I return to Karkaraly a couple of days ago from a 19 day vacation through southern Kazakhstan. All in all, it was a good trip and I feel like I saw a lot. The trip got started on a couple of sour notes however. Two days before I left my camera died. So the day of my flight I went to Karaganda and purchased a new camera- a 28mm wide angle Lumix. Then I went to the airport. I thought it was a bit strange that there wasn't a soul in the airport except 1 woman sweeping the floor. But I thought it would pick up, so stretched out for a nap. An hour before my flight was to leave, there still wasn't anybody in the airport (hint #1).
I was called by Air Astana who said they were calling to "confirm my flight". When they asked if I would like to change my flight, I said, "no...I'm at the airport now and I leave in an hour." That was hint #2. I finally asked the lady when I could check in for my flight. She informed me that there was no flight to Almaty that night- but the next morning at 10am. I showed her the ticket and protested. She didn't get paid enough to hear my Russian and I was escorted to the weekend night watch girl. She was nice but this mix up was out of her pay grade and had to get on the phone to Almaty to realize that the flight had been cancelled. I was booked on the morning flight but would miss my connection to Aktau- which of course I would have to worry about in Almaty the next day. The next day, I show up in Almaty and arrange a ticket that would get me to Aktau that night at 9:30pm. Air Astana was gracious enough to give me a 700 Tenge voucher for the airport (a Coke cost 500 Tenge), which I viewed as an insult and filed a complaint with Air Astana. I've yet to hear from them...of course. But I finally was off to the Caspian Sea! On a side note, here are the top 3 things I saw as carry-on luggage on the flight: 1) Automotive Radiator; 2) Samovar (metal tea maker); 3) Huge bag of pears.
I arrived and was met by a man who worked at a preserve that I planned to see. I thought I would stay in Aktau that night, but the city soon disappeared into the night and I asked where we were going. He replied, "Zhanaozen"- my destination for the next day. So settled back for the several hour drive. I arrived at 12:30am, was dropped off at a luxery hotel that was out of my price range. But I didn't have an option. By this time, all the stress and lack of sleep had brought on a cold and I wasn't feeling much like enjoying a vacation. But the next day I felt better and off we went!
Zhanoazen is a dusty (and I mean dusty) oil town of about 100,000 people. The picture below is in the new development part, but the rest of the city looks about the same. Every step you take, there were clouds of dust that would rise.
Our plan for the day was to go see two underground mosques. It is the area of Kazakhstan called Mangistau. Mangistau is the most remote part of Kazakhstan. You'll see in the pictures just how remote it is. There is nothing here but dirt, dust, and heat. I was travelling to Shopan Ata and Beket Ata- both are pilgrimage sites and as I was arriving in the middle of Ramadan, I was interested in how it would be. The first stop in the pilgrimage route is the mausoleum of Shopan Ata's son-in-law.
The mausoleum is a roofless structure- not much to write home about, but the carvings on the outside were nice. At each stop, we had to enter, we had to squat or sit and my guide would say a prayer.
Shopan Ata. Ata means "grandfather" in Kazakh, but in this way, it means "father" and is the Kazakh form of a saint. Shopan Ata was Sufi follower (mystical variation of Islam) back in the 10th century. I can't find much about him online or in my book- other than reference to his mausoleum.
Here is his underground mausoleum. The door on the right is where he and his wife are buried. You leave your shoes outside and walk in, where there is a man who says some prayers. Traditionally, you are to walk around a limb that is inside 3 times, but we did not do this.
The grounds were big with other graves, dating back to the 10th century.
Both Shopan Ata and Beket Ata had wells of salt water that are suppose to cure what ails you.
The most curious part of the experience was the vast amounts of food, which we were asked to eat. All of it is free and is provided for the pilgrims. The curious part is that we visited during Ramadan and if you abide to the holiday, you are not allowed to eat or drink during daylight hours. Maybe there is an exception if you are visiting a holy area, because at both sites there were vast amounts of food.
This is Maxim. He works at Shopan Ata. Upon hearing that I was an American, he lit up and wanted to show me around. He is who forced me to eat tremendous amounts of food. But he was also kind enough to give me a kazakh muslim hat similar (but not the same) to the one he is wearing, as a gift and memory of visiting Shopan Ata.
