Barsa-Kelmes

Barsa-Kelmes Island ranks 2nd on the list of the most beautiful islands in Kazakhstan. The former island of Barsa-Kelmes (literally "the place of no return") is the biggest in the Aral Sea. It was given this name due to the numerous reports of persons (or groups of people) returning years or even decades after visiting the island, despite the fact that those people claimed to have just spent two or three days there. It had a surface size of 133 km2 in the 1980s, but as the water got more shallow, it slowly increased until it ceased to be an island in the 1990s. Its highest point is 113 meters above sea level. The Barsa-Kelmes Nature Reserve is included. Visitors are advised to cover their eyes during dust storms and high winds due to the natural salt deposits.

Geographer A. Maksheyev and topographer A. Akishev completed the first recorded survey of Barsa-Kelmes in August 1848, when they made a topographical survey of the island and characterized its scenery. There was a recurrent urban rumor concerning paranormal activities occurring on the island throughout the second part of the twentieth century. The tale peaked in the early 1990s, when the popular scientific magazine Tekhnika Molodyozhi published a lengthy story about the events, citing local medical student Sergey Lukyanenko as their main source. It includes letters and accounts from local fishermen concerning weird temporal fluctuations, missing expeditions, and other mysteries, as well as an entertaining story about the island's changing flow of time and suspected UFO presence.

Location: The Aral Sea, Kazakhstan