Sarykamysh Lake

The bitter-salty lake Sarykamysh splashes exactly in the middle between the Caspian Sea and the practically extinct Aral Sea. Its southern part belongs to Turkmenistan, and the northwestern coast belongs to Uzbekistan.

It is not the first time that Lake Sarykamysh has been formed in the center of a depression that gives it its name over and over again. According to scientists, the reservoir existed here almost 2.5 million years ago, then during the upper anthropogenic period, and then reappeared in the 14th and 16th centuries. At the same time, the modern history of the lake dates back only to the 70s of the last century. In the old days, the Sarykamysh arose solely due to the waters of the Amu Darya. When overflowing, the river fed either the Aral Sea or Lake Sarikamysh, and thus alternately supported life in one or the other reservoir. But the last time clean river water was intended for Sarykamysh was back in 1878 during a severe flood. And almost half a century ago, the lake once again appeared on maps due to the flow of poisonous liquid from cotton plantations: so the water contaminated with chemicals was diverted away from populated areas directly into the Sarykamysh depression.

The area is 3,000 km2.
The length is about 125 km.
The maximum width is 90 km.
The maximum depth is 40 m.
The average depth is 8 m.
The volume of water is 12 km3.

It is unlikely that people will ever begin to settle around Sarykamysh. The edges (the so-called chinks) of the Ustyurt plateau loom threateningly over the waters of the lake. In addition, they are not allowed to approach the reservoir uval (that is, an elongated hill) Karabaur is in the center of the same plateau, as well as the sands of the Karakum desert. And the shores of Sarykamysh, due to the constant fluctuation of the water level, in some places look more like a swamp. Paradoxically, despite the fact that the Sarykamysh is literally impregnable, and the waters of the lake still contain poisons and chemicals, fishermen here are not afraid to catch carp, snakehead and catfish!

Partly due to the history of its origin, partly due to its inaccessibility, in the very first years of its modern existence, Sarykamysh began to overgrow with mystical and even frightening legends.

When clay covered with salt dries in the sun to deep cracks, amazing and mysterious patterns appear on the surface of the earth. However, once a truck or heavy SUV passes through such a place, there will be no trace of the patterns on the dense crust. The lightest dust forms under the wheels of the car along its entire route – or "puffs", as the locals call them. A passenger car will almost certainly "drown" in this dust if its driver does not recognize the "pudgy" in time and does not drive around it.

It was from these "puffs" that huge monsters began to appear almost 50 years ago in the Sarykamysh region. It was rumored that either huge monitor lizards, or crocodiles that came from nowhere in these places, arise from the dust and attack every living being that happens to be near the lake. In addition, skeletons of animals gnawed to white began to be found near Sarykamysh.

However, any evidence that monsters once lived in these parts disappeared as quickly as they appeared. People stopped "meeting" the "giant monitor lizards" in the desert, and they no longer had to see their victims. All that remains is the legend that frightening predators appeared in the Sarykamysh region as a result of mutation, which were destroyed by the military during a special operation.