Kok Bazaar/ Zelyonny Bazaar - The first time we went there, we were getting ripped-off prices so much and the biggest part of the bazaar seem to be the meat section which boasts a huge selection of horse meat, beef, mutton, pork and even dog meat. After we honed our skills in Yuliya's Russian lessons, our subsequent trips to GB were cheap thrills literally.

Zelyonny Bazaar is the to-go place to flaunt them BKK/CTC bargain skills and get fresh produce at a slightly lower price compared to supermarkets. Cool/cheap things we discovered:

1. 300T Doner behind the bazaar which also sells yummy made on-the-spot Leprochki and Samsa

 2. Fruit/Veggies stalls behind the bazaar sell cheaply priced veggies and fruits but prices change daily and vary across stalls so don't buy at the first stall!

3. There is a stall selling Kumis, fermented horse milk which taste so different you got to try it HAHAHA they were available everywhere in the Shymkent and Turkestan bazaars but we haven't seen the stall in green bazaar...

4. The BKK/CTC bargaining method works here!

Getting there
I'm not sure about buses as we always walk from KIMEP. It's about a 15-20 minutes walk straight down Dostyk Avenue and through the Panfilov Park. About 5 minutes walk after Panfilov Park you will see a green building, which would be the Green Bazaar~ To get the Central Mosque, cut directly through the bazaar and walk straight down Pushkina Street. After seeing the huge mausoleums in Turkistan/Uzbekistan, I don't think the Central Mosque would be too much of an attraction. If you are heading there, do avoid prayer days (Fridays I think) as the place would be quite crowded.


 

Taken by a friend I made while waiting for the train to arrive.

Getting to Shymkent from Almaty: You can take a train or coach bus or a flight. But, domestic flights in Kazakhstan can get pretty expensive if you are on a budget trip.

Train
About 2000T-4000T depending on the class of train, 2000T for the lowest class, 3700T for the Coupe cabin, which was the one I took and I found it relatively comfortable, and over 6000T for the first class cabin. No idea how it looks like though.

If you book the train tickets online via epay.railways.kz, it is cheaper. However, you need a credit card that is in Tenge so I opted to buy over a counter and it costs 500T more. The train ride should take 12-16 hours depending on the route you choose.

You will be asked to choose if you want a top bunk or bottom bunk for the sleeper beds. Bottom bunk is good because it's convenient to move about BUT it can get hot as hell at night as the heater is located just below the side table. The top cabin requires alot of push-ups and pull-ups to access but I think you get a more comfy sleep since you're further from the heater. If your train ride is less than 24 hours, I highly advise to get some snacks onboard like some Flint or Leprochki. Some Chai would be good for tea-sipping in the morning too.

In Almaty, the train departs from Alma-Ata 1 or 2 and arrives in Shymkent at the Shymkent vokzal.

Another point to note about trains is that you will have to book at least 2 weeks in advance to avoid disappointment (much advertising LOL). I tried booking my train 4 days before departure and slots were all sold out - especially since it was Nauryz. 

Bus
Take the bus if you want a different experience. I took the Bus back from Shymkent to Almaty and I would say, it is the biggest regret of my trip. The journey was faster (took about 10-11 hours) and a little cheaper (4000T) but I don't think it is worth the suffering I went through. The bus stops every 3-4 hours at rest stops and the driver instructs everyone to alight as he needs to lock the bus while he eats. So...

1. You get interrupted in your sleep. If you even get to sleep at all in those coach seats.
2. Every 3-4 hours, you get locked outside the warm bus and left vulnerable to the bitter cold. The worse was the rest stop we alighted at 2am - the temperature was almost 2 degrees and the passengers were all standing around the bus waiting for the driver to be back. 

Those were the worst points of taking a coach imo. It was an experience to my list of adventures but definitely one that I will never attempt again. 

The coach buses departs from the aftovokzal behind Aina Bazaar. There, you can choose the company and test the quality of the seats. I was in a hurry and did not compare across different companies. At the rest stops where all the buses stop, I realise I must have taken one of the cui-er buses. You can also deposit your bag in the bus in the morning if you are heading out for a day trip to Turkistan or Sayram. The buses then arrives at Sairan aftovokzal, which was where we took our Marshuka/taxi to Kyrgyzstan.


 Kazygurt, Shymkent, Kazakhstan - My roomie, Gulayim brought me to her hometown, right after my train arrived at Shymkent, to check out the Nauryz celebration and to hang out at her place (with some tea of course). Lost the pictures of the celebratory events when my SD card reformatted so here's a picture of her mama's mecta on the sofa after a whole day of preparation for the celebration and hosting me. Guess the owner of the nose!






Abay Park, Shymkent - Chet and I took a stroll after a heavy morning shower and he brought me to this park with his favourite fighter jetplane LOL the wind was so strong that day it blew the eternal flame out. Crazy wind speed really. This two concrete blocks between the circles are the plaques with the carvings of the sacrificed soldiers in the Fight of the Panfilov. Possibly thousands of names there.

I attempted to visit the Central Bazaar in Shymkent the following day and had a trauma on the taxi when he refused to drop me off. Actually, he had a legitimate reason because the bazaar was closed (at 7pm whaaaaat it's suppose to close at 8!) but I was getting a little freaked out at his actions so I demanded to be dropped off.

"Eta Central Bazar, Zakrita"

 "Ahhhhh neecheevo, ya hachu (sign language out get off)"

 "Zakrita! Zakrita! (Spam of Russian/Kazakh, sign language that he will bring me around the city instead)"

 "Neecheevo, Ne Nada. Ya hachu Gulayoo."

 "ZAKRITA! Gulayoo (Does sign language of going around again)"

 "NET SPASIBA! YA HACHU GULAYOO ZDEASH!"

 So....he unwillingly dropped me off and my only buy of the day was a Leprochki, some Kazakh bread which taste yeastly nice, and I headed back. No adventures bleheheh.

From Shymkent, you can easily get to nearby culturally rich cities - Turkistan and Sairam via taxi or Marshukas. Also, if you are heading to Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Shymkent is a good place to stopover and get transport to the Kazakh-Uzbek border. In Kazygurt, villages were located at the foot of the Tianshan mountains and it was really...picturesque. Kinda reminded me of the Windows default wallpaper hahaha. Shymkent itself is pretty commercialised and looks like any other Kazakh city but the outskirts and villages are worth a visit!

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Puah Li Xuan (LX)

+65 / Sunny Singapore
Finding the fine balance between Food and Fitness

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