Mollakara

Mollakara is a small salt lake in a depression in the Balkan desert whose brine and black mud have been used medicinally since the Soviet period, when a sanatorium was built beside it. The water is dense enough to float in easily and the mud is applied and left to dry. The surroundings are bare salt flat and desert. The facility operates on a treatment basis rather than as a resort and most guests stay for courses of days or weeks.

What you actually see

• The salt lake - brine dense enough to float in without effort.
• The black mud - the deposits applied and dried on the skin.
• The sanatorium - the treatment facility built beside the lake.
• The salt flats - the bare white ground surrounding the water.

When to go

April to May and September to October are the comfortable months. Summer heat and glare are severe. The sanatorium runs year round on courses.

Honest expectations

This is a medical sanatorium rather than a spa and is organised around treatment courses. Facilities are dated. Any therapeutic claims made for the mud and brine are not something to take as medical advice.

Nearby

Balkanabat is east, and Turkmenbashi is northwest.