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Welcome to my travel log! You will find here a lot more than in the travel reports, stripped from political correctness. Enjoy! 
Aug 12, 2008 02:00 PM Kazakhstan - Kyrgyzstan - almost there
I almost crossed to Kyrgyzstan today. But few weeks back, the regulations have changed and now Polish citizens need a visa. Normally one is available on arrival but not at that crossing I chose. I knew I should have flown again, and after the experience on the previous border I did check availabilty of flights, but there is no air connection between Almaty and Bishkek. Had I flown, I would have been in Kyrgyzstan by now, but I had to go back to Almaty and apply for the Kyrgyz visa. Travelling 200 km back and forward with no result is the optimal way to travel, is it?
I was really unhappy, as I did check visa requirements some time before I left, which clearly stated that Poles did not need a visa. The officials at the border were cheeky saying that I was not the only one as travellers on the way would not know about the change. Then I almost freaked out when I checked in the phonebook that there was no diplomatic representation of Kyrgyz Republic in Almaty and I would need to go all the way to Astana, almost 2h flight away. But I enquired at the hotel and there was a General Consulate in Almaty, which dealt with visas. I made plans to go there in the morning and beg for issuing me a visa the same day. I was getting really bored in Almaty, which was draining my budget!
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Aug 11, 2008 02:00 PM Almaty - Kazakhstan's former capital
Well, after coming back from the Big Almaty Lake, I just chilled in the centre. The city has a short pedestrianised zone lined with cafes, restaurants and shopping centres, all of which specialise in mobile phones. Each model has its own seller, so it feels like there is actually more sellers than buyers!
There is nothing to see in Almaty otherwise. The city was almost completely destroyed by the 1911 big earthquake and very few buildings remain from time before the event. There is one church, one wooden house built by the same man, and a couple of oldish buildings all of which require repairs, and some restoration has been going on.
So, I sat at a couple of cafes, drank hefe-weizen beer and ate local dumplings and shashliks, watching people go by. If civilisation was measure by the availability of draft white beer, the number of ATMs per square kilometre and the law requiring putting on seatbelts while driving and letting pedestrians pass, Almaty would possibly top the list. Some cafes have more than one or two draft white beers available: paulaner, franziskaner, hoegaarden, blanche de bruxelles, etc. ATMs are litterally every few yards, and all work with cards issues anywhere in the world (Kazakhstant has the most sophisticated and advanced banking system in Central Asia), and the drivers do let pedestrians through, even stop as one approaches a crossing!
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Aug 10, 2008 02:00 PM Almaty, former capital of Kazakhstan, nice and leafy but...
... but there are no sights, apart from a nice wooden, colourful church in a park that survived the big earthquake of 1911, Soviet times and the times of neglect. Almaty is a very green city and its dramatic location can easily compete with Cape Town, Luxembourg and T'bilisi, I guess. The snow capped mountains looming in the background are so lovely that I find it hard to describe.
It is very expensive here. Beer costs from $4-$8 for a pint and a dinner at a small cafe sets one back even $35 when taking both first and main courses. Ice-cream costs more than in London and in this hot weather is difficult to cope. Fortunately, the streets are frequently dotted with mobile soda sellers, which nevermind the hygiene are cheap and there is plenty of bubbles in the drinks.
The only great sight is to climb the mountains. A popular spot is the Big Almaty Lake. There is no public transport, but I hired a taxi. The distance is just 25 km, but the road is so bad that it takes almost two hours to get there from the city. The lake is average but the scenery is superb. The mountains are massive and the Big Almaty River valley is dotted with yurts, converted into to cafes, camping sites and little hotels. The yurts are authentic and locals still live in them, too. Since it is forbidden to build in the national park.
After the capital moved to Astana, Almaty has been loosing its charm and no longer has the ambition to be the centre of everything in the country. Still, many banks are still located in the city, and there is plenty of business going on. Plus its alleys and streets planted with trees, make the entire lower city feel like a giant park, except the traffic. The upper part of the city has been building new high rise buildings to house apartments and the new financial centre. It will be glittering with glass and steal, and the mountains seen from there are surreal.