On a side note, going to the bathroom at a mosque or mausoleum isn't an easy process here. You are given pitchers of water and the custom is that after you use the bathroom, you are to wash your privates before coming out. I held it a lot until we were out on the steppe.
This camel didn't like me much. There were camels everywhere- hundreds of them. Walking down streets, out in the steppe, etc.
Further down the road is Beket Ata. He was born in 1750 and was a follower of Shopan Ata.
The legend says that as Beket Ata was studying, he was in a class with many good students. His teacher was unable to decide who would be his successor. Therefore, he launched his staff into the air and told his students that whoever finds it will take over. Most of the students hurried to where they thought the staff would land, but were unable to find it. Beket Ata returned to his native Mangistau. There he came across a shepherd named Oglandy who had come across the staff and told him about it. But Oglandy was unable to pull the staff out of the ground. Beket Ata was able to do so with ease and his status of successor was confirmed. The mausoleum below is said to be the grave of the shepherd.
The mosque was at the top of the escarpment but the mausoleum was a 2km walk down the cliffs. If you look carefully below, on the far left in the middle of the picture, you'll see the mausoleum.
We piled into the cave- as many as could fit. There was a hole in the ceiling for light. The room was packed, and there were more prayers. Then everyone took turns putting their hands on Beket Ata's grave (the women spent extra time at his wife's) and then did the traditional muslim prayer gesture (put your hands together by your face and "wipe" them down your face). Then we went into another room and walked around a tree limb three times, then backed out of the mausoleum. It was as hot as the sun and the only water was the salt water spring.
The tile work is pretty. The word on the right is Russian for Allah.
We left Beket Ata in route for Ustyurt National Preserve. The preserve is in the most remote area of Kazakhstan and is full of plateaus. We turned off the dirt road and simply drove across the steppe. We snaked back and forth until we found a two track that would lead us where we wanted. Without a guide, you'd never find this place.
We drove for hours and the road wasn't always good. This hill was a lot steeper in reality. You can the see the guy below running out of the way. I didn't think we would make it down.
Two buildings are the extent of the infrastructure in the preserve. We stayed the night at one of them.
In the morning we headed out. This picture is actually on top of one of the plateau. They are very wide. We saw many argali (big horn sheep), a wolf, some gazelle, fox, a golden eagle.....and one car in 3 days. All the animals would kick up a dust cloud when they ran, just like the car below.
But over on the edges, the views were great!
This is the other building in the park. It is where we ate lunch.
Not the greatest picture below. We went in a cave- the entrance doesn't look too impressive, but its a legit cave with caverns and all. In fact, there were tiny crystals on everything and areas where the crystals were so fine they looked like snow- it was really beautiful. All attempts at a good photo failed, so you'll have to take my word for it. It went in a short ways and ended at a pool of clear water.
That afternoon, we found ourselves in the village of Akudyk (it means white well in Kazakh). It's a village of 30 homes.
We stayed the night with a family. People in Mangistau sleep outside on raised platforms at night. The entire family on one platform. The stars in Mangistau were better than I think I will ever see again. The closest source of light was over 150km away (there were a few lights in this village, but they went out around 10pm). The Milky Way was thicker than I knew and there was hardly a spot on the sky without a star. We went to sleep and woke up to the sound of camels.
There is truly nothing out there. I wasn't being selective in the pic below (other than having camels in it)- it goes on forever in every direction.
All good adventures have problems and we got flat somewhere on the way home, in the village of Kulaiga. I thought the process was a little funny. He is digging through is tool box below.
And to stop the leak, he put a screw into the tire. :)
I got back to Zhanaozen later that day and took a bus into Aktau. I walked down the Caspian Sea for my first look. The next morning I went for a swim. The sun wasn't too high yet and the water was actually a little cool, but it felt great.
Aktau
The view from the apartment I rented.
This is an example of a "platzkart" train car in Kazakhstan. This is 3rd class. I try my best not to ride this because it gets really crowded and the beds are not made for people my size. My bed was where that bag is on the left- its a little cubby hole that feels like a coffin and its about 1 foot too short for me, so I can't stretch out the entire night. This was a 28 hour train ride to Aktobe. I spent the afternoon in Aktobe, met a volunteer and went to a cafe before getting on another train (this time 2nd class and much more comforatable) to Aral.
