Turkestan
The manager of the Hotel Khanaka informed me sadly when I walked in that the electricity was cut off but it should be on in 10 or 15 minutes. Anyway, I checked in and headed down to the hotel restaurant for lunch. I was delighted to find that I had a three-course meal for the equivalent of 2 Euros. The Caesar salad at the beginning was perfectly acceptable and then I had noodle soup and then some kind of Chinese noodle dish. It was just what I needed after an overnight train ride. I’m I chose this hotel because it was right on the edge of the Yasawi Mausoleum that I had come here to see. Kozha Akhmed Yasawi was the first great Turkic Muslim holy man. In fact he founded the Turkic Sufi order. Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam and is popular throughout the region. This mausoleum was built by Timur in the 14th century. I was to see much Timurid architecture in Uzbeckistan but this is the only one in Kazakhstan. As the Kazakhs were nomadic until a century ago monuments are few and far between here. It was a much larger estate than I had … Continue reading →