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Aug 09, 2008 02:00 PM Turkistan - Kazakhstan's gem
I managed to get a ride from Shymkent to Turkistan (approx 200 km) in a shared taxi for $80, which was expensive, but Kazakhstan is as expensive as London. So one might say it was a good value. The ageing Merc was almost flying all the way as the driver pushed the engine. He was driving a little too aggressively for my liking but it meant that I got to the monuments in no time and was back in Shymkent with enough time to relax and enjoy the evening. There were few buses between the two places, but they were infrequent.
Turkistan's mausoleum and the mosque were incredible. The main structure was so huge that it easily competed with the temples in Egypt. When I said I was from Poland, I did not have to pay the entrance fee, so I do not even know what it was. Remarkably the building was decorated on its sides and the frontal iwan was left bare, showing the astonishing brick work. Very inusual. Plus there were these walls that semi circumvent the complex, which I liked a lot. It was eventually expensive to get there but I would highly recommend it.
On the way back the driver bought a watermelon, and we ate it. He was an expert. He selected a very nice and sweet one.
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Aug 08, 2008 02:00 PM Tashkent (UZ) - Shymkent (KZ) - a disaster
The trip from the Uzbek capital to the nearest city in Kazakhstan is a disaster. The distance between the two is just 120 km but the main border crossing on the highway is closed for an unforeseeable future for upgrading. The two nearest crossings were, what I call, a rasist ones - only for Kazakhs and Uzbeks. No other nationals are allowed to cross. I was really really pissed off. I lost time and money to get to the crossings. But I was lucky, I met a multinational family Turk-Uzbek-Kazakh, who were travelling by their seven seater minivan and offered me a ride. Not only to the the nearest post allowing me to pass, but all the way to Shymkent. This is where they were going. It was a fun ride. I spoke Russian a lot and played with the two very naughty boys, Rajab and Ahmed. Ahmed was the yougest and he was the most mischievous. Apparently three nannies ran away from the boys.
My experience with the Kazakh officials was terrible. I have not seen so much corruption since Guinea-Bissau! The custom officer asked me for a 'souvenir' and so did the immigration officer at the last gate. By then I was almost furious. I told him that I had not known he was there and I had not brought any gifts. He then demanded dollars. I had to laugh in his face telling him that this was 21st century! I was travelling with my MasterCard and not cash! It took altogether 6 (six!!) hours to cross the border. The service was extremely slow and every single one wanted money. I knew I should have flown instead, but it was part of the experience. The thing was that I lost a lot of valuable time. But I ended up staying with the family in Shymkent.
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Aug 07, 2008 02:00 PM Shakhrisabz (Uzbekistan) - hot UNESCO site
About an hour from Samarkand, Shakhrisabz has been listed by UNESCO separately to recognize the significance of several items connected to Emir Timur, Uzbekistan's greatest leader ever. He strengthened the empire, reintroduced Islam, built universities and led to blossoming architecture.
Shakhrisabz boasts Central Asia's largest arch, two lovely mosques and mausolea of the significant family. It is small. Two hours are enough to see all, including a poor ethnographic museum.
Taxi ride from Samarkand, return was $55, incl. waiting time. Then, I hopped on a very civilised train Ragistan Express to Tashkent ($8). Second class ait-con carriages had spotless compartments sitting six, with tables covered with crisp white cloths as the train attendants offered teas and coffees from colourful fine china bowls. It took 3.5 hours to the capital. What a lovely way to travel!!
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Aug 06, 2008 02:00 PM Samarkand (Uzbekistan) - Quality not Quantity
Samarkand, once the most glamourous and grandest of cities in Asia, is 2750 years old. I say once, as now it is a busy city with only a handful of old monuments. Throughout the history, Samarkand has been destroyed by competing empires, including the Alexander the Great, and earthquakes. Only in the last 30 or so years, restoration process has been accelerated. And with great results!
