Handpicked experience · Nukus
Nukus, Uzbekistan
A long private day from Nukus: the Savitsky Museum’s collection of Russian avant-garde art, the ancient necropolis of Mizdakhan, and Muynak, where the fishing fleet was left on dry land as the Aral Sea retreated.
The ship cemetery at Muynak
The Muynak museum and the story of the Aral Sea
The Savitsky Museum in Nukus
The Mizdakhan necropolis
<section><h2>Overview</h2><p>Muynak was a busy fishing port on the Aral Sea within living memory. As the sea shrank through the second half of the twentieth century the water drew back far beyond the town, and the boats were left in the sand. It is one of the most sobering places in Central Asia, and this day trip from Nukus combines it with two very different sights.</p></section><section><h2>The day</h2><p>The morning begins in Nukus at the Savitsky Museum, whose founder gathered a remarkable collection of Russian avant-garde painting here, far from Moscow’s censors. Outside the city is Mizdakhan, a hilltop necropolis used for more than a thousand years.</p><p>From there it is a long drive north to Muynak, to its small museum and the line of rusting hulls on the old sea bed below the town, before returning to Nukus. The round trip is about 420 kilometres.</p></section><section><h2>Highlights</h2><ul><li>The ship cemetery at Muynak</li><li>The Muynak museum and the story of the Aral Sea</li><li>The Savitsky Museum in Nukus</li><li>The Mizdakhan necropolis</li></ul></section>
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No. This is a private car or minivan with a driver who knows the route; the driver may not speak English. An English-speaking guide can be added on request for an extra charge.
Not on this day trip; the shore is now far beyond Muynak and needs an overnight four-wheel-drive trip onto the Ustyurt plateau. This tour shows the old sea bed and the stranded ships.