Golden egg

 After a nice trainride, I arrived in Turkestan yesterday. I met a couple on the train. A guy from London with his american girlfriend. They were travelling all over the world, so it was exciting to hear about their travels. We shared a taxi into town.

The day today I spent walking around the relatively new area of Turkestan. And when I say new, I mean new. I was walking along and checked the map to see where I was. And I switched to satellite photos. And noticed that most of the buildings were missing. I found that most of them had been erected during or right before the pandemic. 

It was kind of a disney-version of how the old city of Turkestan might have looked like in its heydays. 

As I walked down the street, I saw something that looked like a giant, golden dome. But on closer inspection, I realized it was eggshaped. And the structure beneath resembled a nest. I found that it was actually a movie theatre. Showing a "eagle eyes'" view of both the nature and history of Kazakhstan. I would have loved to see it, if it hadn't been for the seats moving to give you the "flying" experience. I have tried these types before, And I easily get motion sickness from it. So I had to forgo that experience. Unfortunately.

But I did get a chance to see the ruins of the old city. Did I mention that I love ancient history? Like, less than 1000 times? It had a lot of old buildings scattered around. Unfortunately, they were renovating a large chuck of the city, so I had to do with what I got. I will let the images tell the rest of story.

They also had a museum there, with lots artifacts on display. And the museum had some similarities to the operahouse in Sydney. When looked at from the side. Unfortunately, I found no good angle to image it. So I only took one from the front.

One thing I noticed, was how few people were there. Not many tourists, but surprisingly little locals. So I decided to walk away from the "touristy" areas to see if I could find any. And boy did I find them. After a few km of walking in the opposite direction from my hotel, I stepped into the "real" downtown of Turkestan. Packed with locals going to and fro. Old people watching young poeple. Mothers with children, men hauling goods to the many shops. Young girls taking their 317th selfie of the day, and young boys hoping they would look up from their phone for a few seconds to notice them. In other words : A town like any other in the world.

I loved it. I know that I would completely stress out if I were to live here every day. But watching this as a tourist? Indescribable! 

In the evening, I went to a restaurant right beside the "egg". And met the couple I mentioned. I had already eaten a lovely plate of plov when they arrived. But we had a lovely chat before I was ready to go back to my hotel and rest.

Tomorrow I am going to Aral. For some reality check. One that I believe everybody should have.

Ragnar

Hunting for golden eggs