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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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