Qyzylorda

Overview

QYZYLORDA is a city in Southwestern Kazakhstan, only 400 kilometers far from the infamous Aral Sea. The name of the city, according to the local people, is translated as Red Center .

The city is located in a vast semidesert that might remind you of some places in Utah or Nevada. In spring, the lands near Kyzylorda are covered with a beautiful carpet of flowers, among which wild tulips are the most beautiful. The landscape is quite flat, which is very representative of Southern Kazakhstan. One of the most constant features of Kyzylorda is the wind. As one of my acquaintances said, it only blows twice a year: six months in winter and six months in summer. It blows salt from the Aral Sea to the city, and as you take a ride to the north, you can easily see salty crust on the sand.

The first thing that attracts your attention when you go to the city from the airport is the Syr-Darya, or the Syra, the river from the Kazakh folk tales. It is amazing that a river can flow so far through the sands without drying. At some point in history, it supplied fresh water to the people who lived on its banks. However, at present nobody uses its water anymore. As it runs from the south, on its way there are fields that need a lot of water and from which various toxins such as pesticides pour into it. Presently, people have to drill wells to...more

History