Local Lore At The Shymkent Regional History Museum

Time to see what came before you in Shymkent. All that history, heritage, culture, yurt moving. Monumental paintings are a helpful guide. Powerful Khans, fierce battles. Consider it the sword and sandal era of Central Asia.

Klassic Kazakhstan, a nicely turned out yurt, ready for its magazine spread in Architectural Steppe. All dudded up. Traditional wear or some sort of casting call for a hot chocolate commercial in the Alps?

Playing with fire, staying alive.

Modern boasts, the weight of medals on your chest and the acreage of cotton you grew in the desert.

Relics underneath the ever free mighty falcon, cruising the desolate country. Your fans: a lizard and a woodchuck.

Big Sites At Monument Park In Shymkent

Bring it, Shymkent. First up, the tallest monument in Kazakhstan, the mighty Baidibek Bi. Does the grassy mound count in the overall measurement? No worries, Mr Bi doesn't need extra lift. He's honored for uniting various tribes into an identifiable country. Such a gatherer.

Next, a long parade of outdoor miniature models of various highlights in Southern Kazakhstan. Start with some rock formations, move on to some sort of 1970s disco fantasy mosque.

On a more traditional note, a model of an older mosque, classic dome and delicate wood column portico.

Power to the pyramid. A detail from the monument honoring 550 years of the endurance of the Kazakh Khanate. Lost ship. Actually, it's Noah's Ark, somehow stranded on a mountaintop in Southern Kazakhstan. Are you going to say the local bible interpretation is wrong?

Not really a monument, more like site specific art, architecture, engineering, accidental landscaping disguised as nature. Impressive effort.

Mighty Meat At Qyrgy Bazar

The meat section at Qyrgy Bazar makes quite an impression. Who needs fancy cases, neat rows of cut up meat, tucked into clear plastic wrapped packaging? Give us heads, give us giant hunks, entrails, rolls of, uhm, things!

Maybe it all looks revolting. Or maybe the colors, the primal displays, the lighting enables great images. Let's go with the latter.

Exploring Qyrgy Bazar

Most cities in Central Asia still have giant bazaars, places for food, clothes, dry goods, you name it, you can find it. Malls, supermarkets, what are those pathetic attempts at person-to-person, local commerce?

In Shymkent, the place to go is the mighty Qyrgy Bazar. We went.

Heading in. The entrance gate does a nice job of announcing that you've arrived at a palace of selling, buying, bargaining.

OK, nothing radical. Rows of fruit and veg vendors in the food section, mannequins and snazzy threads in the clothes section.

Slow day. Closing your stall usually means just draping some big cloth over everything.

Into the warren of rows, alleys of stalls. Maybe some sunlight breaks through, maybe it's time to start wrapping up the place.

Still open, still waiting for a sale.

A Walk Around Shymkent, Kazakhstan

What are the highlights, the lowlights, maybe the mediumlights of Shymkent in Kazakhstan? Let's take a look at what was discovered.

A great, classic example of Soviet mid-century modern, socialist architecture. It's a mixed use government, theater building. Loving the cascade of stairs.

Golden mama bear and her cubs in the central park. Bear bling. This way for your airline ticket says the cut-out attendant.

Love blooming in a big way on a wall of a university building. 

Fun with sculptures. Giant, concrete tulips. No need to replant. Or water. A stampede of horses.

Lawn decoration gone wild. And a little scary. Camels, sheep, ducks, a donkey. Is there a walking into a bar joke in there?

Monuments At The Memorial Park In Shymkent, Kazakhstan

Shymkent is located in Southern Kazakhstan and is the country's third largest city. The center of town has a nice park, partially devoted to honoring various heroes from yesterday and today.

The Great Patriotic War (WWII from the Russian point of view) is a must for honor and remembrance. Here's Shymkent's monument, with eternal light in there somewhere.

More military swag, a "flying" MIG jet fighter and wall of medals.

Military biggies make the wall in the plaza with a big star.

Moving on in time, honoring a soldier and his dog. Up with fighting dogs. And firefighters, they rescue kids. Up with kids.

Honoring Kazakhs who fought in Afghanistan.

Exploring The Mizdarkhan Necropolis Near Nukus

Fascinating ruins and a burial site still in use today. The cemetery of the ancient city of Mizdarkhan dates back to 4th century BC as a necropolis for famous folks. Plenty of unique mausoleums and burial sites still fill the hill.

Random view. A lot of structures have been preserved, a lot rebuilt.

The variety of burial styles is on view, from simple mud graves to tile, metal, and full-blown mausoleum temple buildings. Staying cool. A view of the underground, 14th century mausoleum of Mazlum Khan Sulu.

Ruins of Khalifa Yerezhep madrasa. Big ups to Sarah for funding a restoration of this site.

The peculiar mausoleum and tomb of Shamun Nabi. Legend states that his body grows an inch every year. Gotta keep extending the tomb.

Nice perch. The unique grave of Jumart Kassab, on top of a hill.

Chilpik, The Zoroastrian Tower of Silence

Sounds ominous. Looks ominous. And inviting, let's climb up and see what's what.

Chilpik is located about 45 minutes east of Nukus and is thought to be a place of ritual funerals, dated around 1st century BC. Or AD, pick which side of the Roman calendar you like. The Zoroastrians believed dead bodies needed to be purified in order to avoid demon possession. The process? Leave the body on a high mound and let birds munch away.

Base camp. The climb takes about 15 minutes.

The old way up, a cursory identification sign, fuzzy path and an opening sliver to the top.

Summit arrival. Plenty of room for fresh bodies.

Tibetan-like, flag wrapped pole. Some sort of telecom tower, now collapsed. Sarah, giving it a wide berth.

The site is impressive, especially during a perimeter walk around. Circular, good from all angles.