Out on the plateau east of the Caspian, there are places where you can drive for a full day and meet nothing but sky. The Ustyurt, a vast, flat tableland of clay and limestone between the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea basin, was the route of caravans for centuries, travelling between the oases of Khiva and the Mangyshlak coast, and old wells and graveyards still mark the way.
The plateau ends in steep cliffs, the chinks, which fall away several hundred metres to the dried-out bed of the Aral Sea. Once the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral was drained from the 1960s when the rivers feeding it, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, were diverted to irrigate cotton, and the fishing towns on its shores were left stranded in a salty desert. The scale of the disaster is hard to take in until you stand on the edge of the cliff and look down on the old sea floor, pale and cracked, with the odd rusty ship in the distance. In recent years, a dam in the northern part has helped to restore a small part of the lake.
On the plateau itself the wind is constant, and travellers should expect dust and cold. A rider should think carefully about safety, since roads are rare and often poor, and distances between settlements can be several hundred kilometres. Fuel, water and food must be carried, and the weather, from scorching summers to freezing winters with storms, can be severe. A satellite communicator and a local guide are wise precautions. The best seasons are spring and autumn.
Camels, wild asses and the occasional herd of saiga are the main life, along with eagles and larks, and the herders in their small settlements are hospitable, offering tea, bread and fermented camel milk, called shubat. Show respect, ask before photographing, and leave no rubbish behind.