Shymkent and Turkistan

Day 10 - Train ride from Astana to shymkent {997km}

Pretty early wake up today. My neighbours set themselves a full breakfast at 2.30 in the morning, due to Ramadan fasting. I didn’t join them as 2.30 is way too early, so went back to sleep.

Today was uneventful. Slept, ate instant noodles, extended stop for 15 minutes at Shu where I was able to buy an ice cream, ice cold water and a samsa. Spoke with the Kazakhs around me who were genuinely interested in my experiences abroad.

Shymkent

Once at Shymkent station, it's a short walk to exit the station and beyond the groups of taxi drivers trying to convince the obvious foreigners (me) to use their services, is the bus stop.

The 77 to vavillon stop was a slight bit intimidating due to everybody staring at me when I said that I had flown in to Kazakhstan almost 2 weeks ago from Europe, but they do that out of curiosity. Eventually we got to the stop and from there it was just a short walk uphill a pretty narrow side street. I actually passed the residence a few times due to the very random numbering of the street.

I walked in and almost from the get go the co owner of the place asks if I would like a free upgrade. I say sure! So from a single room to a big queen size bed, I can't wait to chill to the max tonight.

Host was very helpful, and able to speak in English. I found out the best ways to get around how to get to Turkistan, and the local supermarket and cafe.

Following this I go to Cafe Parvis and wow is the food cheap! I ended up having 2 shashlik sets with onion, big loaf of Kazakh bread, and an entire jug of tea for just 2 euro.

I popped over to the local Magazin following the meal for water and a few essential beers and head back to prep a hot long soak in the bathtub, while sinking a couple cold ones, it’s been a long while.

Day 11 - Friday 18th

Woke up around 8am. I swear this house is haunted though. Throughout the night I heard random creaking and tapping. After fixing up a quick breakfast with what brought along with me, I went to catch the 58 to Samal bazaar. From there the marshutka station was about a 100m walk, at the direct end of the bazaar. All that was left was to say Turkestan to a few drivers standing around who pointed me in the right direction.

Turkestan

The trip was uneventful but made me quite drowsy. I was too afraid to fall asleep completely so to not miss the stop for the site. The drop off ended up being about 200 m from the mausoleum. It was about 500 tenge to enter the mausoleum grounds. On the way a group of young Kazakhs students ask me if i'm a tourist and where I’m from. We had a bit of chat with a few giggles and random English questions every now and then. They were all studying English language for primary school teaching.

Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi.

The mausoleum itself is a bit of a relic these days however, the inside was full of worshippers. It was built during the time of the Timurid empire, which had descended and branched off from the Mongol Empire. Khoja Ahmed Yasawi himself was a Sufi mystic and Turkic poet, who is greatly revered in Central Asia for popularising the Sufism movement.

Inside there is this green room with 2 openings and a barrier. People go there and pray to a relic.

If today was truly hot and scorching at 28 degrees in the weather then one can only imagine what July or August must be like at 40+.

I'd say if you’re a tad sensitive or have become disassociated with hot weather like me, try to miss that period. I could really go for a soak while here but alas afterwards I had to find my way back to Shymkent. Conveniently there was a tourist information office on the other side of the street from the medieval walled mausoleum and mosque complex. BTW the marshutkas don’t have air conditioning but rather use the “old fashioned” method of opening windows. With this in mind the heat and humidity and little space inside may make you sleepy or even a bit unwell.

Return to Shymkent

Back at the hostel I had a quick shower and prepared for the journey ahead. A German guy named Hans just checked into the hostel. His story is he’s been riding his bike around the world for the last 25 years. You never know what interesting people you’ll meet at a hostel. Didn’t have too much of an opportunity to chat for long as my taxi was soon waiting (buses stop running at 8pm so if you need to be somewhere and are very strapped for cash, plan ahead) otherwise the taxi is a pretty convenient and economical option at an easy 400 tenge. That’s like less than a euro folks and no carrying of baggage long distances required,

Back to the train

Get to the station a bit ahead of time and yeah, the upgrade to kupe was worth it, not to mention this is a new train (name). I was sharing my cabin with a middle aged Kyrgyz man and a Russian woman I’d wager was around my age. Neither were talkative so we each did our own thing.

Next: Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan