Kazakhstan, in one blog post!

Flying into Astana from Uzbekistan was a bit of a culture shock. After being surrounded by historic architecture for two weeks, being propelled into the futuristic city of Astana was incredible.

Astana was made the capital of Kazakhstan in 1996, bumping off Almaty which had being the capital of Kazakhstan (in its various forms) since 1929. Astana prides itself on being a modern and newly-developed city. Just look at some of these buildings that have gone up in the last few years:

We loved Astana and had a fantastic experience with the locals who were always willing to help. For example, the night we arrived we headed to the apartment complex in which Apple Hostel was situated. Our Russian-speaking taxi driver buzzed the intercom and had a short conversation with a lady at the other end. We he'd finished, he tried to explain something to us, but his skill at non-verbal communication was limited and we weren't understanding him. This went on for several more minutes and involved another call to the intercom lady, who seemed to be getting increasingly annoyed. It was getting dark and we were both getting tired and frustrated, and just wanted to be let into the hostel. Finally a young Kazakh man who had been sitting down nearby and who could evidently hear our conversation came up and asked, in near perfect English, whether he could help. We almost hugged him. We explained the situation and he buzzed the intercom lady to ask what the problem was. Turns out Apple Hostel has closed down, and the poor lady at the other end was just a tenant who had moved into that apartment!

The young man offered to help us find somewhere to stay, and also said we would be welcome to crash in his family's apartment that night. He invited us back to his apartment where he got onto the internet to find somewhere for us while his mum cooked us dinner. His little brother even presented us with a block of Kazakhstan chocolate each. Win!

Thankfully we did find somewhere to stay, but Astana is not cheap. However, we had our own apartment close to everything and it was quite a luxury to have our own space with a kitchen.

We spent three days in Astana, seeing the sights by both day and night - the main plaza of Astana is lit up by night and is a great place for watching locals riding around on segways or giving their children rides in mini cars.

After three days in the city we caught the train up north to Lake Borovoe, which was a small (and cold!) slice of heaven. We camped in the wild for three nights amongst some beautiful Birch trees. 

The first day we were there was beautifully warm and sunny. Unfortunately, the rain set in after that and we spent the day in our tents reading our kindles and occasionally draining the water from our tents and groundsheets. The rain continued on and off, but we were able to venture out for a walk around the lake, a visit to the local market where there was a family of cats and Claire got her cat hug fix, and a walk around the small town in fruitless search for a decent coffee.

On the fourth day, we caught a bus back to the train station where we caught a train to Astana, then another overnight train to Almaty

So many feet to tickle - Claire had to restrain herself.

We found a great hostel in Almaty that we would highly recommend if you're on a budget. It's called Hostel 74/76 and is situated on Zhambyla Street. At only US $6 a night you can't go wrong.

But we didn't stay long in the city before escaping to the stunning wilderness of Kolsay Lakes. We had planned to leave Almaty by bus or mini bus from the Sayakhat bus station. Having been advised that these left Almaty for the town of Saty near the Kolsay Lakes between 6am-7am, we had got up early and caught a taxi to the bus stop. Upon reaching the bus station, however, we were told that there are no buses running to Saty!

In the end, we end paid 6,000 Tenge (US $22) for two seats in a share taxi. Four hours later we were in Saty. Getting from Saty to the lakes proved more difficult, with locals wanting around US $40 to drive us the 13km up the road. We could have walked the distance, but as we'd anticipated getting transport all the way in we had not bothered to travel light, and weren't keen on hiking that distance with heavy packs. We waited on the main street for a while and I captured this photo of some children freshly released from school:

Eventually we found a local who was heading into the lakes to go finishing, and offered to take us for 3,000 Tenge (about US $11).

His van, which he drove at break-neck speed over the potholed road, looked like a relic of a bygone era, and the windows and doors shook like they were about to go flying. It was awesome!

After getting to Kolsay One (the first lake) and paying our camping fee (which I'm sure was just some kind of bribe) we walked around the edge of the lake and found a spot to pitch the tent.

We were at 1800m and it was pretty cold the first night but not unbearable. The next day we relaxed and soaked in the beautiful surroundings of Kolsay One.

