Uzbekistan: Aydarkul Lake, a Yurt Camp & the drive to Bukhara

After leaving Samarkand myself and the driver drove around 243km towards Aydarkul Lake where the plan was to stay the night in a Yurt camp called Aydar Yurt camp. The initial portion of the drive from Samarkand initially runs through countryside and irrigated farmland, which then transitions to desert and scrub. The drive through the Uzbek desert is not the most interesting, consisting of long straight roads bounded by scrub on either side.

The road to Aydarkul Lake:

Aydar Yurt Camp & Aydarkul Lake

After the drive through the desert we arrived at Aydar Yurt camp, where it appeared that I was the only person staying off-season time, no problem for me. I left my bags in my allocated yurt, and we drove to Aydarkul Lake to explore that.

Aydar Yurt Camp and location:

Aydarkul Lake is around 3000 km2, so it is quite large. Interestingly, and I did not appreciate this at the time, but Aydarkul and two other nearby lakes are actually man-made, the result of Soviet planning during Uzbekistan’s time as part of the USSR, where they used the Syr Darya river to create the lake. The water is brackish, and the lake itself has elevated levels of evaporation, resulting in some interesting climatic effects locally, including for the northern part of the Aral Sea. Multiple varieties of fish were eventually introduced into this man-made lake, and this has resulted in a substantial local fishery being developed. The shoreline surrounding the lake is sparsely populated and Yurt camping and animal (mostly camel) husbandry is common. As I would come to appreciate when I visited the lakeshore, typical beach pursuits are common during the summer months, however, when I visited it was cold despite the sun and rather windy (and hence dusty), so I was not about to swim or enjoy the beach.

Aydarkul Lake, and a beach in the middle of the desert:

After visiting the lake, I returned to the Yurt camp and noticed a couple more travellers had arrived, a German couple, and then later that evening two women who I think were Russian. I had a beer, chatting briefly, and then met one of my Bactrian camel friends and had a leisurely camel ride for around an hour to one of the local Kazakh villages where the camel was watered. It was nice to experience another desert/scrubland camel ride in a quieter area absent other tourists, unlike in China, as it allowed me to picture more easily what it must have been like to be a Silk Road traveller centuries ago.

Bactrian Camel Ride near Aydarkul:

The food served was simple but quite good, and there was plenty of it, as is usually the case with Central Asian hospitality. After dinner and a beer, I joined the other travellers and some local Kazakh Singers for some music outside under the stars by a fire. I retired to my yurt for what turned out to be quite a cozy night’s sleep.

Evening in the Yurt Camp:

The following day I had breakfast and commenced the long drive to Bukhara. On the way to Bukhara, the driver offered to stop in a town called Nurota which is around 177km from Samarkand and 168km from Bukhara, which I agreed to. On the south-west side of the town of Nurota there is both a religious complex and an ancient fort, which I would explore whilst my driver went to get some food and petrol.

Nurota Pilgrimage Complex & Alexander’s Fort of Nur

It turns out the religious complex at Nurota is an important spot for Islamic pilgrimage. According to Islamic historians, Nurota has been a site of mass pilgrimage since the 10th century AD, as it is alleged that the Prophet Muhammad had struck the ground in this location with his staff, giving rise to a spring which provided abundant mineral (and fish) rich water. This feature is now called the Chashma Spring. The water on site allegedly has healing effects given the quantity of minerals within it, and pilgrims travel regularly from Bukhara to Nurota to worship and also, I think bathe in the spring. There are several structures on the site providing opportunity for pilgrims to cleanse themselves and to worship. As is usually the case for me, I try to view such religious sites from the outside only.

Nurota Pilgrimage Complex and freshwater spring:

Further to the south of the site moving into the hills there is a large ancient fort, allegedly constructed in 327 BC by Alexander the Great. A large channel called a “kariz” (which exist throughout Central Asia’s deserts, including in China) was constructed to transfer water to the fort, and this now forms part of the mineral spring at the Nurota pilgrimage area. There is a steep climb up to the fort (constructed of mud brick) which sits at the crest of a hill. The fort provides impressive views over the town or Nurota and the surrounding countryside, an ideal location. Further behind the fort one can investigate the mountains/hills behind, where there was an abandoned mine or quarry that I did not have time to explore further.

Nur Fort (built by Alexander the Great) at Nurota:

Between Nurota and Bukhara we stopped in Gijduvan at a ceramics factory and art gallery. I forgot the exact name of the place, but it was family-run and they produced both pottery, carpets and other textiles, and they also had a small café in the courtyard of their large home. I particularly liked the more ancient looking pottery, all of which they craft using ancient techniques and materials, and some of the silk carpets. I also liked that they provided translations of some of the phrases on the pottery, so that you can buy something which is meaningful to you. Unfortunately, I had no space for pottery and the carpets were quite expensive (someday I will get one!). I did manage to grab some more packable gifts for a few special people.

Ceramics & Art Centre at Gijduvan:

After leaving the ceramics factory/art centre at Gijduvan we continued towards Bukhara. However, given the extent of the sites of Bukhara and its fascinating history, I will leave discussion of it to a future blog post.

Cheers,

Simon