Desert Castles of Ancient Khorezm

What a difference a different location makes ... Coming from Nukus by shared cab, I had exited my cab at Beruni to visit Pil Qala. It was a 15min walk from the junction to the ruins and I figured I could always get a ride to Urgench and Khiva (I managed).

Pil Qala was fairly underwhelming. It's pretty small, surrounded by a town and itself heavily reconstructed. Admittedly, the castle being made of clay means it has to be reconstructed regularly. But still: This felt underserving of being on the list. Too little.

I had ticked this one off mentally, when I found the option of doing more castles as stopovers on my way to Bukhara. I didn't want to take the train and drivers are surprisingly cheap, so: Let's go!

The next morning the driver picked me up at my hotel at 8 a.m. We first passed Kyzyl Qala (not included) and then arrived at Toprak Qala. This was already nice. A fortified hill with plenty of clay ruins. I limited my exploration as the trails felt slippery and a tiny bit dangerous.

From Toprak Qala we drove on to Ayaz Qala and this is where the site clicked. Seeing the upper castles and the lower castle on approach was stunning. The site is large and there is so much to see. And you are standing in the desert with the green, arable lands that the castle protects on the horizon to the …

Site visited during round-Uzbekistan trip (April, 2010) – since Clyde described particular sites I will try to focus on practical aspects / description of different places. All prices were as during the time of journey (but since they will be given in USD they may be valid today – at least the level of expenses)

The sites are commonly known as Eliq Kala (Fifty Fortresses) and embrace relatively big area east of Amu-Daria river in autonomous region of Karakalpakstan. Selection for TL takes only 8 locations – maybe the most prominent / best preserved but there are much more in the area. I was travelling from central Urgench, where found a taxi driver (unofficial) with car. Unfortunately the guy was from Taskent and didn’t know the area. LP Central Asia claims that you should be prepared for the price around 50 USD for full day trip – after long negotiations I paid 40 USD but have in mind that the driver was not familiar with the area. Frankly speaking I also had vague idea about the places I wanted to visit, no good maps, just a few names of the most important castles that were enlisted in LP. The driver had not even this but at least he had a car and knowledge of local language.

Having in mind that I was lucky to see at lest 3 places from tentative selection: Big Guldursun fortress, Toprak Qala and Ayaz Qala. Moreover, I managed to see also Kyzylkala Fort, …

I visited this tentative WHS as a day trip from Khiva. I wanted to see the remains of these castles/fortresses in the Kyzyl Kum desert, Karakalpakstan to try to appreciate further the importance of the ancient Khorezm empire. Not much is left, but much more than the fortresses of Turkmenistan's inscribed Ancient Merv and Nissa combined!

I visited the remains of the fortresses in Ayaz Kala and the ancient settlement of Toprak Kala (top left photo). The latter is quite similar to the remains in Nissa, Turkmenistan in a way with more desolate surroundings than the mountain scenery near Ashgabat.

To explore the fortresses in Ayaz Kala well, a great deal of climbing is involved either on sand dunes, on dry mud mounds or on more dangerous rocky hills. Bring sturdy shoes and plenty of water here. The panoramic views from the different fortresses are similar to the US national parks on the west coast, mostly Monument Valley (top right photo).

The Ayaz Kala desert castles (bottom right photo) are interesting as unlike other castles of ancient Khorezm, there are unfortified rural settlements and residential buildings, each enclosed by a low brick wall. These indicate that the process of separation of individual households from a tribal community had already begun at that time (I-VI century AD).

Among dozens of unfortified farmhouses in the Ayaz-Kala complex, three fortresses-buildings stand out for their significant size. These are Ayaz 3, a giant fortress with a large courtyard surrounded by strong walls with towers …