Dehradun, March 11 -- Nitin at the Aral Sea

All Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian

I continue with the not so fictitious Republic of Karakalpakstan and the deserts it contains. As I conclude this Central Asia series with the final two pieces (this and the one next week), I couldn't close it without a mention of the ecosystem I love the most - the desolate deserts of the world. So here was the Kyzylkum Desert and the Ustyurt Plateau in Karakalpakstan and the Karakum Desert, with a sliver of it in Uzbekistan and the bulk in Turkmenistan. We had three wonderful guides who took us to these alien landscapes - Atabich, Khikmat Akhmedov and Gairat and we had great experiences with all of them.

Atabich took us to the Aral Sea whic...