Tag Archives: kazakhs

Last Day at Summer Camp

May 26, 2010 Last night we were invited by the family elders to join them for what was our third dinner.  This was true bishbarmak; flat noodles and fatty mutton.  We had already been stuffed from our meat tea and … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Mongolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Olgii, Mongolia

May 23, 2010 Last night we went to one of the Peace Corps Volunteer’s (PCV) homes for dinner.  There was one PCV couple, a single woman, and two Kazakhs.  We certainly have a new appreciation for what the PCVs have … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Mongolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ust-Kamengorsk to Olgii

Considering how the day began, it is pretty miraculous that I find myself sitting in a Turkish restaurant in Mongolia.  Our flight was originally scheduled to leave yesterday but was rescheduled for today because of a persistent drizzle.  It took … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ethnic Kazakh Food

While in Kazakhstan, we ate mostly what would be considered ethnic Russian food and some Central Asian staples. We had our real introduction to Kazakh food once we arrived in Western Mongolia. The Western province of Bayan Olgii is an … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Food, Kazakhstan, Mongolia | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Astana

Astana is a city filled with the unexpected.  Everything from the moment we arrived in the periphery of the city has surprised us.  Kazakhstan’s president, Nazarbayev decided in 1997 to move the country’s capital from Almaty to Astana and start … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Kazakhstan | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Train to Astana

We didn’t get much sleep on our last night in Shymkent.  We luckily were able to switch to the cheaper room at the hotel next door.  There wasn’t a sauna but there was a shared bathroom where the women’s room … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Kazakhstan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Shymkent Day 1

After breakfast, around 9:30 , we set off for Kazakhstan.  It actually turned out to be more complicated than simply getting in a cab and driving.  First we had to walk to the Chorsu metro, go 2 stops, change trains, … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Kazakhstan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Goodbye Uzbekistan

It looks like Kyrgyzstan is out and we will just head straight to Shymkent by shared taxi.  We went to a few different travel agents to ask about the flight to Bishkek and nobody seemed to be able to easily … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Uzbekistan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Back to Tashkent

I am so glad to be back in Tashkent!  Samarkand was really starting to get on our nerves!  After three days of everyone trying to milk us for every sum we have. Our day started out smoothly.  The guesthouse was … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Uzbekistan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Moynaq

What an unbelievably long day.  We woke up around 3 am due to jet lag.  We had arranged for our driver to pick us up at 5 am and we began the 2.5 hour trip to Moynaq.  The roads were … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Uzbekistan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment