This year, our travels have taken us along the ancient Silk Road of Central Asia where we have seen many historic places. Having just been to Almaty, once a Silk Road town in Kazakhstan, we headed west to Taraz, another Silk Road town and one of the oldest in Kazakhstan. Taraz celebrated its 2,000th anniversary in 2001 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Part of the historic re-building of Shakhristan, Taraz, Kazakhstan |
The current Taraz was built on the site of the ancient Silk Road town of the same name. Ancient Taraz was a trading town, and it played a major role in trade and cultural exchanges between China, India, and Byzantium until it was destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th century. It has long since been rebuilt, and is now one of the fastest growing cities in Kazakhstan (pop 428,000 in 2023).
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| The back half of our long overnight train from Almaty, Kazakhstan |
To get to Taraz, we caught an overnight train from Almaty. It was a very old and long Russian train and despite having a compartment to ourselves, we didn’t get much sleep with the train’s constant bump and clatter. We arrived in Taraz at 5:00 am and taxied to our hotel. We must have looked quite jaded because the taxi driver didn’t charge us. Nice guy! The neighbourhood we were staying in was a bit dire, but the hotel was amazing with big columns, much marble, and a huge bathroom with a large claw-foot bath.
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| Ruins of the original and ancient Taraz, Kazakhstan |
We unpacked, had breakfast, and went out for a walk. After navigating lots of broken footpaths, we discovered a nearby archaeological park. We squeezed through an unlocked gate to get a closer look, and found it was the site of the original ancient Taraz. Archaeologists are still uncovering this old city, but so far have found over 40,000 artefacts dating from the 6th to 12th centuries, buildings, an extensive network of clay water pipes, and paved streets.
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| Historical and Cultural Centre and clock tower, Shakhristan, Taraz, Kazakhstan |
We looked around then found the ‘official’ entrance, where a security guy politely pointed to the kacca (cashier), so we went over and happily paid 200 Kazakh tenge each (equivalent to NZ 0.72 cents). Wandering on from there, we came to a huge square called Shakhristan that was home to an impressive 39 m-high clock tower, and the curved Historical and Cultural Center. Paving in the square was being dug up and it was chaotic trying to walk there, but interesting nonetheless.
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| Historical and cultural complex, Shakhristan, Taraz, Kazakhstan |
Opposite the clock tower, we saw a set of impressive buildings constructed in Central Asian-style that look like those we saw in Samarkand. They are quite beautiful with hand painted ceramic tiles and walls, grand entrances, arched windows, turrets, and domes. Currently, they serve as museums, cultural centres, and galleries. We visited two of them and they are also beautiful inside.
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| Mausoleums of Aulie-Ata Karahan (L) and Dautbek Shamansur (R), Taraz, Kazakhstan |
After that, we walked to the new ‘market’ area which was really a mall. It was big, clean, and air conditioned which is always a bonus in 30+ degree heat. We had an unimpressive lunch, then visited two local famous mausoleums. The first was the mausoleum of Aulie-Ata Karakhan, built in the 11th century over the grave of the founder of the Karakhanid dynasty. The second dates back to the 13th century to honour Dautbek Shamansur, a Mongol area-governor who was killed in an uprising.
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| Central Mosque, Taraz, Kazakhstan |
The next day, we grabbed a taxi to visit places outside the city. As we passed the Taraz Central Mosque, Leigh snapped off a photo through the car window. The taxi driver noticed and screamed to a stop in the middle of the traffic, and we thought oh-oh…was that culturally insensitive? But he gestured for Leigh to get out of the car and go to the front of the mosque for a better photo. After that, he stopped at many places so that we could take photos. He was clearly very proud of his city.
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| The beautifully hand carved Aisha-Bibi Mausoleum (UNESCO), Taraz, Kazakhstan |
An hour or so later, we arrived at a UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of two mausoleums that were really quite lovely. The first was the Aisha-Bibi Mausoleum that dates back to the 12th century. It is covered in beautifully hand-carved terracotta tiles with amazing detail. The second was the more modest Babaji-Khatun Mausoleum dating back to the 10th – 11th centuries. It is known for its unique sixteen-ribbed conical roof dome. Both mausoleums are plain inside and contain a coffin.
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| Soviet-style apartments outside our Soviet-style apartment, Shymkent, Kazakhstan |
A day or so later we were moving west via another old Russian slow train, taking around 4 hours to the city of Shymkent. Arriving at the accommodation we’d rented, we found that it was another Soviet style apartment. This one was also nicely renovated inside, and had interesting views of the surrounding Soviet apartments. We met the owners who had no English, so they showed us how to talk via WhatsApp translations (in Russian) so we had a conversation that was full of phone and fingernail clicks and clacks but no voices.
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| Eclectic architecture in Shymkent, Kazakhstan |
The apartment was about 2 km from the city centre so the next morning, we walked to the centre. Shymkent was founded in the 12th century as a caravanserai to protect the nearby Silk Road town of Sayram. It later became a market town and over the years was captured and destroyed many times. Currently, it is Kazakhstan’s second largest city (pop of 1.2 m in 2022), and one of its largest industrial centres. As we walked, we were impressed with its modern and eclectic architecture.
