SEARCHING FOR SAND CASTLES ANCIENT DESERT FORTRESSES OF KHOREZM
Across the region of Uzbekistan known as Khorezm, and the autonomous Uzbek republic of Karakalpakstan, many ancient fortresses still stand amidst isolated desert landscapes.
Little known and seldom visited, some of these long-abandoned fortresses are more than 2,000 years old! Uzbekistan's inhospitable deserts swelter in unrelenting summer sun and freeze in cold winters.
As described in the side bar, our visit in late November 2019 was in freezing conditions. In times long since gone by civilisations existed out here and today more than 400 fortresses or ancient monuments remain to be found, scattered around these deserts. One could easily think this area must surely have captured a sizeable amount of archaeological interest, but in fact there has been relatively little. For a time the Soviets paid some attention, but even their interest dwindled and again these ancient fortresses were forgotten about and left alone. And amazingly, there are no restrictions on visiting these largely unexcavated sites. Anyone able to research the coordinates for locations of
