Moynaq is the former Aral Sea port that now stands in desert, 150 kilometres from the water that once sustained it. The town was a major fishing centre through the 1960s; Soviet irrigation projects that diverted the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers upstream gradually drained the sea, and by the early 1990s it had retreated entirely from Moynaq's shore. The rusting hulks of fishing and cargo vessels stand in the sand where the harbour once was, surrounded by scrubland that was open water within living memory.
The drive from Nukus takes about two to three hours by hired taxi — the only practical way to get there, as bus services are erratic. The ship graveyard is the main sight: a dozen or so hulks in various states of decay, standing at odd angles on the dry seabed. The town itself is small and poor, and the atmosphere is haunting in a way that photographs do not entirely capture. Bring your own food and water.