Nurata and the sacred spring
5.10.2018
Nurata is a city in Navoi region of Uzbekistan, the center of Nurata district. It is located 55 km to the north of the regional center and the nearest railway station - Navoi.
We started our trip to Nurata reserve from Samarkand, we left early in the morning and arrived by lunch time to Nurata. We visited the local landmark sacred spring Chashma with the sacred trout and the fortress of Alexander the Great, towering on a hill above.
Local stories tell us that 40 thousand years ago a meteorite fell here, and fiery tail gave the name to this area: "Nur" means "Light" or "Ray", and the sacred spring appeared on the spot ("chashma" means “spring” from the Tajik language). The water in the spring has a constant temperature of 19.5 вegrees centigrade and contains 15 microelements, including silver and bromine.
In the spring there is a sacred trout, or as the locals say Karabalik ("black fish"), very common in the rivers of Central Asia. Catch and eat fish in the local spring is strictly prohibited - the fish is sacred, as it floats in sacred water. The complex of the sacred spring includes also the 16th century mosques Namazgoh and Juma, with the number of the domes above.
Aydarkul Lake and the Yurtas Camp
After visiting the spring and the fortress, we continued our journey to the lake Aydarkul. It happened that unexpected rains and snowfalls hit Central Asia from the autumn of 1968 until the spring of 1969. The emergency floodgates of the Chardara water reservoir located on the erea of Kazakhstan had been opened and in a few months the water filled the natural depression with an area of about 2175 km ². The basin was located in the territory of Djizak and Navoi regions of Uzbekistan. So the Aidar-Arnasai water system arose.
Because of the favorable natural conditions the lakes have become a place for birds to stop migrating from north to south in the winter. There are also more than 100 species of waterfowl and semiaquatic birds live there.
11 species are endangered such as Dalmatian Pelican (Pelikanus crispus), Pigmy Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pygmaeus), red-breasted goose (Rufibrenta ruficollis), Lesser white-fronted goose (Anser erytropus), White-eyed pochard (netta nyroca), Pallid harrier (Circus macrourus), Imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca), Pallas' sea eagle (Haleaitus leucoryphus), White-tailed eagle (Haleaitus albicilla), Black vulture (Aegypius monachus), Sociable lapwing (Chetussia gregaria).
At the initiative of the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, UNDP and the Global Environment Facility, was developed a project for the establishment of the Nuratau-Kyzylkum Biosphere Reserve. This is actually a small spatial model of Central Asia, there are all types of natural complexes of the region: desert, steppe, mountains and lakes.
In reed and riparian forests, live pheasants, wild boars, jackals, badgers, reed and steppe cats and other species of animals. The waters are rich in a variety of fish, about 30 species: carp, pike perch, asp, chuhon, vobla, catfish and others.
Next morning after we had breakfast we set off to the Nurata Nature Reserve. Nurata nature reserve is located in the central part of the Nuratau ridge, in the Farish district of the Djizak region, approximately 2,169 m above sea level. The objects of protection on the territory of the reserve are: Severtsov's ram, gray lizard, carpenter's beetle, griffon vulture, swallowtail, striped wolfhound, Central Asian cobra, black stork, black vulture, saker falcon, golden eagle, serpent eagle, booted eagle, bearded vulture, etc.
