I visited Karakalpakstan in March 2024, during the Norwuz holiday. Karakalpakstan is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan and is inhabited primarily by ethnic Karakalpak people, who used to be nomadic fishers and animal herders. Karakalpakstan used to be home to a thriving fishing industry before the Aral Sea was ecologically ruined by the Soviet Union. These photos are from areas in and around the Aral Sea, including some abandoned fisheries.