New Photos – Moynaq

By Steve Bouey in

Before we made it across the Qizilqum Desert and into Kazakhstan to catch the ferry across the Caspian Sea, we stopped by another great body of water… the Aral Sea. Unfortunately, the once thriving fishing village of Moynaq where we camped for the night is now nowhere near the shores of the Aral Sea. The desertification of the Aral Sea represents probably the largest man-made ecological disaster of our time and although the affects are far reaching, Moynaq is a very visible representation of just how much the receding waters have affected the lively hood of thousands of people.

After spending the night in the trucks at the border, we awoke to find food vendors ready to serve those of us who had been straAfter Moynaq, we headed across the desert and back into Kazakhstan to catch a ferry that hopefully was still floating in waterNice and clean but not for longApparently, they still use steam engines out hereWe were surprised to find that we were not the only ones headed to Kazakhstan via the middle of nowhereThe town on the western border between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan definitely did not have a McDonald’sHead west and you will find what you seek and in our case hopefully it is the Kazakh borderThe old Uzbekistan customs houseUzbek recreational vehicle Moynaq was once a thriving fishing village on the Aral SeaToday, not much remains of the Areal Sea near MoynaqThere is not much left for the people of Moynaq to do but salvage scrap metal from what remains of their fleetMost of the working parts have been salvaged from the boats and soon, so will the restThe boats are a visible reminder of the Aral Sea tragedy, but its effects go far beyond the fishing fleetThere is not much left for the people of Moynaq to do but salvage scrap metal from what remains of their fleetKarie exploring one of the many stranded fishing vessels at MoynaqThis boat has been bleached by the sun and rusted to the point of almost perfectly blending in with its desert tomb I guess it is more difficult than we can image to move an entire fishing villageIt makes you wonder why these boats were just left here and not moved as the water recededAn old anchorage lies rusting in the desert sandFinally, some local kids showed us where the ships wereWalking by the skeletal remains of the Moynaq fleet was surreal The efforts of the villagers to dig a canal to the receding shoreline is still visibleMoynaq is home to a ghost fleet of fishing boats but is was harder to find than we had thoughtThe once proud fishing fleet now sits rusting in the desert sandsThe village still remains, but without fishing, life is pretty difficult and the inhabitants suffer from a higher number of healThe present day shoreline of the Aral Sea lies more than 150 kilometers north of MoynaqBouey wonders what life must have been like in Moynaq while Karie tries to figure out how to use binocularsThe desertification of the Aral Sea has hit Moynaq especially hardThe efforts of the villagers to dig a canal to the receding shoreline is still visibleMost of the working parts have been salvaged from the boats and soon, so will the rest

This entry was written by Steve Bouey, posted on February 2, 2008 at 5:02 pm, filed under New Photos, Uzbekistan. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.