A caravan-serai city since the 12th century, like most great cities of the time, Shymkent was sacked by Genghis Khan’s Mongols, and has changed hands a few times since. Not far from the Uzbekistan border, Shymkent is a pleasant place itself, with a sprawling bazaar spilling into the streets, as well as enough good food to keep you busy. There are some stunning hills nearby, which can be experienced with well run homestays, and the 3000 year old city of Sayram has some ancient mosques and tombs.
The city also has a heartbreaking museum outlining the Soviet atrocities inflicted on Kazakhstan’s people.
Restaurant mural.
As part of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan suffered horrific losses in World War II.
We stayed for three nights in this village to visit Sayram Ugam National Park.
Young protestors who died at the hands of Soviet oppressors.
The word "gulag" comes from Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp Administration. A small but powerful museum puts into words and pictures just how horrific the conditions were.
A young villager.
Children at a World War II memorial. The list of names of the dead stretch into the distance.
Milk truck on our farmstay near Sayram Ugam National Park.
Apiculture, or farming bees, is common throughout Kazakhstan and other former soviet republics.
Traditional musicians honured.
A sea of flowers near where we rested for lunch, Sayram Ugam National Park.
Sayram Ugam National Park.
Sayram Ugam National Park.
A heraty meal after a wet day of hiking around Sayram Ugam National Park.
Farmhouses in the hills of southern Kazakhstan, near Sayram Ugam National Park.