabited central part is clamped by the deserts of Karakum and Kyzylkum, the whole desert has conquered more than 80% of the country's area .As a result of ill-conceived projects of Soviet times, Karakalpakstan became the epicenter of an ecological catastrophe of a global scale .Amudarya and Syr Darya waters aimed at irrigation of desert regions of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan ceased to reach the Aral Sea .The best place to realize the scale of the problem is the former fishing port of Muynak, now hundreds of kilometers from the coast .Despite the extremely low standard of living, the Karakalpak people preserved their rich customs and traditions, the achievements of local craftsmen in wood carving with inlay, embossing on the skin, weaving and embroidery are widely known .In addition, Karakalpakstan is considered an archaeological reserve in the open air .To date, there are more than 300 archaeological sites, mostly left from the Khorezm civilization .The

How to get to

The most convenient and fastest way to get to the Republic of Karakalpakstan is air travel. Different airlines offer direct flights from Russia to Nukus - the capital of Karakalpakstan. Nukus Airport is located 4 km from the city center, from the airport you can go by public transport or by taxi.

You can get to the capital by rail. Nukus is followed by 11 trains that depart from several Russian cities: Volgograd, Saratov, St. Petersburg, Tula, Kaluga. From the Northern capital to Karakalpakstan you will get a little more than 3 days (ticket price - from 12 000 RUB), and from Tula and Kaluga - for 2, 5 days.

Where to go

Buses and shuttle buses run through Nukus. Buses run strictly on schedule and stop only at the stops. Therefore, the townspeople prefer to use the minibuses, which stop at any place on demand.

Archaeological sights of Karakalpakstan

Tourists traveling around Karakalpakia will discover not only amazing natural landscapes, but also priceless ruins of ancient and medieval monuments. The whole space between Nukus and the Amu Darya is simply dotted with ancient fortresses - the ruins of different centuries, the last witnesses to an almost completely gone civilization.

The fate of the city of Muynak, which disappears along with the desiccated Aral Sea, is tragic. Once it was among the main fishing ports of the Aral Sea, now the distance to the water reaches 100 km. Muynak is a monument of human self-confidence, reminiscent of the inevitable consequences of excessive interference in natural processes.

In the list of obligatory for visiting - soil fortress Toprak-kala. We have reached the insignificant remnants of the once formidable and majestic structure. The preserved south-eastern corner of the fortress allows us to imagine the grandiose scale of the ancient building. Also here you can see partially preserved wall paintings and ruins of several buildings, presumably, of temple buildings.

Another attraction, interesting from the point of view of the history and culture of Karakalpakstan, is Ayaz-kala complex, consisting of the Great and Lesser Fortresses. The large fortress is surrounded by 35 unfinished towers, arranged in the form of a semicircle, and Malaya, when viewed from the north, resembles a shoe.

Almost 40 km from Nukus is located Chilpik - a pyramid-shaped structure, presumably of a ritual purpose. It is believed that it left the departed into the world for the cleansing of bones from the flesh. Later, Chilpik was used as a lookout tower and prison.

Archaeological monuments of Karakalpakstan can be described indefinitely. The fortress of Kyzyl-kala, the border fortress of Bolshoy Guldursun, the settlement of Mizdahkan, the mausoleum of Mazlumkhan, the ancient settlement of Janpik-kala, Koikrelgan-kala - the richness of the culture of Karakalpakia inspires reverence.

What else to see in Karakalpakstan

The majority of art critics agree that the main attraction of Karakalpakstan is the State Museum of Arts named after .In .Savitsky, one of the few large collections of Russian painting 20-30-ies .20th century .The oldest museum in Uzbekistan is the Republican Museum of Local Lore in Karakalpakstan, located on the first floor of the Museum of Arts .In his collection there are three expositions: nature, archeology and ethnography .Cognitive will be a visit to the Berdakh Museum, the exhibits of which reflect the historical path traveled by the Uzbek people from ancient times to the present day .The

All prices are for November 2014. Photo of Karakalpakstan (1)