Understand
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Shym - means clay or adobe, and kent means city. Place around Shymkent hillfort was settled millennia ago due to proper relief and water source. Recent excavations on Hillfort discovered ash from thick layer of ash from arias and their fire worshiping around the 5th century BC. Place was always a nice oasis next to Sayram but got a big expansion after the railway was built in late Russian Empire. During World War II, many factories were moved to Shymkent and placed near the railway and compact blocks of apartments were built nearby. Also a lead factory was established to process the huge lead ore deposits in nearby Karatau mountains. It produced 9 out of 10 Soviet lead bullets. The Soviet government encouraged skilled people from all over the country to settle in the city. After the USSR collapsed, the city tripled in population and quickly expanded with a sprawl of private houses.
The star-like city design reflects having a hillfort as a visual destination. Later, the old city's road network continued in Soviet street design. Nowadays you can walk 25 centuries in 1 kilometer. You start on Soviet Al-Faraby (Lenin) square among rectangular Soviet architecture, then cross an irrigation ditch entering the medieval old town with bent streets, walk by old mosque, then enter the hillfort.
Get in
[edit]By plane
[edit]- 1 Shymkent International Airport (CIT IATA). with flights from other Kazakh destinations, China, Russia and Turkey.
By train
[edit]- 2 Shymkent railway station, ☏ +7 705 853 5400. Most trains depart from Astana at 21:25 daily, while other trains depart from Almaty (Alma Ata 2 station) at 18:32.
By bus
[edit]There are overnight buses from Almaty's Sayran bus station that leave at roughly half hour intervals from 18:00-21:00 everyday. The journey takes approximately 12 hr, 2,400 tenge (Aug 2012).
There are 5 buses everyday leaving from Tashkent. Journey takes about 4½ hr, 1700 tenge (Jul 2019). You will arrive at Samal bus station.
Overnight buses will arrive at the Samal bus station, 5 km out from the city center. From there, you can take buses from 35-40 tenge for a marshrutka to the center. Taxis to the center are also available for 300-400 tenge.
Get around
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You can take "gypsy cabs" for 300-400 tenge anywhere in the city. Bargain if they try to overcharge.
Buses run to and from the center and all of the microdistricts. They cost 70 tenge as of 2018 which for short distances is frustrating. Routes are marked at some bus stations and locals know where most of them go.
"Marshrutkas" are mini-buses that run largely the same routes as the buses.
If you plan on walking remember that the districs are broken into "microryons" which look like city blocks on the map but are often four times the size.
See
[edit]Museums
[edit]- 1 Shymkent hillfort Shym-Qala. 09:00 to 18:00. Place was settled in the 5th century BC by arias due to proper relief and water source then developed in Citadel which was destroyed and rebuild many times. Shym-Qala have museum and archaeological exhibitions
- 2 Museum of Turkestan Region, Baidibek Bi avenue, 115a, ☏ +7 7252 77-55-79. 09:00-18:00. Used to be in old city center, moved to the new building with all archaeological exhibitions and collections which are great.
- 3 Art museum, Madeli Kozha street, 2B. 09:00-18:00. Gallery and museum exhibiting local artists
- 4 Private Carpet Museum, Ilyaeva street, 40. It is a private museum located in a basement of an old Soviet building. You enter backyard and every surface is decorated with some kind of carpet ornament. If you are lucky artist come out and offer you to visit her studio in basement which is great.
Zoo
[edit]- 5 Shymkent Zoo, Baydibek Bi street, 113/1. 09:00-18:00. Great zoo from Soviet times. Wide variety of steppe and desert species, lots of shade.
Architecture
[edit]- 6 Old mosque in Old town, Imanov street 68\2. 24/7. Old mosque from the late 19th century.
- 7 Park Ken-Baba. It used to be a cathedral park near Russian Cathedral built in Russian Revival style hiding in far corner of the park. Some oak trees older than 100 years, but a bit noisy and crowded.
- 8 Abay Park. Old wast park from Soviet times was renovated but lacks benches. Ramp for scating is in northern most part of park.
- 9 The big Tulip Fountain. On the corner of main street Tauke Khana and Momysh-Uly.
Theaters
[edit]- 10 Russian Drama theatre, Al-Faraby square, 4/2, ☏ +7 7252 53-03-92. 10:00-19:00. Renovated Russian drama theatre offers wide variety of plays.
Monumental art
[edit]- 11 Block with dozens of murals, Zharkymbekova, 16a. There is a whole block in old district filled by a local artist with variety of murals. You start walking around the block and discover more and more murals all over the place
- 12 Soviet mosaic with fairy tale motif, Kazybek Bi street, 40. There is an huge Soviet mosaic on building of School #9.
