Uzbekistan - Central Asia - page 209

stands almost 200km from the water. What
remains of Moynaq's fishing fleet lies rust-
ing on the sand in the former seabed.
The mostly Kazakh residents have moved
away in droves, and today Moynaq is a vir-
tual ghost town populated by livestock herd-
ers and the elderly looking after grandchil-
dren whose parents have left to find work
elsewhere. The few who remain suffer the
full force of the Aral Sea disaster, with hot-
ter summers, colder winters, debilitating
sand-salt-dust storms, and a gamut of health
problems.
Moynaq used to be on an isthmus con-
necting the Ush Say (Tiger's Tail) peninsula
to the shore. You can appreciate this on
the approach to the town, where the road
is raised above the surrounding land. The
town itself consists of one seemingly end-
less main street linking the bus station at its
southeast end with the Oybek Hotel and the
ships graveyard to the northwest.
1 ¨Sights
Poignant reminders of Moynaq's tragedy are
everywhere: the sign at the entrance to the
town has a fish on it; a fishing boat stands
as a kind of monument on a makeshift ped-
estal near Government House.
From the Aral Sea memorial you can spot
a lake southeast of town, created in an at-
tempt to restore the formerly mild local cli-
mate. It didn't quite work, but it's at least
given the locals a source of recreation.
Museum¨ MUSeUM
(Main Rd; admission 5000S, camera 5000S;
h 9am-6pm Tue-Sun) The local museum in the
city hall has some interesting photos and
paintings of the area prospering before the
disaster.
Beached¨Ships¨ ShiP CeMeTeRY
The beached ships are a five-minute walk
from the Oybek Hotel, across the main road
and beyond the collection of homes. Once
difficult to find, most ships have now been
moved to a centralised location beneath the
Aral Sea memorial, which occupies a bluff
that was once the Aral Sea's bank.
4 ¨Sleeping
Don't spend the night in Moynaq unless you
have to. The town's only hotel, the Oybek,
was being reconstructed in 2013, so things
may get better soon, but until then you're
limited to homestays. Bring your own food,

or arrange in advance to be fed, as you'll find
almost nothing for sale.
Koshkarbai¨Artikov¨ hoMeSTAY $
( % [phone]; Nasirov 146; per person
incl breakfast US$10) Koshkarbai's big house
sleeps up to 9 people, and his daughter
speaks English, although it may be easier
to get your hotel in Nukus to arrange a stay
here. Facilities are basic, there's an outdoor
toilet but there is hot water. Lunch and din-
ner can be provided at extra cost and with
notice.
Makhmudjan¨Aitzhanov¨ hoMeSTAY $
( % [phone], [phone]; Amir
Timur 2; per person incl full board US$20) Ma-
khmudjan Aitzhanov's homestay is an easy
walk from the bus station and his family
cooks filling plov dinners. There's no central
plumbing but there's a tap and shower out-
side. If you've brought your own food, a B&B
only deal is US$15 per person.

8 Getting¨There¨&¨Away
Several buses make the trip from Nukus
(10,000S, four hours) via Kungrad (Kongirot)
and depart from Nukus' bazaar. Most return
buses from Moynaq depart in the morning. All
buses to Moynaq are standing-room-only; board
early if you want a seat.
it's swifter and far more comfortable to take
a shared taxi or marshrutka to Kungrad from a
stop opposite the train station, and transfer at
Kungrad's train station to a marshrutka or an-
other shared taxi. This will cost about 30,000S
in total and save you two hours of driving time.
Arrive in Kungrad by mid-afternoon to ensure an
onward ride.
A day trip from Nukus in an ordinary taxi
should cost around 200,000S, depending on
your negotiating skills.

UNDERSTAND
UZBEKISTAN

Uzbekistan Today
Any account of contemporary Uzbekistan
has to begin with the chilling events of 13
May 2005 in the eastern city of Andijon,
which rocked the country and went on to
shock the world. The 'Andijon Massacre', as
it was later dubbed, was touched off when
two dozen powerful local businessmen were
jailed for being members of Akramiya, an