Turkistan has the greatest architectural monument in Kazakhstan. It's a mausoleum to a Muslim holy man and was one of the last things Timur had built. It's actually pretty impressive with a huge blue tiled dome. There's an underground mosque nearby as well. Other than that, Turkistan is just another village in a developing country. Although they love to blast American pop music late into the night at both evening eateries.
Shymkent is one of the few second tier towns in Kazakhstan after Almaty and Astana. I went to see its heralded bazaar on the way back to Almaty from Turkistan. It was closed for remodeling. Shymkent is just like any other town of 300,000+ in the developing world.
I've taken a couple of the late night long distance buses and I wouldn't recommend it if comfort is your most important consideration. I like it because its cheap and overnight so I don't have to pay for a room.
I just got my visa to Uzbekistan and am going to catch the late bus to Shymkent (700 km, 12 hrs) and then take a bus to the border where anything can happen.
In the past couple of days I've met 4 peace corps volunteers. We've all reached a general consensus. Unless you're trekking in the mountains or maybe riding horses there isn't much to see or do traveling in Kazakhstan.
Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and hopefully Khiva here I come! Then on to Turkmenistan.
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2 comments:
I enjoyed reading your blog on Shymkent! I am here in Shymkent right now and am wondering if I read it correctly; is the bazaar at Turkistan closed or one here in Shymkent? Some friends and us were going to go there this weekend to Turkistan and to the bazaar there and don't want to go if it's closed.
Best wishes in your travels!
Teresa... unfortunately it's the bazaar in Shymkent that's closed. Turkistan doesn't really have a big bazaar.
Thx for checking out the blog. Hope you're enjoying KAZ!
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