Uzbekistan - Qongirat Moynad

(pictures are in reversed order...)
We arrived a Qongirat Uzbekistan to pick up our local guide and we stayed a night in the road-side rest houses where local truck drivers stop to have rest. After picking up some supplies the next morning from the town, we headed to Moynad.

Pictures taken at Qongirat market. Town was full of Russian cars to yester years.

Moynad was not on our original schedule to visit. The visit was possible because we by-passed Turkmenistan. There is a very sad story associated with Moynad and one had to see it to believe the story.

Moynad was once a fishing town with a very large fish cannery which employed several thousands of employees. The Aral Sea has now retreated some 150km away and left fishing boats high and dry (see pictures). The Soviet authority some years ago decided to drain the sea to irrigate cotton fields. Once the irrigation project started, no present day government is going to reverse the process. The disaster is man made and there is always two sides to a story.

There is only a small river/stream a couple of kms out from the township where we camped for the night. By the sound of it, it wouldn't be long before this river dries up too. Hopefully, for the environment and for humanity, this does not happen.