I decided to diversify the trip by taxi ride through the Kyzylkum Desert to the Aidarkul Lake, which is called the sea in the Sands, and by spending the night in a Yurt camp on the border with Kazakhstan.
And then we will go to Samarkand.
The taxi driver - Bahadir, who by the way knows 5 languages, agreed to drive us this way, which is longer than 500 kilometres, for $100.
About an hour after leaving Bukhara, we saw a rock.
It is known for the petroglyphs - ancient images carved in the stone.
I did not deny myself the pleasure of climbing the rock and admiring the open spaces.
Entering Nurota.
The town is known primarily for the fact that Alexander the Great allegedly contributed to its foundation.
On the hill remained the ruins of the fortress, built on his order.
Climbing to the top for sure you will pass by the local souvenir sellers, who also offer the skins of wolves
of local wolves.
The top of the mountain allows a spectacular view, you can see the whole city.
One of the reasons for choosing this place as a base was probably a water source.
According to one version, it was formed after the fall of the meteorite a couple of tens of thousands of years ago.
And this village was called in honour of the event.
"Nur" is means "light".
This refers to the light that was seen when the meteorite fell.
Source "Chashma" is translated as a well-spring.
They say that sometimes at night the water is glowing.
Locals believe that the water can heal.
Water is constantly at the same temperature - 19.5 �C and is saturated with a variety of microelements including gold and silver.
- Kalium, calcium, chlorine, nitrate, sulfate, magnesium, silicon, bromine, manganese...
And with "Marinkas". It is a sacred fish. Eating them is strictly forbidden.
We drive further through the desert called Kyzylkum - "the Red Sand".
Suddenly on the road began we started to see turtles - one, two, a dozen.
At a speed of 60 km/h it seemed that the whole division of these listed in the Red Book reptiles decided to storm the highway.
We stopped to get a couple out of the way. However, perhaps they returned back on the highway. By the way, keep in mind - it is prohibited to export these animals from Uzbekistan.
The Aydarkul Lake is an oasis in the desert.
The clearest water is in summer a salvation from the exhausting heat.
And fishing is prohibited here. There are several Yurt camps on the banks of Aydarkul.
The most famous is called "U Vahida". We came there first, but there were too many people.
The next one is called "U Ludy". It is less crowded.
- Yurt camp.
- It is actually quite far from the city
inside the desert.
- In general there are 5 of them.
As they say, during the high-season, all the camps are overcrowded.
Now, I have the feeling that this camp is at least half-empty.
The yurt inside looks and smells as if it has been standing here for a long time and is constantly being used for its intended purpose.
There is electricity in yurts. One light bulb and one outlet.
I asked to bring a multi-outlet extension cord.
It was necessary to charge several gadgets at the same time.
And also I wanted to turn on the heater I got everything. Thank you very much!
But the plug of the heater did not fit to the outlet. Good that I had an adapter.
And there was not much use for the heater on a cold night. Night in a Yurt for 1 person - 35$.
I should say, there is almost no entertainment in the camp.
In my opinion, you shouldn't stay here more than one night.
People come here to be closer to the nature, to be silent, to think, to wander through the dunes, to watch the flying eagles.
There are camels here, you can ride them.
The service is stated as free, but it is common to tip the cameleer.
The dinner in the camp is, let's just say, frugal.
Not enough meat. No grilled lamb for the arrival, unfortunately.
Apparently, as a compensation for dinner is offered a bottle of you know what, for free.
After a meal, tourists can sit by the fire and listen to the songs of Akyn in Kazakh and Uzbek languages.
Time to sleep!
Modest breakfast in the morning, then we receive our registrations - all the passports were collected the day before.
And it's time to go!
