3 / 5 - One review
How to get there
Ten hours by road from Tashkent.
When to go
Avoid the height of summer.
Minimum stay
1 to 2 days
Kizilkum (Uzbekistan)
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Practical information on Kizilkum
Reviews of Kizilkum
With a name that means 'red sand' in the Turkic language, Kyzyl Kum is one of the world's largest deserts.
My suggestion:
There are no accommodation options in the desert to speak of (in terms of hotels), so you'll need to camp, and think about sourcing your own gear.
My review
Straddling the borders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the Kyzyl Kum Desert covers an area roughly half the size of France with landscapes that appear desolate to some and fascinating to others: wide open, dusty desert plains with a light coating of sand and sparse vegetation.
The desert is nonetheless far off the beaten track in an uninhabited no man's land, and is therefore not a must-visit destination. In my opinion, you'll waste a lot of time because getting there requires you to turn back on yourself as roads stop before reaching the Kazakh border. Personally therefore, I wouldn't necessarily recommend going deep into the Kyzyl Kum Desert, because you'll see plenty by taking the road from Uchkuduk to Nukus, with the desert covering half the country.
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@flickr cc stefan_fotos
