I can confirm, categorically, that Nukus is the least interesting place we have visited so far. The 'newly renovated' Hotel Nukus leaves so much to be desired that it has set a new benchmark. You might ask why we have come here and we have been asking ourselves the same question. The hugely promising Nukus Art Museum promises to waste literally minutes of our time with its doubtless impressive collection of things we have already seen, poorly displayed and dimly lit.

But believe it or not, Nukus has more to it than this. Well, sort of. It's from here that we head up to the desert that used to be the Aral Sea before Soviet intervention into that pesky thing we call nature completely destroyed it and drained the sea by two-thirds. One of the old ports, Moynaq, is now 150km from the shore. Having had a sniff around, we then return to...yes...you guessed it...sunny Nukus! We will surely have missed the amenities and general friendliness of the Nukus Hotel and will be pleased to be welcomed back into its family.

We'll keep you posted.