The Aral Sea in the former Soviet Union was once the fourth largest lake in the world. But when the Soviet government diverted the rivers that fed it to irrigate cotton farms in 1960, the Aral Sea began to shrink dramatically, leaving vessels stranded where they once docked. This ecological disaster has created an unlikely tourist attraction, albeit one that is challenging to properly experience, considering the lake once covered a staggering 26,300 square miles (68,000sq km).

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