in the heart of desert

After great night in yurts we got to do a lot of driving to reach the heart of Kyzyl-Kum desert. I spent all morning looking for the signal to send the photographs to Moscow without any success. Even on top of the biggest dunes the signal was not good enough and finally I gave up.

A lot of locals are still living their lives in traditional way. This shepherd is taking care of the sheep on the border of the desert.

The road was getting worse and worse. It was so bumpy that I could not catch the subject in viewfinder of my camera. After I missed a couple of dozens of shots I finally got it .

A giant lizard. It does not have natural enemies. Its bite can be mortal because its saliva contains bacteria that can result in blood poisoning. Sheep attacked by this lizard usually dies in a day or two even if it manages to escape.

By the lunch time we made it to the town of Zerafshan surrounded by sends and gold and uranium mines.

This is the first time that our winners Viktor and Esenia are looking at their story and photographs published on ZoBo web-site. That was quite exciting moment for them... actually for me too!

The access to this area is strictly controlled by the government because of gold and uranium mining. We spent hours on check points while security officers were verifying our papers. Those mines are impressive! It looks like a giant kid was playing in a few kilometers long sandbox.

I snapped just one pictures through the window before our guide asked me not to do it anymore.

When the sun set, we were still on the way to our camp in the middle of the desert.

Many times we lost our track and got stuck in sands.

It was already pitch dark when we reached our campground.

Crazy sky of the desert!

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