Anyone know what, exactly, Cayce was walking through when she "escaped"? Also, googled the reference to the "drying up of the Aral Sea" and didn't find much - anyone know about this?

Apologies for the typo in my post ...

I don't know what Cayce was walking through, but the Wikipedia article about the Aral Sea mentions the drying up thing. (E.g. the caption on the top image: "The Aral Sea, in 2002, had shrunk to well under half of the area it had covered fifty years before.")

there was a programme on tv not so long ago about the aral sea.

i think it is one of those inland seas which has been abused so much over the years that it has started to dry up. so that the proportion of salt is really high, like the red sea, and it gets smaller every year.

also before the collapse of the soviet union there was a secret test base on an island in the aral sea. which was used for things like anthrax and e.coli.

the guy that was doing the programme visited this base, and to do so he was wearing full body protection suit and was there with experts. however they were taken over by locals, locals who go over all the time and pretty much take whatever they can find to sell on, locals just wearing t-shirts and shorts. mad.

i don't think it actually counts as soviet territory any more, one of those k'stan countries if i recall.

this is an article by nick middelton, the guy who presented the show i was talking about, this an article he did based on the trip that appeared in the guardian.

remotepush - Thanks. The Middleton article was insane - hard to believe it is "real." The descriptions of the abandoned buldings reminded me of some parts of "Oryx and Crake."

Colin - thanks for the Wikipedia entry

quote:

Originally posted by cayce:
remotepush - Thanks. The Middleton article was insane - hard to believe it is "real." The descriptions of the abandoned buldings reminded me of some parts of "Oryx and Crake."

Colin - thanks for the Wikipedia entry

i know some of his material is available on DVD, if this series "going to extremes: the silk route" appears i'd recommend it. to actually see him, the experts and these locals going into the abandoned base is pretty mad. especially when they are searching through a decrepit, flaking building and realise that they can actually smell stuff through their gas masks and decide to get out of there pronto!

No need to thank me, it took all of ten seconds.

Remotepush, as usual, delivers the goods.

I think the drying up of the Aral Sea has been caused by the diversion of the rivers during the Soviet era that used to flow into it. The water was used to irrigate cotton.