The next day we walked to Kolsay Two and then Kolsay Three, at 2,800m. Kolsay Three lies quite close to the border with Kyrgyzstan and we'd been told by another hiker we passed that access to Kolsay Three was currently closed. We did see a small group of guards camped at Kolsay Two, but they didn't try to stop us from continuing up the track to Kolsay Three.

Kolsay Two

Kolsay Three

It was a long walk. Around 30km all up. We met a guy from France at Kolsay Three who was driving to Saty that night so we decided to get a lift with him. Unfortunately, after packing up our tent and walking back to the village where we assumed his car was parked, we lost sight of him! The sun went down and we were left standing alone in the little village at Kolsay One. Instead of re-pitching the tent we decided to camp in one of the little shelters on the lake. Kinda looks a bit like this one.

And woke up to a beautiful still lake in the morning. 

There were no cars heading out that morning so we walked the 13km into Saty, which was pretty uncomfortable for Claire who had developed some nasty blisters on her feet after yesterday's long walk.

We waited in Saty for a ride out. We waited, and waited, and waited. Then it started to rain. We ran to an abandoned service station set back about 20m from the road. When we saw cars coming we ran to the road to stick out our hand. The temperature was starting to drop and we were about to get out our sleeping bags and wait out the rain in snuggly comfort when a car stopped for us.

Our next stop was Charyn Canyon. We had seen lots of beuatiful photos of this mini Grand Canyon and were keen to see it for ourselves. Unfortunately, the weather continued to deteriorate and when it came time for us to get out at the Charyn Canyon turnoff the rain was coming down hard and the wind was blowing a gale.

As we watched our ride disappear into the distance we pulled our rain jackets tight and decided to pitch asap rather than walk. There were no water sources visible and the only flat spot we could find was under a buzzing power line.

It continued to rain but at least our sleeping bags were dry and warm and we slept well. The next morning was nice and clear but we decided to hitch the 10km to the canyon rather than walk. Claire's feet were still quite painful and I'm all up for getting a lift when I can.

It wasn't long before we were picked up by four Kazakh boys who were the loveliest people ever! They drove us to the canyon and we did some exploring with them. 

Unfortunately I left my kindle in their car! Rookie hitch hiking mistake. Thankfully they were nice enough to return it to my hostel once we were back in Almaty. Thank goodness we exchanged email addresses.

We walked down into the canyon then continued to the end were a little tourist village sat. After a little exploring,  we walked through the village and turned right, following the river upstream until we came across a gorgeous and secluded little canyon where we could pitch our tent.

On the fourth day we walked the 13kms back to the main road to get a lift to Almaty. And through this cool looking rock which cars have to squeeze through. It was a long walk but seeing these guys along the way made it more pleasant. 

The sky was turning black as we waited on the main road, but we got picked up just before it started to rain. The kind man, who turned out to be a police officer in Almaty, drove us all the way to our hostel for free and tried his best to communicate with us, despite not speaking a word of English.

Claire hitching a lift 

After having a rest day in Almaty our plan was to go to Big Almaty Lake, but we heard from other blogs and Trip Advisor that it's not a good time to go due to over policing by border guards. It is also expensive to get to and we didn't want to go all the way there only to be turned around. Instead we went to the Malaya Almatinka Valley, where the 2011 Asian Winter Games where held, for a day walk. There are plenty of hiking trails surrounding cafes, restaurants and the impressive Medeu ice skating rink.

What I loved most about this place is how easy it is to get to. A local bus runs from Almaty to both ends of the walk. We caught the number 12 bus from Hotel Kazakhstan and were there in half an hour and the number 28 from Butakovka Village at the other end back to Almaty.

This would be our last walk in Central Asia so we took it nice and slow, soaking in every every leaf, every tree, every blade of grass. The autumn colours have started to come out and the trees in the valley were spectacularly coloured. The morning light shone through the branches making them even more brilliant. 

We had some rest days in Almaty to get ready for our flights home and onward. I'm currently sitting at the Almaty airport waiting to board my flight to Tbilisi, Georgia. Claire flew yesterday, and is still in the air on her way home to Melbourne, Australia. I can't believe our Central Asia adventures are over. It's been one of the best overseas trips I've ever done. In large part because I had an awesome travel buddy. Highlights were the mountains around Karakol in Kyrgyzstan and the Fans in Tajikistan. And the Pamir highway of course.

