The road you followed to reach Ibrahim Sultan continues southwestwards to Lake Sarygamysh, reaching the lake-shore at the former collective fishery of Dashoguzskiy Rybhoz. I Iowever, there have been reports of visitors being turned back by border guards here (the lake sits on the border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), and there is more reliable access to the lake by turning off the road early, on one of the tracks to the south, then following the lake round to the southern shore. This requires both 4x4 and a guide who has been here before. There is good camping here, mosquitoes apart. Lake Sarygamysh forms the northern limit of the large area under the protection of the Kaplankyr Nature Reserve, and access therefore requires the appropriate permit from the Ministry of Nature Protection.
Lake Sarygamysh is a natural depression, in which a lake has formed on several occasions. Lake formation began again in the early 1960s, collecting the run-off from the irrigated lands of the Khorezm Oasis. The lake is now a considerable size, and its waters seem almost magical after a long drive across the parched surrounding terrain. But they are particularly salty, and quite polluted. The lake does, however, support a flourishing migratory birdlife.
