Aral Sea Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
former lake between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
About Aral Sea
The Aral Sea is not a place for sunbathing or swimming. It is a disaster zone, a scar on the Earth, proof of the destruction humanity can wreak on nature. The Aral Sea has two rivers that flow into it–Amu Darya and Sir Darya, known in ancient times as the Oxus and Jaxartes respectively. TheSoviet Uniondug channels from both rivers for the cotton fields; this was the beginning of the disaster. Some time around 1960, the Aral Sea started shrinking. In 1986, with the falling sea level, the former sea divided into two separate parts: theNorth Aral Seain Kazakhstan, and theSouth Aral Seamainly in Uzbekistan. Thanks to a dyke built in 2005 between the two parts by the Kazakhs, who are more prosperous and less dependent on agricultural irrigation than their southern neighbours, the northern part
Aral Sea Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 5 sections including: