Astana...or Ashgabat?

After an incredibly LONG train ride (25+ hours), Sarah and I made it to Astana this morning. There will probably be more on the train ride later...let's just say that it was quite an experience, and reminded me of why there will never be a danger of me coming home with a Central Asian boyfriend (as some of you commented before I left for Kazakhstan).

Astana is a rather strange city--very new and futuristic, with construction everywhere. It really looks more like Ashgabat than anything else I have seen in Central Asia. We spent the day wandering around looking at all of the bizarre architecture before returning to our hotel to take a nap. Tomorrow, we have a conference on the Oil Fund, and then head off to Almaty (another 24 hour train ride) before returning to Shymkent on Saturday.

More soon..with pictures!

Who needs to see Indiana Jones in the theater when you can already buy the DVD?

Unlike in the United States, where you often have to wait months for a DVD to be released, you can find copies of recent movies on sale at the local bazaar. These copies could be a little difficult to find where I lived in Almaty, since it was the area where most of the foreigners lived. Outside the city center was a different story, though. In Tashkent, movies and music are available almost as soon as you enter the bazaar (I just might have to buy Uzbek Hits 2008 this weekend!).

It appears that the most popular video of the moment is the new Indiana Jones film. Just about every vendor had multiple copies of the movie, burned onto discs that were clearly copied on someone's computer. Usually the films aren't the best quality, since they are videos of the movies playing on a projection screen in a theater. But how often do you get to buy a cheesy copy of a movie (in Russian) for the vast amount of 2,000 Uzbek som? That's a staggering $1.50! Plus, it comes packaged with seven other movies--including Iron Man, and some fantastic (?) Russian films. I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can find this weekend, and perhaps getting a copy of the new Batman film by the end of the summer.

Although unrelated to this post, I'm including a few pictures from Sunday in Shymkent. They include the Tatar Navruz (New Year's) celebration, and my new favorite "most ridiculous building" in the city. After seeing this building during my first week in Shymkent, I have high hopes that there will soon be other buildings to delight my sense of absurdity.

Another strange sight in Almaty

It is a beautiful Spring day here in Almaty, and I decided to take a break from reading through vast piles of reports on the educational system and take a walk. Normally, I explore different parts of the city or go to one of the many parks around my house. Today I decided to do something a little different and took the bus to the base of Kok Tobe (literally, Green Hill), which is where the television tower is located. It is about a 20 minute walk up a rather steep slope to reach the top, and I spent about an hour walking around and taking pictures of the city. It is amazing to see the mountains rising above Almaty while a layer of smog hovers over the valley! As I was wandering around (clearly looking like a foreigner in an outfit thrown together solely for the purpose of walking--since it was early and no one was likely to be around on Kok Tobe), one of the security guards insisted on taking my picture with some of the more popular statues in the area--the rather effeminate looking Beatles.

Turkmen jewelry

I meant to post this before, to give an idea of the absolutely beautiful artistry of the traditional Turkmen jewelry.

A few final pictures from Ashgabat

Here are a few final pictures from Ashgabat--some young schoolgirls playing a traditional song on the dutar, and the mausoleum where Turkmenbashi, his mother, and his two brothers are buried.

Images of the Arch of Neutrality at night

In Central Asia, there is no such thing as too much of anything. Especially when it comes to color. At night, major monuments usually are illuminated by differently colored lights--it is definitely something to see. But I have yet to see anything that can top the lights on the Arch of Neutrality!

One more picture of Merv

This picture of ancient Merv somehow was overlooked in the previous post.