Spring Vacation: Part III

 Caturday, May the Fourth be with you

 

I woke up for morning prayers then rested again before dragging myself up to face the day. Day started out cloudy and it drizzled too at some point. The sun finally came out around noon. I set off and walked along Chuy Avenue to the Parliament, continued on to the State History Museum. There’s another statue of Manas in front of the museum while a statue of Vladimir Lenin stands behind the museum. I walked to the National Library, National Museum of Fine Arts with Opera and Ballet Theatre across from it, turned to Victory Square and all the way to the Central Mosque. It was an hour before Zuhur when I reached the mosque so I didn’t stay for prayers. I turned and walked back. Ala Too Square which is the main square was closed for renovation so I walked on and on until I reached Osh Bazaar. Then I turned back and returned to the hostel to perform prayers and rest. I wanted to watch the Arsenal match but it wasn’t shown live. Day 2 in Bishek: walked 15.8 km or 22,576 steps so far today. Disappointingly, I didn’t meet any cat today despite it being a Caturday.

Parliament

Manas Statue

State History Museum

Bishkek Central Mosque

At Osh Bazaar in Bishkek

Salad!

Honey

 

I was about to sit down for my dinner when I checked my email and found out that my flight for 08:00 the following morning had been cancelled but that I could opt to join the 05:00 flight. I quickly replied informing the affirmative and then contacted GoBus to change my departure time for the airport. I quickly finished dinner then went to finish packing and tried to get an early night.

 

Sunday, 5 May 2024

 

Woke up at the ungodly hour of 02:00 and finished dressing and packing up in eight minutes, what a record! Left after I’d had some drink and checked my social media and made my way to the bus stop at 02:23, feeling a bit apprehensive but then I saw there were still a few people including groups of girls on the streets. The GoBus vehicle arrived at 02:39 and we arrived at the airport just before 05:00. I quickly joined the queue to check in (chaotic, everyone was everywhere but alhamdulillah I saw the shorter queue) then went in to the boarding area. I performed prayers in the nursery (Alhamdulillah for nurseries!) then waited for the flight. Flight took off slightly later as the airline had to get a drunk passenger off the airport bus. Then some moron sat in my seat (honestly, couldn’t he tell that A would be right by the window and his actual seat, B, was in the middle?! You gotta wonder at the intelligence of these travellers) and I admonished him. We landed in Osh after 06:00 and I killed time at the airport before taking a marshrutka to the guest house (Gulshada, my hostess, informed me marshrutkas started running after 07:00). Alhamdulillah, Gulshada allowed me to leave my bag there (she had earlier informed me that there’d be extra charge for early check-in) and she advised me to go to the bazaar today as it closes on Mondays. So after joining her for breakfast and exchanging our brief life stories, I set off for and walked all the way to Sulaiman-Too and climbed it. Spent some time at the top before going down. I then walked to Jayma Bazaar which sits on the site of a large market from the Silk Road days over two thousand years ago and browsed the stalls and stores. It had started raining then and I was glad to seek refuge in the bazaar. I walked from one end of the bazaar to the other end and there are even layers of shops on both sides of the main artery of the bazaar. The bazaar has also expanded to the new bazaar across the river. I finally stopped to have lunch: some meat soup with bread. Then I walked out of the bazaar and around the area before returning to the guest house. Today, I walked 14.9 km or 21,700 steps.

Views of Osh city

It actually rained early in the evening and lasted well into the night. There were also thunders but nothing as loud as what we have back home.

 

Monday, 6 May 2024

 

I left the guest house late today and made my way to the city centre. First, I headed for the Mosque of Rabat Abdul Khan, allegedly the oldest mosque in Osh and built as a tribute to 16^th century Rabat Abdul Khan. It’s just next to Oshskiy Oblastnoy Muzey Izobrazitel’nykh Iskusstv, an art museum. I went into the mosque compound but was not allowed to enter the mosque itself by a man who surprisingly could speak English. Then I walked to Osh State University, entering its grounds. Earlier I saw some graduates in their gown so there may be a graduation ceremony going on although I didn’t see any more students in their robes walking around.

 

Mosque of Rabat Abdul Khan

I walked on along Lenin Avenue to the Main Square (it was closed for renovation though) with another monument to Lenin. The city administration building is across from Main Square. I walked on to the nearby Toktugul Park before turning back. I also decided to change my remaining Kazakhstani Tenge into Krygystani Som (as I reckon a return trip to Kyrgyzstan with its parks would be more likely than a return trip to Kazakhstan); the rate was horrible but at least I won’t have excess KZT like I have Georgian Lari which I couldn’t sell outside the country.