Aral was once the main port on the Aral Sea. It was a thriving industry. At one point, Lenin called for help for more food and the city of Aral responded with 14 train cars of fish that was sent to Moscow. The mural below depicts this. But the Soviet Union had the idea of creating irrigation for cotton in KZ and Uzbekistan and rapidly the sea disappeared. At one point the water receded 100km (62 miles) from the town. They've tried to correct it with a dam, and now the water is 25km away...but its still bad. My plan was to visit the "ship cemetery"- a place where ships were stranded when the water receded. But I met some other tourists who informed me that it wasn't what I thought it was- that most of the ships had been stripped for the steel and not much was left.
There are a few ships left in the port and you can see all the old cranes...but no water.
After seeing Aral for the day I hopped a night train to Kyzylorda. Kyzylorda is known as the armpit of KZ. There is a volunteer friend of mine there though, so it wasn't too bad.
There were a few pretty areas, but the thing I really liked about Kyzylorda was....
...the bacon! After a year without bacon, finding it in a Kyzylorda store was heaven!
The next day I hoped a minibus to Turkestan. On the way the rear bumper fell off 3 times. But we made it. The main attraction in Turkestan is the Khodja Ahmed Yassaui Mausoleum. It is regarded as the finest building in Kazakhstan and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Yassaui was born in 1103 and was a follower of the Sufi doctrine. Having reached the age of 63 (the age when Mohammed died), he made the decision to live the rest of his life (4 years) underground. He did this in another building on the complex. In 1166 he died and a small mausoleum was erected. 223 years (1389) later a man named Timur, ordered to build the current mausoleum (below).
However, the man in charge of the build was killed while traveling. Out of respect for him, the workers stopped where they were and never completed the mausoleum. This is why the front has an unfinished look about it.
Many famous people are buried inside, including Ablai Khan, who was a Kazakh leader in the 18th century.
The next day I went up to the town of Kentau, where the headquarters for the Karatau National Preserve is.
Below is a Kumis Bar. Kumis (pronounce Koo-mis) is fermented mare's milk. It is terrible, terrible stuff, but the Kazakh people guzzle it.
The weather turned bad the day we went out to the pretty mountains. So no great shots, but you get the idea.
The park has petroglyphs that they say are 4,000 years old. I don't want to doubt them, but it seems that the would have worn away in that time, as they are outside, exposed to the elements....for 4000 years. But that is what they said. This is my favorite- the people dancing.
But most looked like this- maybe they restored them (which is a shame). But they don't look 4,000 years old.
We stopped at yurt and got some Kumis from this woman. The milk was in the container by the yurt and she had to strain it as she poured it into bottles.
I left Kentau and headed to the city of Taraz. It is the oldest regional capitol in KZ- its 2,000th birthday was in 2002. Outside of Taraz is the mausoleum of Aisha Bibi. Regardless of the love handed out to Turkestan, I think this is the prettiest building I've seen in KZ. The external is decorated in carved terracotta tile. It is the only monument in Central Asia fully covered in terracotta tilework.
Aisha Bibi has a legend too. She was from a wealthy family with good lineage. She fell in love with the governor of Taraz, Karakhan. He asked to marry her but her father refused. Aisha Bibi ran away to meet Karakhan in Taraz. Just outside the city, she was bitten by a snake and died. Karakhan was devestated and built this mausoleum in the place she dies, as a memorial. It is associated with the eternal qualities of love and therefore is a popular place for wedding pictures now.
Back in Taraz, I visited the mausoleum for Karakhan, who later became known as Aulie Ata or "holy father". His grave is below.
Finally, I went to the old banya in Taraz. It is now a museum and was an interesting building to walk through and see.
After Taraz I hopped a train to Almaty, then on to Karaganda. It's nice to be home and I'm resting up and relaxing for a few days before returning to work on Monday. But since I know you guys don't know KZ too well- here is a map of the route I just took you through. Starting at the Caspian Sea (left) and heading home.
