Kazakhstan
The largest country you've never heard of.
This former Soviet Republic is the 9th largest country in the world by landmass, but it has roughly the 13th lowest population density. Most of the country is sparsely populated, and a majority of the population (4.5 million) lives in the urban centers of Almaty, Astana,and Shymkent. The Kazakh people were nomadic pastoralists consisting of various clans who lived in yurts and migrated while grazing livestock. The Soviets forced most of Central Asia into settlements and eventually factories or farming communes. Culturally, the nomadic history still lives in the Kazakh's national psyche today.
Post trip thoughts: The slow train ride through the southern region of Kazakhstan was hot, dusty, flat, and barren. It's easy to imagine how large parts of the country are not very habitable. People, women in particular, seemed more casually dressed in western style clothes, and less traditionally or religiously dressed than the other Central Asian countries I visited. Horse is on the menu here, and it's used in several traditional dishes. My time here, like in Kyrgyzstan was too short.
Quick facts: Source: CIA World Factbook
Area: about 4 times the size of Texas
Population: 20 million
Ethnic groups: Kazakh 71%, Russian 14.9%, Uzbek 3.3%, Ukrainian 1.9%, Uyghurs 1.5%, German 1.1%, Tatar 1.1%, other 5.2%
Language: Kazakh (official) 80.1%, Russian 83.7%, English 35.1%
Religion: Muslim 69.3%, Christian 17.2%, others 13.5%
Capital: Astana
GDP Per Capita: $34,700
Currency: Tenge ($1 = 511 Tenge)
Central Asia
A graveyard of empires.
Trip Summary
Date: March 28 - April 12, 2025
Map Source: Google Maps
29-31 = Dushanbe, Tajikistan
1-3 = Termez, Uzbekistan
3-5 = Bukhara, Uzbekistan
5-7 = Samarkand, Uzbekistan
7-8 = Tashkent, Uzbekistan
9 = Turkistan (Turkestan), Kazakhstan
10 = Taraz, Kazakhstan
10-11 = Talas, Kyrgyzstan
11-12 = Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Kazakhstan
Trip Summary
The largest country you've never heard of.
Date: 9-10 April, 2025
Route: Blue = Kazakhstan, Red = Kyrgyzstan
Map Source: Google Maps
9 = Turkistan, Kazakhstan
10 = Siege Taraz, Kazakhstan --> Talas, Kyrgyzstan
Turkistan
List of places
My first impression stepping of the train is that this place is hot. My first impression walking across town to find a coffee shop is that a lot of money has been invested into making this small city into a tourist destination. There's a whole new area of town with fancy hotels and the great coffee shop I visited. There was also construction and landscaping ongoing near the major sites. It's a cute, clean town with arguably the most magnificent piece of historic architecture in the whole country.
Mausoleum of Rabia Sultan Begun: This is the site of the original monument for the 15th century daughter of Ulugh Beg (the grandson of Timur, i.e. Tamerlane, and ruler of the Timurid Dynasty 1447-1449). It was destroyed in the late 19th century, and the crypt was later rediscovered leading to the mausoleum being rebuilt in its present form.
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi: Built in the late 14th century, this stupendous building was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. The current structure was built to replace a smaller mausoleum from the 12th century to honor the poet and Sufi mystic Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. Although partly unfinished, this is one of the best surviving examples of a structure built during the time of Tamerlane. Construction here stopped when Timur died in 1405.
Besbarmak: This is the national dish of Kazakhstan. You will notice the large noodles, big potato chunks, and 2 kinds of meat. The meat chunks are usually horse,beef or lamb. The round, fatty looking meat is a traditional horse sausage called Kazy. I had an almost identical dish in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Overall, the flavor is light like a mild, low sodium soup broth. The horse was decent, and the big noodle squares were perfectly cooked. Overall, it was alright, but I think the flavor is a bit too light/lacking.
