Kazakhstan - Central Asia - page 85

Hotel¨Selena¨Star¨ HOTEL $$
( % 27 56 26; Begim-Ana 30; s/d incl breakfast
9600/11,600T; paiW ) A well-run option
900m southeast of the train station. Rooms
are comfy and well-sized, and there's an
enormous billiards room if you're in the
mood for a frame.
Tagam¨ CAFETERIA $
(cnr Korkyt Ata & Baytursynuly; mains 500-900T;
h 24hr; W ) This large, very clean, self-service
restaurant does a range of well-priced and
decently presented fare from manty and
grilled chicken to salads and shubat (fer-
mented camel's milk).

There are two central internet¨cafes
(Abilkayyr Khan; internet per hr 300T; h 24hr) on
the main street, and several ATMs on the
main square, just north of Abilkayyr Khan.
1 ¨Sights¨&¨Activities
Aral¨Tenizi¨ TOUR
( % 2 22 56, 701-662 7163, 705-449 3732; www.aral
sea.net; makataev 10-13; h office 9am-6pm mon-
Fri) S The NGO Aral Tenizi, which works to
revive the Aral fishing industry, can arrange
4WDs and drivers to visit the sites. Ask for
English-speaking Serik Dyusenbaev. A half-
day trip to the Zhalanash ship cemetery
(p91) and the sea costs 15,000T for up to
four people. A day trip to the Kok-Aral Dam,
220km from Aralsk (about 3½ hours each
way), is 35,000T.
A day trip to Zhalanash and on to tiny
Tastubek, 25km further and the nearest vil-
lage to the seashore (4km), is 20,000T: you
can swim in the sea from an earth beach
near Tastubek, and short outings (up to an
hour) in fishers' boats can be arranged for
around 5000T.
Aral Tenizi charges all clients a 3000T
membership fee per group. Try to make
contact ahead, to allow time to make your
arrangements.
Ship¨Cemetery¨ SHIP CEmETERY
Near Zhalanash (Zhambyl), a former fishing
village 55km west of Aralsk and now some
10km from the seashore, you can still see a
ship cemetery, where three abandoned hulks
rust in the sand, providing shelter for those
other ships of the desert, the area's wander-
ing camels. A few years ago there were more
ships, but several have been spirited away by
scrap-metal scavengers.
Fishermen's¨Museum¨ mUSEUm
(makataev; admission 200T; h 9am-noon & 3-7pm
mon-Sat) Four fishing boats stand on ped-
estals beside Aralsk's former harbour, near
the town centre, as a tribute to fallen heroes.
The biggest of the four now forms part of
the recently established Fishermen's Mu-
seum, which has fishing gear, paintings,
photos and maps from Soviet times, and
a 10-minute video. The boat's interior has
been partly refurbished and you can climb
up on deck.
History¨Museum¨ mUSEUm
(Yesetov; admission 250T, photos 100T each;
h 9am-noon & 3-7pm mon-Sat) Aralsk's small
history museum has a few desiccation

8 Getting¨There¨&¨Around
Air Astana lies daily to Almaty (from 17,340T)
and Astana (from 20,250T); SCAT lies to Aktau
and Karaganda. The train station (Auelbekov),
on the northern edge of the centre, has at
least eight daily departures to Aralsk (2220T
to 4790T, seven to 10 hours), Turkistan (1770T
to 3480T, four to eight hours) and Shymkent
(2560T; seven to 12 hours). A bus to Aralsk
(1200T, nine hours) leaves at 10pm from about
June to September only, from the southeast
corner of the square in front of the train station.
Three daily buses to Turkistan (800T, ive hours)
and Shymkent (1300T, eight hours) and two to
Almaty (3800T, 20 hours), plus marshrutkas
to Turkistan (1000T) and Shymkent (1500T),
go from the shabby Avtovokzal Saltanat (Bok-
eykhan 64), 3.5km south of the centre. Bus 1
(50T) travels slowly between the train station
and Avtovokzal Saltanat via the city centre.

Aralsk (Aral)

АРАЛЬСК ( АРАЛ )
% 72433 / POP 30,000
Four decades ago Aralsk, 450km northwest
of Kyzylorda, was an important fishing port
on the shores of the Aral Sea, with a popula-
tion twice its current size. A large mosaic in
its train station depicts how in 1921 Aralsk's
comrades provided fish for people starving
in Russia. Today most of the Aral Sea is gone,
victim of Soviet irrigation schemes that took
water from its lifelines, the Syr-Darya and
Amu-Darya rivers, and pushed the shore-
line 60km out from Aralsk. If you want to
witness the Aral Sea environmental disaster
firsthand, Aralsk is easier to visit than simi-
larly defunct ports in Uzbekistan - and less
gloomy, as efforts to save the northern part
of the Aral Sea are succeeding and its fishing
industry is growing again.