Thanks for following along. Unsure at this point whether I'll keep blogging as I head to Georgia, Armenia, Greece and Turkey. Hopefully if I get the motivation. But for now, peace out...

Medressas, minarets and mosques in Uzbekistan

WARNING : If you don't like really old ancient buildings from the Silk Road era, then you're probably not going to like this post. But I'll stick in lots of pretty pictured to keep you happy.

First stop on the Silk Road was Bukhara, which many travellers list as their favourite Uzbek city. It's got some cool looking buildings such as the Ark.

An old royal fortress containing an ancient town complete with mosque, reception and coronation court, the Ark is pretty impressive. Occupied from the fifth century until it was bombed by the Red Army in 1920, it is Bukhara's oldest building. 

The most noteworthy buildings in Bukhara, though, would have to be the Kalon Minaret, Kalon Mosque and Mir-i-Arab Medressa. They all face onto each other so can be viewed at once. Here is a photo of me at Chashmai Mirob restaurant which undoubtedly has the best views of the three structures in town.

View from inside Kalon Mosque courtyard.

And of course we had to visit Char Minar. Not a particularly outstanding building, but it's on the front cover of the Lonely Planet so a visit was of course essential.

After spending five nights in Bukhara we got a shared taxi to Khiva with a Belgium couple we would continue to bump into throughout our time in the city.

Khiva was by far our favourite town, with the old wall surrounding the ancient city centre. The modern town of Khiva is quite large, but we barely saw any of it. Our hostel was located just inside the east gate of the Old City, and as all the sights and most of the decent eateries are situated within the Old City, we barely ventured out.

Juma Minaret

The most eye catching building would be the Kalta Minor Minaret.

Me at Bir Gumbaz cafe with Kalta Minor Minaret in the background.

It kinda looks like a chopped-in-half minaret due to construction ceasing before the structure was completed. Building of the minaret commenced in 1851 under Muhammed Amin Khan who apparently wanted to build a minaret so high it would be seen from Bukhara. With 452 kilometres between the two cities, this was an audacious undertaking. Unfortunately for the good khan, he died four years later and construction ceased, leaving the minaret in the stumpy form we see today.

One can't help but be overwhelmed by the number of souvenir stalls in Khiva. If only I had enough room in my pack for one of these!

In the desert north of Khiva there are some old forts, including the ruins of the impressive Ayaz-Qala, dating back to the 6th century. 

A day tour around these old forts is cheap (around $10 per person if you have four in a car) and well worth the effort.

Be aware there are no ATMs (well, working ATMs) in Khiva and we had to make a quick dash by taxi to the larger town of Urgench to get cash out. Doh.

Be warned that the food situation in Khiva is nothing to get excited about. Unless you enjoy microwaved food. We only found one good restaurant in town, to which we inevitably kept returning when we needed a good feed. This was the Khorezm Art Restaurant, where we were introduced to a wonderful food called 'gumma', which is kind of like a deep fried potato cake, only better.

We ventured outside the walled city one night for dinner at a local restaurant. After waiting over an hour for our meals to arrive it came with meat, despite us ordering it biz myaza (without meat). When we pointed out that it had meat in it, the lady gave us a spoon so we could pick it out. We were not impressed. Keep your expectations low if you're eating outside the city walls.

After four nights in Khiva we got an overnight train to Samarkand. It's how the locals travel and it's good value for money, around $17 for the 12 hour ride.

We arrived in Samarkand at 5am and had no problem getting a taxi and checking into Bahodir B&B, just a short walk to the Registan.

Samarkand is more glitzy and expensive than the other towns, causing me to like it less. However, you can't help but be impressed by the incredible architecture which is the most impressive in all of Uzbekistan.

Tilla-Kari Medressa at the Registan. 

Claire at Ulugbek Medressa at the Registan.

Shah-i-Zinda mausoleum.

Ulugbek Medressa the Registan.

Woman in trading dress at the Registan.

After three nights in Samarkand we made our way to Tashkent, the day before flying out to Astana, Kazakhstan. While there we headed to a good coffee shop for some treats and amazing wifi, after being deprived of a good internet connection for two weeks. Downloading podcasts while eating a brownie and drinking good coffee felt very luxurious.