The 5 Stans of the Silk Road

[VPS]

Loved the dogs running around with the horses. So much easier for guys not to have make their way to the loo in the middle of the night

 

[RooFlyer]

Final stanza of the mini 'Nomad Games' was horse wrestling - or rather, wrestling when on a horse ... idea is for you to dis-mount the other guy.

That was a very entertaining few hours. Soon it was time for dinner again. And again, JohnM risked our palates and reputations ( ??) going through the inventory of Kyrgyz reds. Here was the first choice for the evening:



it was truly dreadful. Tasted like cherry/grape juice. Can anyone read Russian - the bottom part is Russian and I think it says "Semi dry red grape variety wine, made from various grape varieties" ... I think they forgot the fermentation step.



We gave it away and tried the next one - it wasn't great, but was just drinkable (when you are in a yurt in rural Kyrgyzstan, with the nearest bottle shop about 4 hours away )



Dinner was salad and a variety of regional noodle soup called 'Lashman'. You could get it in most places we stopped at in the Stans and it was always a good choice.



The yurt people gave the group some prezzies - local scarves for the ladies, Kyrgyz hats for the 'gents':

 

[stm1sydney]

At Khujand, first stop was at a museum, which i thought deathly uninteresting, not helped by our new Uzbek country guide (for a day), whose English probbaly wasn't up to scratch.

The Khudoyar-Khan Palace was more interesting, built in 1871 for the last Khan of Kokand. As usual, the tile-work was of the most interest for me.

Just to correct the typo, this should read "Kokand."

It's a shame you found the Ferghana Valley disappointing. That was one of the highlights of our trip, probably because we did it independently and not with a tour (where there is a risk you get dragged around numerous uninteresting museums and visit mainly tourist-oriented restaurants, shops and sights, which is what seemed to happen to you here). We found the locals in both Kokand and Margilan really friendly, the Margilan Sunday Market was amazing, and the sights and food around the back streets were great. Ferghana City itself is probably the least interesting place.

The best hotel of our Uzbek trip was in Kokand: Silk Road Kokand Hotel, it's almost five star but only USD50 per night including massive breakfast.

 

[RooFlyer]

Just to correct the typo, this should read "Kokand."

Ooops, yes ... Khujand was the last stop in Tajikistan ... all a bit of a whirl, really ...

Yes, this day was the single, well, not quite a dud, but disappointing day of the trip. I think it was 'souvenir' day, so more focused on the commercial than the boutique, which just about all the rest of the tour was.

Never mind - a reason to go back!!

 

[RooFlyer]

The next day, we headed for Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz republic. A bit disappointing that the tour doesn't go to Lake Issyk Kul, especially the areas to the south-east of it, but that would have extended the tour by a good 3 days, and would be best done by going south-east out of Almaty back into Kyrgryz.



We drove down off the high plateau on rough dirt roads through more desolate valleys, with the weather still on the gloomy side.







Passed a ?herd of yaks & cows.

 

[RooFlyer]

The drive was pretty unexciting and we entered Bishkek in the mid afternoon. Bishkek has a population of about 1 million and was a tax-collecting outpost in the early 1800s. It became a regional capital in the 1920s under the soviets and capital of the Kyzgry Socialist republic in the 1930s. It was an overcast day and all that was on the agenda was some visits to a couple of sites in the central part of the city.

This ?war memorial in the shape of a half-yurt at 'Victory Square'. our country guide wasn't too keen on it - a Soviet memorial.





Opera house/theatre:





The State History Museum we were told has been closed for 'renovations' for years - mainly because of a totaly corrupt process/administration. The statue of Lenin survives as a nod to the substantial Russian population still in the country.





Lenin used to face the Parliament but that's now part of the University, i think:



This is the White House , former marble-covered Palace of the President, now a government building.



Adjacent to where i took that pic is the memorial to those who died in the 2010 revolution.

Our Kyzgyz guide like to say that theirs is the only true democracy of the Stans. Its not really, but there has been a history of successful protest against authoritarianism. In 2005 there was the 'Tulip Revolution', where President Akayev was ousted after an election seen to be corrupt. He fled to Moscow and resigned from there. The 'opposition' took control and held elections which, while not perfect were seen as not bad by western observers. The new president Bakiev got about 90% of the vote ...

Bakiev was ousted in the second revolution, in 2010. This began with ethnic clashes (Uzbeks and Kyzgyz) and some thousands died. Later in Bishkek protests etc against the president started and got quite violent; more deaths. Bakiev eventually resigned and fled to Belarus and later tried to retract his resignation. Some constitutional reforms were begun to wind back the power of the President, but these too stalled. Hard to get a feel for where the country is now.

 

[RooFlyer]

Changing of the guard ... they aren't nearly as touchy here about filming military and police as in the other Stans!

