The third issue of Steppe Magazine, Central Asia’s first glossy magazine devoted to the arts, culture, people, history and landscape of the region, has just been published. This time, neweurasia teamed up with the editors of the magazine and contributed a Guide to Central Asian Blogs.

As a bonus to our readers, you can download the article here. Let us know what you think! Furthermore, we have started compiling an online Central Asia Blog guide at neweurasia.net/steppemagazine. If you think your blog should be included there, please let us know!

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Of course, the “rest” of the current Steppe is well worth a read as well, not least for its stunning photography. Check out the magazine’s website for delivery options. Here’s a quick rundown on the main stories featured:

The two main features of Steppe 3 centre around the Aral Sea. So infamous is the story of the sea’s environmental devastation that we do not repeat it, but instead follow those who eke out a living by fishing from its shores. An extended photo essay with stunning images of ice fishing on the Aral Sea presents a stark insight into life in the surrounding fishing villages and shows that beauty can be found even amongst the harshest of realities. While a World Bank and Kazakh-sponsored dam is raising hopes for rising water levels, a local collective has helped open a fish-processing centre in Aralsk, a former Aral Sea port and major provider of fish for the entire Soviet Union, which now lies some 20 km from the sea’s shores. Steppe presents one of the very first articles that focuses on the human side of the Aral Sea disaster at a time when the sea is starting to come back to life.

In western Uzbekistan, Steppe visits the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan. Situated south of what remains of the sea today, this region is plagued with shocking health statistics resulting from the desertification and salinisation that came with the sea’s demise, as well as the ensuing poverty borne out of the collapse in the local economy. At the heart of this region, in the capital city of Nukus (close to what remains of Uzbekistan’s Aral Sea shores), is the Igor Savitsky Museum of Art, the remarkable result of one man’s admiration for a people and a passion for art that led him to single-handedly amass one of the most extraordinary collections of nonconformist Soviet art anywhere in the world. With the environmental tragedy of the sea setting the stage, the story of this oasis of creativity provides a note of inspiration.

From Karakalpakstan (literally, ‘Land of the Black Hats’), Steppe presents its Top Ten selection of hats – those essential regional accessories for mountain, desert and city dwellers alike. Another essential, bread, is featured in both Dispatches (a roundup of current events) and Cookery where we present some contemporary recipes for traditional tandoor-baked, Central Asian flatbread.