12.05.2015

Turkistan= Khodja Ahmed Yassaui mausoleum

Should you ask Kazakh citizens what places are worth visiting in their country, with no doubts, they will mention Turkistan as one of the MUSTs. 
Is it really that spectacular?
Well, it is definitely a MUST-SEE for those who limit their exploration of Central Asia to KZ only. (They make a huuuge mistake, btw, but hey, it's their call).
Turkistan is famous for the most impressive monument in KZ, a huge complex mausoleum of Khodja Ahmed Yassaui, 41m high, with turquoise domes and flocks of pidgins flying around. Nothing more is going on there… 
Started by the great Tamerlane, the mausoleum was never finished (noticed untiled domes and wooden timbers protruding from the walls?) yet it fully deserves its place on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Mostly thanks to its size and stunning tilework, the hallmark or Timur's era (more to be seen in Uzbekistan)
Who was Khodja Ahmed Yassaui?
In a nutshell, Khodja Ahmed Yassaui was born round 1103 in Sayram and orphaned at the age of seven. He moved with his sister to Yassai (today’s Turkistan) and became a student of Arslan Bab (legend has it, Arslan Bab was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad). On the death of his teacher, Ahmed moved to Bukhara, UZ, became a disciple of Sheikh Yusup Hamadani, important proclaimer of Sufism in central Asia. Ahmed chose to return to Yassi, took the name Ahmed Yassaui and became a highly successful propagator of Islam, based around Sufi tradition. He was also an great poet using the local Turkic language in his religious poetry making it more accessible to ordinary people.
At the age of 63, that reached by the Prophet Muhammad, Ahmed retired to the underground cell where he lived and prayed till the end of his life. He stated that he did not wish to live a worldly life any longer than that of the Prophet. In the 12th century once flourishing settlements, like the one of Shavgar, started their decline in favour of Yassi (Yassi was initially a small satellite town). The town’s fortunes were linked to the presence of Khodja Ahmed Yassaui there and the settlement became a place of pilgrimage on his death.

Today, Turkistan is a major Sufi pilgrimage centre and pilgrims outnumber tourists a great deal. Apparently, if you make the pilgrimage there 3 times, it equates one to Mecca. (Well, it rings a bell, doesn’t it...;) Do not be surprised to share a marshrutka with a family of Kazakh pilgrims, of all ages, heading to Turkistan to pray for a groom for their daughter/sister/cousin etc. who is already 25, not married and  therefore a major embarrassment for the family...
To sum up, is it worth the bother? Well, it is a landmark, it’s quite impressive (again, go to UZ and impressive will smack you over the head at each turn) and it’s easy to reach, so why not. Going in spring/summer be prepared for the heat…bottle of water will save your day. Or 3 just to be safe J


The easiest route to get to Turkistan, or rather the most common one is to travel from Shymkent. Marshrutkas leave on a “full bus” basis from numerous bus stations around the town. Ask the locals/ taxi drivers to make sure which one to go to. On a good day you can get to T. within 2,5 h. 

















25.02.2015

Aralsk: Can you see the sea?/ Aralsk: Widzisz może morze?

No, I can't. Nobody can anymore. At least not as it used to be. The view that greets you in Aralsk is simply heartbreaking. Once a thriving, industry booming, fish-rich and people-happy port town, today it resembles one of the American, desolated ghost towns more than its past prosperous self. It seems that while gradually disappearing over the past 50 years, the Aral Sea drained away peoples' joy, motivation and hope...