- 13 Soviet mosaic with educational motif, Zhangeldin street, 17. Huge Soviet mosaic on building of college.
- 14 Soviet mosaic with Lenin, Kabanbay Batyr street, 12. Huge Soviet mosaic on side of apartment building with Lenin showing directions to the bright future.
- 15 Lenin statue. If you wonder where is the Lenin statue from ex-Lenin square so here it is. A bit disproportional due to lower pedestal surrounded by quiet park and nice Soviet architecture of ex-Lead Factory.
- 16 Back up small Lenin statue. There is another small Lenin statue for a back up purpose or if you are deep into Lenins. It is standing on ex-cotton factory. Free to visit.
Do
[edit]- Shymkent marathon usually takes place on second sunday of September.
- Mega Planet: most popular youth hangout place in town, a mall with indoor skating rink, movie theater, Western-style chain grocery store and an upstairs food court. On Tauke-Khan avenue.
- Spartak - awesome outdoor swimming pool, soccer field and basketball court. Across from Mega on Tauke-Khan avenue.
- Cinema: playing (mostly Western movies dubbed in Russian) on the top floor of Mega Center.
- Babylon: arcade complex also on the top floor of Mega Center, complete with games and laser tag
- Football: FC Ordabasy play soccer in the Premier League, the top tier. Their home ground Kazhymukan Munaitpasov Stadium (capacity 20,000) is one km north of Old Town. The playing season is Mar-Nov.
- Nauryz celebrations in late March are among the largest in Kazakhstan. The events happen at the Ippodrom (Hippodrome) in the northern part of the city.
Buy
[edit]There are good souvenir shops in Park Ken Baba, on Tauke-Khan avenue. They sell stuffed camels, magnets, keychains, leather goods, plates and figurines.
Malls
[edit]- 1 Shymkent Plaza Mall, Al-Faraby square, 3/1. 10:00 to 22:00. New big mall
- 2 Mega Planet Mall, Tauke Khan street, 13. 10:00 to 24:00. First mall of Shymkent
- 3 Soviet Central Shop, Tauke Khan street, 13. 10:00 to 20:00. Old Soviet Central Shop in somewhat brutalist style building still having many boutiques
- 4 Shymkent City Mal, Baydibek Bi street, 362/7. 10:00 to 24:00. Latest addition to consumerism
Markets
[edit]- Ayna Bazaar: good for buying food and random stuff (some clothes, Chinese electronics, burned CDs with Kazakh music, etc.). In a microregion a bit outside of town, but public transport regularly goes there.
- Koktem Bazaar: good for fresh produce and fruit.
You can also change your Uzbek soms to Kazakh tenges and reciprocally near Южная (Yuzhnaya) bus station. Be careful, watch well the rates.
Eat
[edit]Shymkent is all about eating and drinking. Amoung local kazakhstani people Shymkent has a reputation of a gastronomic center. It is relatively easy to find proper place to eat just check if it is crowded or not. It is crowded so people like it and food is fresh. Generally every market has huge pedestrian traffic and many places to eat cheap and good food.
- 1 Жеті тандыр restaurant, Ayteke Bi street, 10/4, ☏ +7 701-260-70-70, [email protected]. 08:00-23:00. Located in the old Soviet restaurant Oral building not far from Shym-Qala. Retained all Soviet mosaics and most of decorations. Great variety of Kazakh, Uzbek or European cuisine.
- 2 Heaven resto-bar, Momysh-Uly street, 18, ☏ +7 771-610-60-61. 11:00-02:00. Expensive but great choice.
- 3 Душевная кухня restaurant, Ilyaeva street, 1, ☏ +7 702-843-01-02. 11:00-00:00. Gastronomic restaurant, one of the best in city
- 4 Aladin reastaurant, Zhangeldina street, 26B, ☏ +7 777-329-77-97. 11:00-00:00. Outside decorations are in best of Uzbek style architecture. Taste variety of Uzbek cuisine while still in Kazakhstan.
- 5 Abdulla samsa, Gagarina street, 1a. 08:00-22:00. Wanna taste proper halal samsa? Man, check this place out. You won't regret it.
- 6 Madina cafe, Ismailova street, 4/4. 09:00-18:00. It is a cheap bus drivers' eatery but it has great plov and kebabs.
Drink
[edit]Traditional drinks like kumys, kozhe and others are available mostly on bazaars. Try it on your own risk but better taste drinks in crowded place where demand is high.
