Shymkent

The place we are living while in Kazakhstan, the city of Shymkent (Шымкент), is probably not on the list of 'must-see' places when visiting Kazakhstan. Most people see it as a transit town, giving easy access to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. That or as the place with lots of factories. Shymkent is definitely not as picturesque as Almaty, it is a lot more grey and stern looking, but then this could be because it is coming out of winter here. And despite this, we are really enjoying living here.

Our apartment is right in the middle of town, on the top floor of an 'individualista' building. Apparently there were only a few different styles of apartment blocks built during the Soviet-era (making it very easy to shop for apartments) but ours is a unique building, meaning it was more likely to have been occupied by the elite back in the day. To my untrained eye it kind of looks like most other apartment blocks in Shymkent - a massive block of run-down cement with corroded pipes sticking out all over the place. You definitely don't want to start thinking about the safety of the gas pipes or water heaters here! The inside is pretty standard fare for this part of the world too – a different type of floral wallpaper in each room and plumbing which leaves a little to be desired (ie you can’t actually put toilet paper down the toilet here). Our pad is pretty much smack bang in the middle of town which is great for eating out, exploring on foot and generally feeling at one with the city. It is nice to have our own little piece of Shymkent and to feel as though we are part of the community.

Our flat is top left

Our living / meeting / bed room

Soviet storage (i guess they didn't want people to feel like they needed more of anything)

We have been doing lots of exploring around Shymkent – discovering the shops, the main bazaar and all the foreboding statues around town. Shymkent certainly has some quirkier aspects… like the massive MiG fighter plane statue (an ode to WWII pilots who trained here) and the three amusement parks (one of which offered the frightening prize you can see in the picture below.

Amusement park prize - Turns out the US is looking in the wrong central asia country!

Food has continued to be a highlight of the trip. It’s not that the Kazzak food is particularly gourmet or even tasty but what is lacks in quality it certainly makes up for in the thrill of surprise. Deciphering a whole menu would take a few hours so we normally spend a few minutes trying to work out as much as we can before the relentless waitresses get the better of us and we end up taking what is effectively a stab in the dark. You win some you lose some, we have certainly won more than we have lost. I thought we were onto a sure thing at the local Mexican joint. We ran through an assortment of Mexican dished until we came across some the waiter seamed to recognize. I got the Burritos and Ev ordered the Tacos. The Burritos were spot on but Evs Chicken and Lemon soup was about as far from Taco as you can get.

After the constant harassment in India, walking around in Shymkent has been fabulous. Most people think that we are Russian until they try to talk to us, and since there are no tourists here, usually people are pretty excited that someone from ‘Afstraliya’ would come to Kazakhstan. However the locals don’t seam to understand that Russian isn’t a universal language and despite pleas of "я не понимаю" (I don’t understand) we still get a barrage of questions in Russki. This is particularly problematic when we get wrong number calls and the caller is sure that if they try hard enough and call back enough times we will miraculously understand, as was the case at 2am last night. From our few Russian lessons I can safely say this ain’t going to happen!

All the people that we have met in Kazakhstan have been incredibly kind and friendly. From the waitresses who patiently perform charades to explain what all the items on the menu are. To the man at the bazaar who decided he wanted to pose with the sheep’s head for me. The other day we went into a shop in the evening to buy Ev a cap he had found and fallen in love with. When we got to the cashier, a big Kazak man appeared, and the cashier informed us that he wanted to buy Ev’s cap for him. We’re not sure if he is normally that generous, or if the fact that he had obviously been drinking played a role. Anyway a few minutes later he gave us his cars number plate (we think he was trying to write his phone number but got muddled) and lots of full body hugs he finally let Ev go.

One sheeps head please

Apart from local drunkards we have made a few friends. There is a lovely (English speaking) Pakistani guy who works at one of the local internet cafes who takes every opportunity to talk cricket, the bread sellers at the bottom of our building who compete ferociously for our daily 25c bread purchase (I almost started a bread war by switching sellers) and a Russian guy from the other internet place who welcomes Ev with a hearty handshake every time we drop in.

That pretty much sums Shimkent up. It’s a wacky but very friendly place with lots of quirky buildings, monuments, practices and people. We’re having a great time and I think that is largely due to this cool city.

we're not in Kansas anymore Toto,
Lot's of love,
Nat and Ev