And just to think that, when called for help by Lenin in 1916, on a short notice, the Aralsk  fishermen were able to load up 14 carriages of fish and sent it to the starving army...
Maybe a bit of history then…
It all started in 1960, when some "wise" men in Moscow decided, that it would be a great idea to grow cotton on the Soviet Union territory and made it their main export product. As cotton needs a lot of sun and water, they decided to set up plantations in a close proximity to Aral Sea. At that time the sea, being one of the largest salt water lake in the world, with the surface area of 68,000 km2, was "fed" by 2 rivers, Syr Darya and Amu Darya. However, since Russians decided to grow cotton, so-called "white gold", the rivers were diverted to irrigate the dessert instead. That's when the "one of the planet's worst environmental disasters" began. The sea started to shrink uncontrollably taking away people's jobs, their hope and their future.
Ironically, the water level drop was not the only result of the "cotton fever". Soon enough another disaster struck when peoples started to suffer from various throat and lungs ailments. As it turned out, pumping the ground with massive amounts of various pesticides and fertilizers to support the crops (crop rotation was not used) caused not only the soil depletion but, being carried away by the wind, it was also the reason of severe pollution and health problems.
That’s not all…
The shrinking sea revealed yet another dirty secret of the Soviet Union... Under “their” rules, the Renaissance Island, located once in the south of the Aral sea, was chosen as an open-air test site for a wide range of biological weapon like anthrax, plague, typhus, brucellosis or smallpox (just to name a few). Referred to only as Aralsk-7, it became abandoned once the Soviet Union had broken up, and it was officially closed in 1991. Pity, that nobody took care to properly secure the remains of both the tested agents and the animals that these agents were tested on. Since the sea was rapidly shrinking, the island soon became a part of the mainland, allowing the infected animals to roam free and come within close vicinity of people and its cattle causing immediate danger. Moreover, the dust and sand being carried by the wind has been claimed to be more dangerous than the water itself, to this day.

After retrieving independence, the Kazakh government had to request the US intervention and help and neutralize the anthrax dumping from the area. 
The mission was successful, yet the sea was still dying.
Today, however, thanks to the cooperation with the World Bank, new investments and environmental projects, like Kokoral Dam or the regulation of Syr Daria riverbed, in 2005 the water level rose and the sea surface increased of some 13% in the Northern Aral Sea.
What’s interesting, the salinity level declined and freshwater fish started to appear in the sea. Fishermen are happy. The hope returned. The lesson for future, however was harsh.

As for the Southern Aral Sea, unfortunately Uzbek and Turkmen cotton crops are still heavily dependent on the Amu Daria flow. Moreover, supposedly, the natural resources hidden underneath the sea bed are “oh-so- irresistible” for some of the Uzbek government members. It seems that the future of the Aral Sea there is already doomed.


Some practicalities:
Coming from Mangistau, be prepared for a looooong (over 34h) travel through the sun scorched steppe. I love railway system in KZ, so there was no problem for me, but be prepared with some reading/music/food. On the second thought, though, don’t be prepared to much as the people you might meet and get to know while talking/ sharing food on the train, will be part of your Kazakh memories for years ;)
Train ticket: 4000 KZT (as for August 2014)

When in Aralsk, you might meet, or rather you will defo meet some people offering you trips to the sea bed. It is rather pricey if you are alone (round 20000 KZT) but if you have company you can share the jeep and split the costs. I skipped on that… Apparently, the experience “of not seeing the sea” is even more striking coming from the Uzbek side. Well…hopefully, next time.


The hotel I stayed in, the Aral Hotel, seems to be the only hotel in Aralsk, is a desolated, in a need of refurbishment building that vaguely resembles the place where important, Soviet dignitaries once stayed. 


Useful links and reading:


Kazakhstan- the Land that Disappeard
Kazakhstan- Paul Brummell, BRADT
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Nie, nie widzę. Nikt go już nie zobaczy, tak na dobrą sprawę. A bynajmniej nie w takiej formie jak było dawniej.
To co można zobaczyć w dzisiejszym miasteczku Aralsk łamie serce. Ze świetnie prosperującego, industrialnego miasta portowego, gdzie jeszcze w 1960 roku i ryb i zadowolonych z życia ludzi było pod dostatkiem, zostało coś co przypomina Amerykańskie miasta widma- opuszczone, rozsypujące się i z wyczuwalną atmosferą beznadziei dookoła.  Wydawać by się mogło, że w ciągu 50 lat Morze Aralskie, wraz z wodą, zabrało ludziom całą radość życia, motywacje do działania i nadzieje na przyszłość.
A pomyśleć tylko, że gdy w 1916 roku Lenin zwrócił się o pomoc do aralskich rybaków o dostawę żywności dla głodujących żołnierzy, w przeciągu kilku dni, 14 wagonów załadowanych rybami już sunęło w kierunku frontu.
Wszystko się zaczęło psuć w 1960 roku, kiedy to jakiś “mędrzec” w Moskwie wymyślił, że jakby to świetnie było uprawiać w Związku Radzieckim bawełnę i zrobić ją jego głównym produktem eksportowym.  A że bawełna potrzebuje i wody i słońca, „na szczycie” zadecydowano, że okolice Morza Aralskiego będą do tego idealne. W owym czasie to największe słonowodne jezioro świata, o powierzchni 68,000 km2, było zasilane przez dwie rzeki: Syr Darie i Amu Darie. Od słowa do czynu, i obydwie rzeki zostały przekierowane „w pustynie”, aby nawodniać pola pod przyszłe uprawy. Dało to początek jednej z największych katastrof ekologicznych na Ziemi. Morze, z powodu braku dopływu wody, zaczęło wysychać pozbawiając ludzi pracy, dawnego stylu życia, a niektórych nawet zdrowia.
Jak na ironie, dramatyczny spadek poziomu wody nie był jedynym rezultatem “bawełnianej gorączki”. Po jakimś czasie mieszkańcy okolicznych miast i wsi zaczęli cierpieć na rozmaite, niewytłumaczalne choroby gardła i płuc. Okazało się, że pompowanie ziemi różnymi pestycydami i nawozami spowodowało nie tylko wyjałowienie gleby (rotacja upraw nie była stosowana) ale chemikalia roznoszone przez wiatr wraz z piaskiem powodowały dotkliwe problemy zdrowotne i zanieczyszczeniowe. 
Jakby tego było mało, znikające w oczach morze ujawniło jeszcze jeden z „brudnych sekretów” Związku Radzieckiego. Za ich to czasów, jedna z wysp na południu Morza Aralskiego, zwana Odrodzeniem (Oh, ironio!) służyła jako tajna, acz niezabudowana i niezabezpieczona baza, nazwana Aralsk-7,  gdzie testowano rozmaite rodzaje broni biologicznej m.in. wąglik, dżuma, tyfus, bruceloza, zwana tez gorączką krymską, ospa i wiele innych. Broń testowano głownie na zwierzętach. Po rozpadzie związku, wyspę opuszczono pozostawiając na niej magazyny pełne resztek broni i zarażone zwierzęta. Bazę oficjalnie zamknięto w 1991 i o sprawie zapomniano. W momencie kiedy poziom wody w morzu był na tyle niski ze wyspa Odrodzenie połączyła się lądem, zarażone zwierzęta zaczęły podchodzić do osad ludzkich w poszukiwaniu jedzenia zarażając po drodze bydło i siejąc spustoszenie. Co więcej, kurz i piasek przenoszone przez wiatr stały się bardziej niebezpieczne niż zakażona pestycydami woda. Okolica wymierała a klęska ekologiczna była coraz większa.
Po odzyskaniu niepodległości w 1991 roku, kazachski rząd poprosił USA o  interwencje i wsparcie przy neutralizacji ogromnych składów wąglika znalezionych na dawnej wyspie. Tajna operacja Kazachsko-Amerykańska zakończyła się sukcesem jednak morze wciąż umierało.
Pewnym jest, że Morze Aralskie już nigdy nie wróci do dawnej formy.

Jednak, w ostatnich latach, dzięki współpracy z Bankiem Światowym, nowym inwestycjom i projektom środowiskowym, tj. wybudowanie tamy Kokaral czy regulacja koryta rzeki Syr Daria, w 2005 roku odnotowano wzrost poziomu wody a jej powierzchnia powiększyła się o ok. 13% w północnej części morza. Co ciekawe, pierwotne zasolenie zmalało a w morzu pojawiły się ryby słodkowodne. Rybacy się cieszą. Powróciła nadzieje. Została jednak sroga nauczka na przyszłość.

Co do południowej części morza, niestety i Uzbekistan i Turkmenistan są uzależnieni od Amu Darii w kwestii  nawadniania pól bawełny na ich terenach. A też, podobno, złoża naturalne spod dna morza maja swoich fanów w rządach „zainteresowanych” krajów… Wydaje się, że los Południowego Morza Aralskiego jest już dawno przesadzony. 


Disappearing sea. www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Northern Aral Sea 



Once a sea, today a pasture.

A former harbour in Aralsk.

The "sea" in Aralsk.

Abandoned ship. Once at the botton of Aral Sea. 

Aral. The lost Sea. by Isabel Coixet.


A former harbour. Aralsk 



Jibs waiting in the harbour. Aralsk.

Mosaics depicting Lenin's call for fishermen's support. Aralsk train station.

Aralsk Hotel in the background.