Ancient Korezm

The Golden Circle

After leavivvng the museum we entered the desert and nothingness again. Hours and hours worth of driving. In the beautiful even sunlight we come across what looked like a fortress from long ago.

 

We stopped and took some pictures. The fortress looked amazing in the evening light. The wind however was less than amazing. Gusts of wind swept across the desert battering at our bodies.

Already half broken from bush camps and lack of showers, we started to panic about our upcoming camp. The wind would make trying to set up tents as well as keep a fire going to cook on seem impossible. Lee and Jamie had found in the Lonely Planet guide an upcoming yurt camp. 

 

Together we got together and discussed our options for camping. Steve, the insane but amazing bush man he is, did not want to go to a campsite and would prefer to suffer through the night. Most of the group was did not need any convincing. After a slightly aggressive argument I was settled that we would drive up and check to see if there was space in the yurts.

Pulling up to the camp, three of us got out to discuss the price with the lovely Uzebeki lady. With a little negotiating we got the price from 25 dollars down to 15. You guys know how much I love to negotiate. In this price we also got to use the kitchen area safe from the dust and wind!

Steve, I think was a little put off because he didn't get his way. As soon as we dropped our stuff in the nice yurts with no wind he insisted we dry out all the tents from the night before in the Aral Sea. It was pretty comical to watch everyone trying to not lose the battle against the wind. I discovered that you could stand on the corner and the entire tent would fill up with the strong wind!

That night we enjoyed a nice dinner inside a yurt! Yay for no dust and no tents. The yurt was decorated in a traditional style. Late that evening we had a little fun getting to try on all the traditional outfits. Although I am pretty sure we did not wear them all correctly.

After a good nights sleep I woke up and finally got to take a shower! Yes, a shower! The trickle out of the faucet was slow to conserve water but hey, after camping in the desert and sweating days on end it was fabulous.

Now time for exploring this desolate but intriguing area in the daylight. The drive from Nukus in the previous day took north of Urgench Ito southern Karaalpakstan. This area was previously known as Khorzem over 2,000 years ago when the Amu-Darya used to flow and make the area flourish. The forts that we we're currently starring up at date back 2,000 years. This particular one is a complex of 3 forts named Ayaz-Qala and are part of the Ancient Elliq-Qala, meaning fifty fortresses, and today named by UNESCO as the `Golden Ring of Ancient Khorezm.`   

Hiking straight up the mountain in the early morning golden sun I was once again shocked. Here we are in an ancient ruin town with not a single person, tourist or worker. No admission, no rules, and no people. Had this been in another Western city fences would be build to keep people off the walls and people would want paid to let you see it. 

For about an hour we hiked on top of the now melted fortress walls. I stopped many times to try to imagine the nomads coming into the city walls during an invasion for protection. Looking out in every direction was more and more barren land. Land that we somehow had managed to cross and camp through for days. It was a beautiful way to start the day!