Colette's Grand Detour

Turkestan is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia and one of Kazakhstan’s most cultural and spiritual centers. It is located in southern Kazakhstan in the Syr Darya river basin and takes just under 2 hours to fly here from Astana. Historically it was known by the name Yassy and formed part of the Silk Road. Nowadays it is a small modern city of 200,000 people.

The views from the plane were brilliant. Initially there was endless steppe grassland and then as we approached Turkestan we flew over part of the Tien Shen mountain range which made way for a much more desert-like environment. It is a lot warmer here than in Astana.

The city became a major spiritual center in the 12th century after the Sufi mystic Khoja Ahmed Yasawi settled here to spread Islam across the Kazakh steppe. In the 14th century Timur (of the Timur Empire) had a grand mausoleum built in his honor which over time has turned into a major pilgrimage site. The mausoleum attracts thousands of pilgrims every year and it traditionally believed that visiting three times is equal to one Haj to Mecca. We will visit the mausoleum tomorrow, which is UNESCO World Heritage site and the highlight of the area.

This evening we visited modern Turkestan which has been heavily invested in, transforming it into a tourist and cultural hub. A modern caravanserai complex has been built close to the ancient mausoleum, meant to give the sense of what it was like during the days of the Silk Road. Although it is modern, it is a nice development with lots of families still out late at night letting their kids play in the light-up fountains, outdoor dining and shops to explore.

The most surprising part of the complex is the Altyn Samruk Flying Theatre, at its center. The building itself is shaped as a giant golden egg sitting in the nest of the mythical Kazakh bird, the Samruk (the same one that formed the observation tower in Astana). And inside is a fantastic immersive theatre that runs a show every 30 minutes that makes you feel like you are soaring through the Kazakh landscapes. The quality was as good as if it were at Universal Studios or Disney World, with motion seats, wraparound screens and even the effect of mist as you went through the clouds.

Unfortunately you could only take photos of some of the dioramas we walked past before we went into the theatre. So you will have to take my word for it that this is absolutely worth doing whilst visiting Turkestan. The modern caravanserai is pleasant, just unfortunately not old. However, you have to stay somewhere and eat somewhere before visiting the mausoleum and for that I would say it was very nice.