Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
terrace too. Has another
branch
(
h
10am-
1am)
in Ken Baba ortalygy.
Ladushki¨
CAFETERIA $
(Turkistan 12; items 45-200T;
h
8am-9pm)
With
decor like a kids' restaurant, Ladushki is
actually a very popular and good-value caf-
eteria where you can get a serve of
manty
or
bliny,
or two pastries and a coffee, for under
300T.
o
Kok¨Saray¨
UZBEK $$
(
%
43 22 30; Tauke-Khan 121; mains 700-1500T;
h
10am-1am;
WE
)
Atmospheric multi-
roomed Kok Saray, with carved-wood pil-
lars, murals and an airy front terrace, serves
the best Uzbek food in town (and in Kaza-
khstan, claim aficionados). Don't miss the
perfect
plov
(
tashkentsky
with white rice,
andizhansky
with black) or the superb
samsas,
which include a delicious pumpkin
(s tykvoe)
variety. You can't miss its bright
lights after dark.
Bar¨Villa¨
INTERNATIONAL $$$
(Zheltoksan 9/2; mains 1700-3300T;
h
noon-mid-
night)
Overlooking the park behind Kinoteatr
Kakakhstan, Bar Villa's two levels of mostly
sofa seating have big windows to enjoy the
leafy view, and there's a three-level garden
terrace for summer. The well-prepared fare
focuses on pasta, salads and grills including
several sausage varieties, and an excellent
picture menu makes up for the lack of an
English-language version.
6
¨Drinking¨&¨Nightlife
The cafes and restaurants in and around
Ken Baba ortalygy are the most popular and
fun place for evening drinks, and there's live
music for dancing nightly from 8pm to mid-
night at Bar Karavan (p83).
For Almaty (2000T to 3000T, 11 hours), about 10
air-conditioned buses leave from Ayna between
7pm and 7.30pm, four from a yard outside the
train station at 7pm, and others every half-hour
from 6pm to 8.30pm from Samal. You can go
and book seats for all of these earlier in the day.
For Taraz, minibuses (800T, three hours)
depart Samal from 8am to 7pm, and shared taxis
(2000T) go from just outside Samal's entrance.
For Turkistan minibuses (1000T, 2½ hours) or
buses (500T, three hours) go about hourly, 9am
to 6pm, from Samal.
For Chernyaevka on the Uzbek border, mini-
buses (800T, two hours) leave Samal when full
between 9am and 6pm - less frequent in the
afternoon. For Bishkek there's a bus (2000T,
eight hours) at 6.30pm from Samal.
TRAIN
From the
train station
(
%
95 21 20; Kabanbay
Batyr), 1.5km southeast of Ordabasy alany, at
least seven trains a day go to Almaty (3480T, 13
to 17 hours), Turkistan (1590T to 3020T, three
to 4½ hours) and Kyzylorda (2560T, seven to 12
hours); 10 go to Taraz (1715T, four hours) and
ive to Aralsk (3820T to 6950T, 16 to 22 hours).
A convenient overnight service to Almaty is train
12 at 6.30pm. There are also trains to Astana,
mangyshlak (Aktau) and Aktobe daily, and
Tashkent three or four times weekly.
8
Getting¨Around
Taxis to the centre cost 1000T to 1200T from the
airport and 400T to 500T from Samal or Ayna
bus stations. In the city, almost any taxi will take
you anywhere for 300T to 400T.
Some useful buses (fare 50T; all running both
directions along their routes):
5
Train station, Ordabasy alany, Tashenov,
Tauke-Khan, Respublika dangyly
12
Airport, Tauke-Khan, Kazybek Bi, Ordabasy
alany, train station
19
Ordabasy alany, Avtovokzal Ayna
69
Ordabasy alany, Kazybek Bi, Tauke-Khan,
Baytursynuly, Avtovokzal Samal
8
Getting¨There¨&¨Away
AIR
From the
airport
(
%
45 50 31), 10km north-
west of the centre, there are two or three daily
lights with Air Astana or SCAT to Almaty (from
16,500T) and one or two to Astana (from
23,290T), plus two or three weekly with SCAT
to Aktau (33,400T) and three weekly moscow
lights with Transaero.
BUS, MINIBUS & TAXI
The several bus stations are scattered around
the city fringes, the most important being
Avto-
vokzal Samal
(
%
45 12 41; Ryskulov), 4km north
of the centre, and
Avtovokzal Ayna
(cnr Zhibek
Zholy & Aymautov), 3km northeast of the centre.
Around Shymkent
Sayram
Сайрам
POP 36,000
About 14km east of Shymkent, the busy little
town of Sayram was a Silk Road stop long
before Shymkent existed and dates back
possibly 3000 years. Kozha Akhmed Yasaui
(p87) was born here and Sayram is a stop for
many pilgrims en route to his mausoleum
at Turkistan. Sayram's population today is
almost entirely Uzbek.
