Kyzylkum Desert

The Kyzylkum lay across routes between the Syr Darya and Bukhara. Its sands could force travellers to carry water for several days, while the location of wells determined which crossings were practicable. During the Russian mission to Bukhara in 1820, Georges de Meyendorff's party crossed the sandy stretch from the Jany Darya towards Yuz-kuduk in five days. Horses weakened on the scant forage, and water and ice travelled in leather bags or small barrels.

The route was nevertheless well used. Meyendorff met Kazakh caravans returning from Bukhara after selling sheep, carrying grain, tobacco, clothing and cotton cloth. Wells also presented dangers: the mission sent patrols into the Bukhan defiles against attack, and another caravan was robbed shortly afterwards. The travellers were told that earlier wells along the sandy road had been filled to deny shelter to raiders. His account makes the desert a landscape of livestock trade, local guidance and guarded water points, rather than an empty interval between cities.