Shymkent

20 may 2012

Spent this morning doing the cultural bit in Almaty

I visited the central museum which has a brilliant area dedicated to the lifestyles of the Kazakh peope and features a very informative section about life and times along the silk road. A wonderful guide at the museum brought this alive with her explanations. Did you know that tulips were first found in Kazakhstan and the bulbs were sold in the markets of Türkiye hence finding their way to Holland? 32 tulip species originate from this country and botanists still come here every year to search for new ones.

I saw a fabulous exhibition by a Kazakh artist who paints rural scenes and captures the lives of the nomadic people. Will try to upload some examples of his oil paintings later. Popped in to see a wild array of musical instruments that have been collected by a guy in the city and a museum created around them. There were up to 300 stringed guitars of various shapes and sizes plus flutes used in the folk music.

Took a sleeper train to Shymkent which left at 5.00pm and will arrive in the next destination at 7.00am. I shared the compartment with a mother and son, a woman going to visit her boyfriend and an older guy whose dad had fought with the Nazis during the war. We conversed in German throughout the journey which was quite an amazing experience - didn't know I could remember so much... so got his life history, his love of the Russians, horses and wild open spaces. We drank gallons of tea, drunk out of bowls and made with hot water from a wood fired boiler in the corridor of the train. A brilliant journey right through the open plains of Southern Kazakhstan.