- 1 Koshkar-Ata spring. This spring was water source for Shymkent for millenia and still has great drinking water for free.
- 2 Puer, Askarova street, 3, ☏ +7 700-711-82-21. 12:00-20:00. Small tea house in quite place to sit and contemplate.
- 3 Amber bar and beer, Republic avenue, 4, ☏ +7 705-342-44-72. 16:00-02:00. Local craft beer and snacks.
- 4 Jaman Bar, Turkestanskaya street, 4. 19:00-03:00. Local craft beer and snacks.
- 5 Sigma bar, Zheltoksan street, 20, ☏ +7 777-881-87-87. 16:00-02:00. Local craft beet and snacks.
Sleep
[edit]- 1 Hotel Nurotau. The rooms are better than the hotel looks from the outside. Single rooms 4000 tenge, doubles 5000-7000 tenge, triple 8000 tenge. Wi-Fi is available.
- 2 Hotel Ordabasy, Kazybek Bi 1 (Located on the corner of the Ordabasy plaza where Tole Bi and Kazybek Bi intersect), ☏ +7 7252 53 64 21. Check-out: 10:00. This mid-range hotel is in Ordabasy plaza, in front of the large MiG monument. As of 2010, a double-room goes for 6,400 tenge with a private bath, satellite TV, and balcony (if facing the street). No late check-out is available. Double 6400 tenge/night.
- Rented apartments are available - bargain for your room. Don't pay more than 2,000 tenge for a normal room or 4,000 tenge for "elite" (newly remodeled room) in a rented apartment. No meals included, so-so conditions for the most part, but inexpensive. There are apartments on the main road (Tauke Xana/Respublika) close to the bus stop Ogonyok. The apartment rental is done out of a rainbow-colored cafe right on the street.
- Other hotel options include Hotel Shymkent, and Clara Sapar (better option for business/diplomat guests). Rooms are over US$100 night.
Connect
[edit]As of September 2024, Shymkent has 4G from Beeline, and 5G from Kcell and Tele2. There's mostly a good signal on the approach highways.
Go next
[edit]- Turkestan — the most famous Muslim site in Kazakhstan, with a beautiful mausoleum and brand new historical museum. Definitely a must-see if you're in the south for a few days.
- Sairam mausoleums — you can take a taxi from Ordabasy Square to Sairam for 200-300 tenge. Stop to see the "SHYMKENT" Hollywood sign on your way! Marshrutka number 140 also runs to Sairam from the Aina bus stop (not from the Avtovokzal) and costs 70 tenge.
- Sairamsu valley in Ugam mountain range with Sairamsu glacial lakes and Sazanata petroglyphs.
- Tuttybulak gorge with Boralday petrogliphs.
- St.Ak-Bura tomb and hike to Kazygurt mountain range
- Hot spring pool in Arys sanatorium also Arys-1 railway station building complex
- Sauran ancient city ruins — you can book a private taxi from Shymkent, or take a taxi from Turkestan if you're already there.
- Tashkent - go to the junction of Republic avenue and Gagarin street. There are marshrutkas and taxis waiting for passengers. A shared taxi to the border is about 1,400 tenge. Just south of the junction of Gagarin and Respublika, on the western side opposite the bus stop, there's a shopping gallery and at the back it opens on a 3 parking lot for marshrutkas formally called Kolos busstation. Be warned they drive extremely fast. The marshrutka goes to the main Avtobeketi (АвтоБекеті) in Saryagash. A few hundred meters to the Southwest on Ulitsa Mayly-Kozha is another Avtobeketi where you can find a taxi for the last 5 km to the Saryagash border checkpoint for 100 to 200 tenge. Direct buses leave Shymkent to Tashkent at 08:00, 13:00 and 19:00 (May 2022) from Bekzhan bus station 8km west of the city center. Tickets are about 3000 tenge per person. The ride is comfortable and the border crossing smoother than in shared taxis, and unlike the taxis they also go all the way to Tashkent. The station has a casual local number +7 707 475 8660 you can contact whatsup, asking simple questions.
- Taraz - Locals pay 1,200 tenge for the Shymkent to Taraz road (2019). Drivers don't seem to overcharge. 15-man marshrutkas leave from Samal station, 5 km north-west of the city centre. They operate at least until 18:00 (and a sunset ride is spectacular). Possibly cheaper from Bekzhan station, slightly further out. They arrive at Zhensaya station, 5 km west of the city centre. Takes about 2.5 hours (the marshrutka detours on a few minor roads and often has to stop for cattle).