Muynak
Sad story about the city Muynak.
“Each river has its own temper. The pagan Congo presses long the green of the Atlantic; northerner Mackenzie with Indian contempt spits rusty foam on the ice floes of the Polar Ocean; Syr-Daria dies away in the Aral Sea indifferently”. (c) Yury Vladimirovich Davydov "On the Schooner".
The young fisherman threw a net into the Aral Sea and waited until the fish got entangled in his nets. Rolling up his pants to his knees, he stood ankle-deep in the warm sea water and fingered the soft sand with his toes. Suddenly, a gentle female soul-caressing voice called him from behind. He turned around, and the young girl in a light silk dress smiled and confusedly looked into her lover's eyes.
- I was looking for you! - She said in a clear voice.
The black-browed, swarthy and tall guy smiled happily, and his almond-shaped amber eyes sparkled like the heavenly sun playing with golden rays in the clear sea waters. He picked up the girl and whirled her over the sea.
- And here I am the rose of my heart! I fish. I will sell it on the market, earn money and buy you the most beautiful gold jewelry!
The girl laughed sweetly and stroked the young man’s cheek. Her coal-black hair ruffled the sea breeze.
- Why are you laughing? True, I earn a lot of money. I promise! We will get married, and I will love you, provide everything you desire and take care of you as the most beautiful flower in the world. I will do everything just for you! And may this sea witness my words!
Literally, in an hour, the young man caught a whole bucket of fish and beautiful lovers went to the market.
People of the prosperous city Muynak were proud of their wonderful beaches and the fertile Aral Sea, one of the four largest seas on Earth. After Central Asia joined the Russian Empire, and more than half the population of Muynak were Russians, trade unions were created in the city, and fishing became industrialized. In addition to the Aral Sea, the city had many small lakes with a lot of fish.
The seaport was rich and unusually beautiful. Muynak has become an attractive resort, where a large number of tourists were coming to, they wanted to see these wonderful places with their own eyes. But, unfortunately, the tale ended thirty years ago.
Since 1960, the level of the Aral Sea was going down, and by 2013 it was reduced to 3 cubic kilometers of water. Now in its place stretches salty desert. Because the sea does not have external outlets to other drains of the world ocean - the active water consumption and the change in the natural tributaries of the Aral waters led to its drying out.
Today, the city of Muynak and the Aral Sea are separated by more than 100 kilometers, and the population of the city is less than 18 thousand inhabitants. There practically no Russians left in Muynak. Also the city leave the indigenous people. There are traces of formerly successful seaside life everywhere in the city. At the site of the dried sea there are numerous ships, rusty and destroyed by time and salt. At the entrance to the city there is still a pedestal with the emblem of Muynak with the image of a fish.
In 2014, the British group Pink Floyd filmed a video for the song “Louder Than Words”, which tells about the desired revival of the Aral Sea. Shooting the video took place on the site of the Aral saline desert.