 

I knew Gulshada said that the bazaar was closed today so I headed to the new bazaar. Most stalls were closed but there were some that were operating. I walked on before turning to find Globus Hypermarket. Then I turned back to the new bazaar and walked on and on until I found a place to have my late lunch. I had laghman again, this time with more gravy which is the way I prefer it. It was so good and cost less than half of  what I paid at Café Faiza in Bishkek! I also bought some buns for the following day.

 

I then returned to the guesthouse and started packing before resting.

 

Tuesday, 7 May 2024

 

Another early start today. I woke up at 03:45, freshened up, performed ablutions and performed prayers. I had asked Gulshada to help arrange a cab for me for 04:30 and the cab arrived at 04:35. I hugged Gulshada and thanked her for hosting me then left. The ride took only ten minutes. There were lines queuing up to check in and all seemed chaotic except for one row and I headed for that. Then there was another confusion before we were allowed to proceed to passport control because there was another early flight bound for Moscow. After going through passport control and security check, I went in to wait.

 

We were soon called to board the bus to the plane. The time difference between Turkey and Kyrgyzstan had somehow slipped my mind and it was during mid-flight when I realised it would be a five-hour-and forty-minute flight. What a long flight! And I would be spending the whole day in airports so it was a long day too!

 

We landed at Istanbul Sabiha Airport and I followed the lane for international transfer. Then I sat down and cleared my emails and read while whiling away the time. At 13:00, I went to the prayer room for prayers before making my way to the gate.

Leaving Istanbul

We landed at Bologna Airport at 15:30v and as we were descending, I thought of how much I loved Italy. It took a while to disembark and then when we finally did, we had to queue for more than an hour to clear passport control! It was the first time that my bag was out waiting for me instead of the other way around. If you want to fill up your water bottle, there’s a water dispenser in the baggage claim area and another near RyanAir check-in counters.

At Bologna Airport

I had visited Bologna before and while I wouldn’t mind visiting it again, I didn’t feel like dragging my bag behind me. I would also have to pay to use the washroom in the city and face problems finding a place to perform prayers (on my first visit, I performed prayers at the basement of a halal Indian restaurant). So I decided to just stay in the airport and only board bus no. 944 to Bologna Centrale at 00:45 to minimise the time I would have to spend at the bus station.

To be continued

Spring Vacation: Part II

 Tuesday, 30 April 2024

 

My train was supposed to arrive at 00:10 and depart at 00:30 but it only came at 00:45. It was a good thing I asked some locals and not board a train that arrived at 00:20 for that train was bound for Astana.

 

When the train arrived, I quickly walked to wagon 3 where my compartment was. I made the bed, performed ablutions, changed clothes and promptly fell asleep. I had purchased a bunk bed in a business class compartment that comes with its own toilet, sink and shower. Apart from the time when I showed the officer my ticket to be shown the direction, no one came to check my ticket during the journey.

 

I woke up at 04:00 for morning prayers and went to sleep again. I woke up at 07:50 and had a shower. The sink tap and shower continued flowing out even though I pressed the tap down many times. It took a while and much wasted water before the water stopped flowing.

 

After freshening up, I set to have ramen for breakfast. It was then when someone tried to open the door. Turned out I have a compartment mate joining in from Taraz. He’s a 60-year old Korean and we had to use some translation app to talk to each other. Well, it was a good thing that I woke up and showered when I did! He was very thoughtful and came with a plastic bag containing two bananas, two eggs and a sausage for me. I took the bananas but was not sure about the sausage so I left it. I later found out that we can expect to get halal food throughout Kazakhstan.

 

We reached Almaty 2 train station at almost 4:00 p.m. There is another train station, Almaty 1 station, but it is outside the city. I walked to find Information but the ladies at the counter couldn’t speak English and one of them used a translation app to tell me to go to Altyn Taraz, a nearby building, to enquire about Onay card. After struggling to communicate with one of the officers there, I decided not to buy the card. The card costs 400 tenge and only provides one ride. I would need to top up the card. And I would have to return the card to get the unused balance. The fare would cost slightly more without the card but it wasn’t as if I would be riding too many buses in Almaty anyway.

 

I went back to the station and waited for trolleybus no. 5. I had no small change for the 200 tenge so the driver helped to find change for me. I got down at Auezov Theatre and asked a few locals for directions. And it was a good thing I did too as I lost my bearing. And I should have stopped at the next stop but how was I to know that as the only landmark I had then was Auezov Theatre. I walked and finally asked a cyclist who was stopping at a red light and he said I was on the right street. Alhamdulillah. I walked on another block before I found my hostelhostel.

 

I was shown around the hostel and where I would spend the next three nights. I was not happy to find that my bed is on the upper bunk and that I had to put on the bed sheet, duvet cover and pillow case myself. And the girl below me was not friendly – until she found out I wasn’t a local.

 

I was tired – it had been a long day so I had a shower, performed prayers, had a light dinner and rested after that before climbing up to sleep. Walked only 3.1 km or 4,662 steps today as I spent the bulk of the day aboard the train.

 

Wednesday, May Day 2024

 

Woke up for morning prayers then climbed back up to my bunk. One of the girls was still up, playing games on the notebook. Another girl kept getting up to check her phone. Another slept through her alarm. I finally got up before 08:00 and got ready for the day. I walked to Kazakh-British Technical University, stumbled upon the Memorial of Glory, checked out the Ascension Cathedral (Zenkov Cathedral) and then walked to Almaty Central Mosque, browsing the Green Bazaar on the way to the mosque.

Memorial of Glory

Almaty Central Mosque

 

I turned back and walked to TsUM and beyond. It started to drizzle and I walked quickly until I found Lanzhou Noodles where I had noodles for lunch (not easy to place my order as hardly anyone spoke English!). I was missing noodles. Rice, not so much. From experience, I know I can live without rice for at least a month.

 

The rain had eased by the time I emerged from the restaurant. I walked back to the hostel, enjoying the view along the way - the towering mountain ranges in the distance, the river Esentai, the budding trees. The sky was still overcast and true enough, it rained shortly after I reached my hostel. I rested then ventured out again to find some bread for dinner. After dinner, I asked the girl manning the reception how I could get to Autovokzal Sairan by public transportation. She made a search and told me the bus stop to wait at and the trolley bus number too. I also found out that four of the occupants in the dorm are students attending nearby colleges and universities.

 

Walked 18.5 km or 26,043 steps on May Day!

 

Thursday, 2 May 2024

 

This morning, I decided to check out the bus stop that I found out the evening before. it took about seven minutes’ walk from the hostel. After that, I walked along Abay Avenue to the Central State Museum before crossing over to the Independence Monument. Then I walked down the lane from the Independence Monument (even found Hermes boutique along the way!) and finally went to the Green Bazaar. I browsed the bazaar and left after buying a pack of plov rice. I returned to the hostel, performed prayers and had lunch (was informed by my dorm mate that it was Uzbeki plov and that Kazakhstan does not have its own plov). I then started packing as I would leave early the following morning. I stayed in for the rest of the day. Today, I walked 18.9 km or 26,643 steps.

River Esentai and the mountains

Central State Museum

 

Friday, 3 May 2024

 

I woke up for morning prayers. After a brief rest, I freshened up and had breakfast. I then checked out and walked to the bus stop at Abay Avenue for the trolley bus no. 19 to Autovokzal Sairan. At the bus station, I bought ticket for the bus to Bishkek. Ticket cost KZT3,000 and not KZT1,800 as what I’d read on some blogs. Good thing I still had some tenge! I also met two Malaysian girls who just arrived the evening before. The bus stopped at a rest area to enable us to stretch our legs and use the facilities.

 

We finally reached the border check point. We got down with all our belongings, collected our bags and walked through passport control on both sides. Then we had to wait for the bus and driver to clear passport control before re-boarding the bus at some stalls about two hundred metres after the border. I changed USD20 at a money changer at the bus station for my bus fare. From Bishkek Autovokzal, I asked a local girl who told me to take bus no. 6 to Bishkek Park where Sheraton Bishkek is (my landmark). It was an easy walk from Bishkek Park (which turned out to be a shopping mall) to Izzzi Hostel. Hello, country no. 94!

 

After checking in (I paid USD for my bed), being shown around the hostel, performing prayers and discovering that Bishkek is an hour ahead of Almaty, I ventured out to explore the neighbourhood. I walked to the City Hall, Molodezhnyy Theatre to the National Bank, turned back to the International University of Kyrgyzstan which is sited at the edge of the Toktugul Satylgano Philharmonic Square. The Manas Statue is here too. It was a bright afternoon and there were many people at the square, skateboarding, playing volleyball, spending time with their families or walking. I enjoyed the walk around the square. I also noticed a lot of young South Asians around, they must be international students there (although recent developments may drive them away).

 

I then walked to Café Faiza for early dinner. Unfortunately, although the website is in English, hardly anyone spoke English. None of the table servers did. I had to ask customers at a nearby table if they could help me with the menu before finally ordering laghman (prepared from hand-stretched noodles, meat and vegetables) for dinner. It was three days later when I realised that laghman is another spelling for la mian (our local pulled noodles). After dinner, I walked back to the hostel and stayed in for the rest of the evening.

To be continued

Spring Vacation: Part I

I had initially asked my mate if she wanted to travel together with me in end-April/early May 2024. She agreed at first but had to pull out when her car had some problems and she had to send it for repair. I dithered on going at first then decided heck, just go! After all, it’s not as if this would be my first solo trip anyway. I did have my apprehension mainly because of the language barrier but I prayed that Allah would ease my affairs throughout.

Friday, 26 April 2024

 

I made my way to the airport from the office and reached it in good time. We boarded on time but only took off an hour later than scheduled as the plane waited for ten passengers joining from Phuket. As a result, we landed at Tashkent later than scheduled and my bag as usual came out late. I was fidgeting and anxious as I had another international flight to make. By the time the bag came out, I had less than an hour to make my next flight. And would you believe it, there is another separate building for departure and there was a construction between the arrival and departure buildings. A kind man helped show me the way and I had to go through the pre-entry security check before I could enter the building.

 

I hurried to the check-in desk - I had checked in online but the electric ticket could not be issued and besides I needed to drop off my bag. The counter had closed but there were two airline staff there and I pleaded to the bloke behind one of it and said my flight from Kuala Lumpur was delayed. He took pity on me and allowed me to drop off my bag, checking it all the way to Astana. I then went through passport control to exit Uzbekistan, this barely ninety minutes since I went through the process to enter the country. You see, I bought separate tickets on Batik Air and Air Astana, hence why I couldn’t check my bag all the way from Kuala Lumpur to Astana. This option didn’t appear on any search engine like Expedia or Skyscanner.

 

Saturday, 27 April 2024

 

We boarded a bus to the plane and took off on time. I was dozing off when I was awakened by the cabin crew distributing sandwich and drinks. I asked for a cuppa. We landed at Almaty on time and had to board a bus to the terminal. I was surprised to see the headwear worn by the border police as the brims were so wide not unlike those worn in socialist countries even though it’s an authoritarian republic now.

 

After clearing passport control, I went up to departure level and went directly to the boarding gate. I waited first at another gate which was close to the Devotional Room and waited for pre-dawn prayers. After prayers, I went to my gate. The locals look Oriental with lighter coloured hair. And they are so trusting. One bloke asked me to watch over his charging laptop while he went to the gents’ and another lady asked me to look after her bag while she went to the ladies’. They probably thought I was local.

 

We had to board yet another bus to the plane. It was cold then. Well, it was barely six a.m.. There are mountain ranges in the distance and everything looked beautiful and peaceful. We took off on time and landed at Astana at 07:20. I went to freshen up and then changed money. The rate was KZT442 for every USD and I found out later that the same rate applied in the city too (I did find one offering KZT443 for every USD in the city). I went out to find the bus stop and asked a local about the bus ticket. He helped to ask the driver but was told I couldn’t pay my fare in cash as the bus operator wanted to cut down on corruption. The chap kindly paid for my fare for me and refused any payment in return. It was 8C then and I only packed my hoodie for the trip.

 

Two buses run from the airport to the city and I took no. 12 bus as it would pass the building where my hostel was. The trip took 40 minutes. After navigating my way around the building, I finally reached the Place Astana Hostel at 08:40 thereabouts and the hostess was kind enough to let me check in early.

 

The Northern Lights residential buildings. My hostel is located at level 22 of the lowest tower of the three

I ventured out after 10:00 and walked first to Asia Park Mall to find the bus ticket vending machine but the machine only sold in sets of ten for KZT1,000 so I didn’t buy it in the end. Then I walked to Baiterek, passing Nur Sultan Mosque and the National Archives. There are many unusual looking buildings in the Yesil area. I walked up to the House of Ministries and Presidential Palace. After a brief rest, I walked across the bridge to the pyramid-shaped Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. The huge Hazrat mosque is some few hundred metres away. I also saw the National Museum but had walked enough by then to venture in.