This is the statue of Manas ... hero of an epic poem devoted to the history of the country .. he was the symbol of Kyzgyz Republic that replaced Lenin when the Soviet Union went - like Timur in Uzbekistan and Soumuni in Tajikistan.

 

[RooFlyer]

I guess it was a sign that we were a bit toured-out when most of us went for pizza at dinner that night!! A prior survey of the local mini mart (AKA grog-shop) didn't deliver any breakthroughs on the wine front, so I went with beer ...



vodka, however, was in plentiful supply ...



Thats not the pizza weight .. but 320 Kyzgyz Soms (A$6.70 ... big city prices!!)

 

[stm1sydney]

Roo, go the local vodka! It's cheap, and very decent quality.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'll say it was cheap! But not for me ...

 

[RooFlyer]

Next day, our final travel day, Bishkek to the Kazakhstan capital of Almaty.



Fortunately the day dawned bright and sunny, and I noticed a view from out my hotel window:



That's the Tien Shan mountains or 'Heavenly mountain' range that runs from behind Bishkek to behind Almaty. We asked for a photo stop on the way out of town. Quite the backdrop!!





We were warned about a short, but 'aggressive' border crossing into Kazakhstan, with day traders pushing and shoving. In the end it was pretty benign and we all went across pretty easily. Our 5th Stan!!

Across the border the countryside changed dramatically, and our guide - the one from Kyrgyz republic stayed with us into Kazakhstan - sniffed that Kazakhstan didn't have mountains. At this stage, he looked right - just a grassy steppe.



The highway from the borderinto Almaty is currently being twinned, so it will be great in the future but today it was a slow ride, with lots of roadworks. And then we hit a forecast trafic jam. On the outskirts of Almaty there is a Saturday 'motor market' - unfortunately, they forgot to bring the road, so for about 5-10 km we suffered a complete traffic jam. Not the best introduction to the city!





Looking at the locals, it seems very westernised. We are, again, in a notionally Muslim country.

 

[RooFlyer]

Eventually we got to the first stop, the 'Green Bazaar'. Lots of usual clothes and cough stalls on the surrounds, but inside a great fruit & veg, honey, preserves and meat market.

Warning, meat photos below. The meats are divided into different areas per the animal. Chicken, lamb, cow, pig and, er, horse. No blood, no smells (other than what you'd get in any butchers shop) and certainly no flies etc.

 

[RooFlyer]

Nearby, a park dedicated to 28 Kazakhs who were part of the brigade of Russian General Panfilov who supposedly held up the Germans as they advanced on Moscow in WW2 and gave time for re-inforcements to arrive. legend or true, its not sure. There is no doubt that the Soviets do war memorials very well, although our country guide pointed out the face on the leading soldier in the bronze is European, whilst only the 'supporters' are central asian in appearance.










A bit bizarrely, adjacent to this is the Kazakh museum of Folk Instruments.



Almaty has a population of about 2.7 million and definitely has a 'big city' feel. The roads/traffic downtown at least are well organised, and its neat and clean. It was the capital of Kazakhstan until 1997 when it moved to Astana (now known as Nur-Sultan after the recently resigned president (who is said to still pull the strings).

In the park is the Ascension Russian Orthodox Cathedral, made entirely of wood. Amazing what a colourful paint job does

 

[RoMambai]

Seeing the plov with lamb picture reminded me of the region's preference for fat lamb bums. It's highly prized and often served up to the guest as a sign of respect.....they never could understand why we preferred red meat.

 

[Matt_01]

@RooFlyer great report. As you are in Kazakhstan it may be worth keeping an eye out for Borat or Azamat and then post the details in the famous people thread.

 

[RooFlyer]

Arrrr... I left a few weeks ago and am just catching up. Thankfully neither of those two were seen, or were even heard about!

 

[JohnM]

No need for Borat - Rooy actually scrubs up quite well in his mankini .

 

[RooFlyer]

How much am I offered NOT to post those pics. . I will be seen propping up the bar at the AFF annual do in a few weeks and will accept cash or alcohol.

 

[Skyhawk]

You've certainly covered a lot of ground.
When travelling in the mini-bus were there times when the local drivers were crazy/dangerous or it was terrifying?

 

[RooFlyer]

We used full sized coaches, smaller coaches, 16 seater vans and 4 WDs on various places of the tour. I was never worried about the behavior of our own drivers, although barreling along at 120-130 km/hr through the desert in the dark, coming back from the crater in Turkmenistan in 4WDs for a few hours on end, was a bit concerning.

In the mountains in Tajikistan, where overtaking on blind corners seems to be a local art, but there, as in like places, all the drivers are always expecting these things, so are prepared and everyone 'squeezes' to accommodate the situation. In some places (also Tajikistan) I was more concerned about the engineering of the road, given they are just scraped around the edges of some pretty dramatic slopes and the area is seismic!