Turkmenistan: Temporary Salt Lake Along Daşoguz Highway

The landscape along the Ashgabat-Dashoguz highway is predominantly arid desert with minimal water bodies, yet about half way between Dereaza and Ashgabat there is a low point where water accumulates into a shallow lake after heavy rains. The water has very high salinity and is like a mini Dead Sea. Migratory bird flocks here during their long journey between the Arctic and the Indian Ocean – we see Red-necked Phalarope, Wood Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, and several ducks and gulls.