The Registan, the main square that makes Samarkand famous is superb. It boasts three Islamic Universities (medressahs), which so close to each other make an incredible sight. But I liked two other places. The giant Juma (Jameh, Friday) Mosque with probably the most massive iwans I have seen, and a complex of mausolea in the eastern, the olderst part of the city. The latter is packed with little temples or tombs in one alley, separated by three getes, that it this little spot looks like from a fantasy about Sindbad, Ali-Baba's soldiers, flying carpets, lamp gins and a treasury opening at a spoken password. So colourful as well!
But Samarkand is not large. There are about a dozen of sights so one can visit them all in a day, including a siesta to escape the 45C heat of the midday, and a visit to the museum. But it is about quality and not quantity. The only pity is that Samarkand does lack a compact, integral Old Town, like Bukhara and Khiva have.
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Aug 05, 2008 02:00 PM Bukhara (Uzbekistan) - a little gem
I arrived in Bukhara, reportedly the third holliest city in the Islamic world (after Mecca and Medina), but I heard about many other third holiest cities of Islam...
The old town is fabulous. The number of great monuments from the Uzbek second Renaissance, in the 18th and 19th century is perhaps not the greatest, but at a glaciar pace, one would need two days to see everything in the town and in the nearbly villages. Bukhara itself, with its Old Town monuments can be seen in a full day.
Remarkably, the medresahs, mosques, mausolea and related structures are not all covered in colurful tiles, and many expose a brillain brick work. I have not seen more genious use of the brick in my life!! The patterns used in the process of construction are so incredible, that it would actually be a shame to cover them with tiles. Sure, there are a few Islamic schools, many of which have been converted into museums, have a trace of tile decorations, but the most stricking that I liked did not. The main medresah, which is currently fully operational and off limits to visitors, had excellent tile work, though, but the adjacent minaret did not. So, this is the combination.
There were a few nice cafes scattered around the old town and myriad of little hotels, that it makes Bukhara a mecca for travellers. It is a great place to spend a few days just to relax. The place is clean and the monuments are so beautiful and so close to each other, as if taken from one of the 1001 nights' fairytales.
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Aug 04, 2008 02:00 PM Tashkent - on a cooler day
I am back in the Uzbek capital. Today, the temperature dropped to the cool 33C. There is no cloud in the sky. I am sitting at the lobby of the Grand Mir Hotel trying to figure out how to get to the monuments, enjoying free Internet access. It is already 5:30pm so I need to rush so I can snap some of the old medresahs here in Tashkent.
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Aug 03, 2008 02:00 PM Khiva (Uzbekistan) - What a great place!
I arrived in Khiva on a short flight from Tashkent. The old town surrounded by wavy mudbrick wall with conical watchtowers is something that is hard to describe. It is compact and the amound of monuments, mosques, medresahs, and minarets packed into this small place is mind boggling. I love it here. One can snooze in a few tea houses and reflect on life, the universe and everything.
Remarkably, during the Soviet times it was still preserved. The majority of the monuments are nicely decorated with colourful tiles, mainly blue, yellow and green, but very gently. There is nothing over-the-top here and the dominating mud brick everywhere reminds that this place has been around for at least two millennia here.
There are not many tourists here. People are friendly and have not become blase over the UNESCO WHL enscribing. There are a few souvenir stand here and there but there is no pushing and no tauting.
I walked up one of the minarets to see the old town from above. It is a great experience, and give a good idea what else is there to see in the town. It is a perfect place to relax, read, or better write, a book, and forget about civilisation. Apart from occasional Sat TV dish, there are no structures disturbing the historical integrity of the place. The maze of little streets is relatively easy to nagivate as the tall minarets give away the way.
I am so happy that I came here. I am in a little internet cafe close to the tube-like minaret, which connect via a phone line. It makes me feel that I am in fact in the desert...
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