How much would it cost to go to Ayaz-Kala? I’m not interested in the other fortresses. YandexTaxi is offering half a million soum round trip.
That price is reasonable. And yes, it’s more масштабное there, plus the desert. Yurt camp, camels. A café with a desert view.)
I don’t regret taking a transfer. He waited everywhere as long as I needed. About an hour for sightseeing. The other two — around 30 minutes each.
So, here’s my story about the trip to Karakalpakstan and Ayaz-Kala.
I didn’t get to use Yandex Taxi because in the evening I arranged with a driver standing near the western gate of Itchan Kala for half a million. In the morning we called, he picked me up from the hotel. The trip turned out really great. We arrived at Ayaz-Kala before the tourist buses, so I walked around all three citadels alone, with no time limits. Then he took me to another citadel, non-touristic, unfortunately I don’t remember the name. There, unlike Ayaz, everything is literally covered with fragments of ancient ceramics — you can even pick some up as souvenirs. He also wanted to show me other kalas, but I was limited on time. We agreed I’d come back again specifically to explore the ancient fortresses. In short, I’m thrilled.
And the most interesting part: at the parking lot near Ayaz-Kala there was a guy who arrived by Yandex Taxi, and while he was climbing around, it drove off. He returned by bus with some Germans.
Wow! But he can file a complaint, right? So how much did it end up costing in dollars, around $40? I paid $40 for a transfer to 3 fortresses, with lunch, it took about 7 hours.
I looked to YandexTaxi and offered similarprice. Maybe it could’ve been cheaper. We stopped for lunch, but I didn’t let him pay, I covered it myself — it was peanuts.
The ceramics — not at that one which is visible from the big fortress, by any chance?
No, the ceramics are at another one, about 10 km further.
@daxmaut it took about 5 hours to Ayaz-Kala, and the next day day around 7 hours to research the other fortresses. But we didn’t know the road, so we sometimes wandered around for kilometers.
So, the place is called Jampyk-Kala. It used to be a citadel standing on the banks of the Amu Darya, but later the capricious river changed its course and the city was abandoned. The area is scattered with fragments of ancient pottery. The surviving structures date back to a later period, around the 9th–10th centuries. The surrounding landscape is covered with flakes of green mineral and contrasts sharply with the terracotta walls of the citadel. There are no tourists — once again, I was there completely alone. On the way, we also stopped at Gyaur-Kala, which is located on the banks of the Amu Darya; only about one and a half walls have survived. All in all, from 8:30 to 16:00, the car with a driver cost me 800,000 soum.the next day day around 7 hours