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| Leigh with Lions of Alash and Eyes (L), Altyn Shanyrak and Mother Earth (R), Shymkent, Kazakhstan |
The next day, another walk into the centre took us through a network of treed parks which was cooling in the 30+ degree heat. In each park we saw an array of monuments and street art. We particularly liked Central Park with its statue of the Lions of Alash, a group that advocated for autonomy pre-USSR times, and the eyes behind a tree painting. We also liked Independence Park with the huge Altyn Shanyrak monument and the nearby Monument to Mother Earth.
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| The citadel of the Old City of Shymkent, Kazakhstan |
Our next stop was the Old City of Shymkent, which is essentially a reconstructed citadel. The original walls have been unearthed and now restored. Inside the walls, the streets follow the lines of the original streets, but unfortunately, the only original surviving buildings are a mosque and the house of the district chief. It was scorchingly hot there with no shade, so we didn’t stay long but headed off in search of an air-conditioned restaurant for lunch.
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| Boys in the waterway next to restaurant, Shymkent, Kazakhstan |
Eventually, we found a lovely place beside a clean waterway where boys were playing. People here read the restaurant menu like it’s the Sunday paper while the waiter stands and waits. Eventually you order, but you never all get a meal at the same time. It’s been the same in all of the Central Asia countries that we’ve visited. Anyway…time to move on. Our apartment owner called us a taxi at the local rates, and later that night, WhatsApp-ed us to ensure we made it to our next destination. Lovely.
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| Marg on another old and slow Russian train, Kazakhstan |
Our next stop was in the city of Turkestan. We went by another old slow and stuffy Russian train, and it seemed a very long ride. We had to share our compartment made for four, with a mum and two kids. The kids were quiet and polite but we were all hot and cramped. Then clever mum did a deal with the conductor to use the empty compartment next door meaning that we had this one to ourselves - yaaay. When we finally arrived in Turkestan, we grabbed a taxi to a town house we’d booked.
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| Our town house – first on left, Turkestan, Kazakhstan |
However, the driver got lost on the way, even after phoning the owner for directions. So he dropped us at a hotel and Leigh waited there with the luggage while Marg walked out to find the address which was somewhere nearby. Meanwhile, the concerned owners learned where the taxi had dropped us and came and found us. The town house was right opposite the hotel, and identical to hundreds of others in a newly built area. The inside was beautifully fitted out to a European standard, and very lovely.
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| Karavan Saray, Turkestan, Kazakhstan |
It was also well located, being right opposite a new city called Karavan Saray, built to reflect Turkestan’s history. Turkestan was founded more than two millennia ago in the Kazakh Desert and became one of the most important commercial centres on the Silk Road. It is now, a medium-sized city (pop 165,000 in 2019). The new Karavan Saray area is a pedestrian haven, with good lighting, plenty of greenspace, many fountains, and some nearby UNESCO sites. We had a good look around there.
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| Interesting architecture in Turkestan, Kazakhstan |
We found it all to be very attractive and with amazing architecture. Buildings that caught our eye were the remarkable golden egg on a bird nest that is the Altyn Samurk Flying Theatre (a samruk is a mythological bird from Kazakh folklore). We also loved the National Library, the white Ahmed Yassawi Museum, and the slightly deco Drama Theatre. The next day, we visited the area again seeing mosques, mausoleums, and the old city walls.
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| Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (UNESCO), Turkestan, Kazakhstan |
The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi was beautiful. Yasawi headed a regional school of Islamic Sufism in the 12th-century, and his mausoleum is seen by the Turkic Council as the “Spiritual Capital of the Turkic World” (peoples whose language belong to the Turkic family such as Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turks, Turkmen and Uzbeks). UNESCO sees the mausoleum as a prime example of architecture from the time of the Timurid Empire (1370–1507), with the biggest dome in Central Asia.
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| Marg and at the gate of Otrar (UNESCO), Turkestan, Kazakhstan |
On one day, we visited the ancient ruins of Otrar, a UNESCO site around 57 km south of Turkestan city. Otrar is one of most ancient cities of Central Asia. The first settlements in Otrar appeared in the 8th century, and all travellers along the Silk Road visited Otrar. It was a major trading center with a sophisticated society. Ancient palaces, bathhouses, mosques, and an ingenious system of water pipes have been uncovered there.
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| Ancient ruins of Otrar (UNESCO), Turkestan, Kazakhstan |
Our town house owner offered to drive us there and back for a reasonable price, so we did that. We met his 14-year-old daughter Zukhro who speaks amazingly good English (its taught at her school), and she came with us on the trip. It was very, very hot, up into the mid-40’s, but we had a good day exploring. Eventually it was time to leave Kazakhstan. We’ve found this country interesting, but not as interesting as other places we’ve seen on this trip.
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| Marg, Leigh and Zukhro outside our town house in Turkestan, Kazakhstan |
Kazakhstan’s historic sites have been almost over-restored and are a bit twee, people are not as friendly first off but lovely once you get to know them, and the place is huge so it takes a while to get anywhere. However, the roads are good, the cities quite cosmopolitan, and overall, it’s a more progressive and sophisticated country than the other Central Asian countries we’ve visited. Leaving Kazakhstan, we caught a taxi, a train, another taxi then a flight. We are headed to Azerbaijan next, but that’s in next blog.
This blog is one in a series about our travels along the Silk Road of Central Asia.