Baiterek. And yes, that was how blue the sky was then. No photoshop, no edits or retouch here

Downtown Astana

I turned back and headed back to the hostel. I came out again to change more money and buy some bread then spent the rest of the day indoors. I slept alone in the four-bed girls’ dormitory tonight. Walked a total of 32,683 steps or 22.8 km today. Whoa.

 

Sunday, 28 April 2024

 

Woke up for morning prayers then tried to sleep again. I left later today as I didn’t want to leave when it was still cold. I headed to the other side of Astana to Khan Shatyr, the uniquely shaped shopping mall before turning to Astana Opera. I then walked on past the Triumph Astana Residential Complex. I walked on to the river and then along the river embankment. After crossing Atyrau Bridge, I walked along the other side of the river until I reached the pedestrian bridge which I crossed over and walked through a park back to the hostel. There were many people in the park with their families, enjoying rides or walking around enjoying the early spring day. Today was a windy day with hazy sunshine.

 

Khan Shatyr

Triumph Astana Residential Complex

Atyrau Bridge

I stayed in for the rest of the day, tuning in to the North London derby, reading and packing. Later in the evening, the hostess messaged me informing someone was coming to check in and not to lock the door.

 

I had an early night tonight as I had an early start the following morning. Walked 12.5 km or 17,528 steps today.

 

Monday, 29 April 2024

 

I woke up after 2 and couldn’t sleep. I finally got up to perform prayers and freshen up. I had a very early breakfast, after 05:20 and left at 05:55. However, I discovered that bus no. 12 only started its trip at 06:52 so I turned back and asked the hostess to call for YandexGo cab for me. It arrived within minutes. The fare was KZT2,150 but the driver gave me 100 tenge discount as I didn’t have any more small change. Bless him.

 

I dropped off my bag at SCAT Airlines counter and went in. The flight took off on time but we waited a while before the door was finally opened when we arrived at Shymkent. The arrival was pretty basic and not unlike the domestic airport in Yangon. After getting my bag, I went to the departure building to use the facilities.

 

I then approached a couple of businessmen and asked for help. One of them spoke some English and helped browse YandexGo. He then helped arrange a cab for me to Autovokzal Samal (bus station) for KZT1,600 (the driver gave me 100 tenge discount too as both him and I hadn’t got small change). I then went to find a marshrutka to Turkistan. There were others who offered to take me for KZT2,000 but I ignored them. Alhamdulillah, I found one that charged KZT1,500. The airport cabbie wanted to charge me KZT5,000 from Shymkent Airport to Samal bus station and then another vehicle to Turkistan. Sorry, I may need those KZT2,000 for something else.

Soaring over Kazakhstan

In the marshrutka from Shymkent to Turkistan

It didn’t take long for the marshrutka to fill up and we left within fifteen minutes. It took less than two hours to reach the mausoleum. I walked the grounds to Mausoleums of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi and Rabia Sultan Begum, the former a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yes, this is one reason why I flew all the way to Shymkent and travelled on to Turkistan. While the buildings took my breath away, I couldn’t help wondering how much was restored because they looked quite new.

 

Anyway, I was trying to take a photo and backing when I suddenly fell, it turned out that clumsy me had bumped into a bench and I fell down and hurt my left wrist. I was shaking a bit and had to sit down for a bit. A nice angry bump quickly formed and after a while, I doused my wrist with cold water as I was lacking any ice. I paid 500 tenge to enter Mausoleum Khoja Ahmed Yasawi then went to find a bathroom to perform ablutions. I couldn’t find any nearby so I walked to Masjid Khoja Ahmad Yasawi for prayers and stayed until 17:50. It was just too hot to walk out and about. I walked to the nearby Karavan Saray, a sprawling shopping mall with manmade canal and pool. But I didn’t linger and then went to approach the tourist police asking how to get to the train station. I was advised to take bus number 6 just across the road for 70 tenge. I asked if they had change for my note and they came up with 140 tenge in coins for me. How helpful and kind!

 

The bus came ten minutes later and dropped me off at the station, but it was actually the bus station. I went to ask a shopkeeper and he helped me by asking his friend. He even wrote down in Kazakh the directions and waited for the bus with me. Bus no. 15 came and I boarded it. Thank God the tourist police gave me twice the fare amount needed because I needed to change buses.

 

I arrived at the station at around 7 p.m. and proceeded to wait there until after midnight. Walked 9 km or 14,069 steps today.

To be continued