Moynaq and the Aral Shore

Moynaq was a fishing port with a cannery and a harbour full of boats. The Aral Sea it worked has since retreated far to the north, and what remains is one of the most striking landscapes anywhere: rusting trawlers sitting upright on dry sand, their hulls open to the wind, with a memorial and museum on the bluff above where the shoreline used to be. Beyond them stretches the Aralkum, a new desert on the old seabed. Trips run north by 4x4 across it to reach what water is left, camping under enormous skies on the way. It is a sobering, quiet place and an unforgettable one.

What you actually see

• The ship cemetery - trawlers stranded upright on the former seabed.
• The Moynaq museum - photographs of the harbour when the water was there.
• The Aralkum desert - the new landscape on the old sea floor.
• Overnight trips to the remaining water - long 4x4 routes with desert camping.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the workable seasons - summer on the exposed seabed is punishing and winter bitterly cold with strong wind. Clear days give the best light on the hulls. Trips to the current shoreline take two days and need a proper operator out of Nukus.

Honest expectations

There is very little infrastructure: Moynaq has basic guesthouses, and the desert route north has none. Dust carries salts and agricultural residues from the old seabed, so a scarf or buff is genuinely useful on windy days. The drive from Nukus is long on rough road. Visitors should treat the place with the seriousness it deserves - this is a working town living with an environmental catastrophe, not a photo backdrop.

Nearby

Nukus and its remarkable Savitsky art museum, and the Ustyurt plateau to the west.