Sighnaghi and Davit Gareja
SighnaghiSighnaghi is affectionately known as the city of love. It’s a very charming town in the Kakheti region of Georgia, also known as the wine region! Alaska and I spent one day and two nights there wandering around town, which is quite small. It’s the most touristic place I’ve been in Georgia so far so one day was enough for me. The red roofs remind me of Dubrovnik, Croatia and there’s something quite beautiful about seeing the town from above.
Davit Gareja MonasteryWe drove to Davit Gareja on our way back to Tbilisi from Sighnaghi. This monastery complex is located right on the border of Georgia and Azerbaijan - in fact ~150m of the road to Davit Gareja technically falls within Azerbaijan! The monastery has been a source of border dispute between the two countries as both claim rights to the monastery due to the monastery’s historical and religious significance. Unfortunately we were not able to hike to Udabno Monastery, the upper part of the Davit Gareja complex, because access was blocked off by Georgian border guards due to the recent Georgian-Azerbaijan tensions.
Davit Gareja was constructed in the 6th century by a group on Assyrian monks who came to this area to settle down and spread the word of Christianity. What makes this monastery complex so unique is that the monasteries have been carved straight from stone! All types of rooms, from libraries to bedrooms to living areas, are carved from the stone. It was fascinating to see stairs carved from the stone and imagine hundreds of monks carefully making their way to the caves. It reminded me of the caves in Cappadocia, Turkey.
Gergeti Glacier
I spent last weekend in Stepantsminda, officially named Stepantsminda but still commonly called by its former name Kazbegi. Stepantsminda was originally named after a Georgian monk Stephan but the name was changed to Kazbegi in 1925 during Soviet rule. Given the animosity between Georgia and Russia, it’s not surprising that the name was changed back to Stepantsminda in 2006.
Stepantsminda is a three and a half hour marshrutka ride north of Tbilisi, and it’s one of the most popular places to go hiking (the other is the four day hike from Mestia to Ushguli - more coming on that soon). Kazu and Satori happened to be in Tbilisi as well, so we made the trip to Stepantsminda together.
The hike to Gergeti Glacier was beautiful. We had a very early morning start at 5am in order to beat the forecast of afternoon rain and were rewarded with a glorious sunrise and stunning views of Mt Kazbek, the third highest mountain in Georgia at 5054 meters.
When we first arrived in Stepantsminda it was lunch time, so we followed our noses to a local bakery. The owner invited us in to see how he and his brother baked the bread. It was so cool to see the bread baked in a traditional manner!
You can see the two khachapuri baking in the oven
Kazu looking very pleased about our acquisition of khachapuri (cheese-filled bread) and lobiani (bean-filled bread). We were lucky to get them straight from the oven so the ooey gooey cheese was scrumptious. The lobiani made a perfect hiking snack for our trip up to Gergeti Glacier.
Feed me Georgian food all day
I am in love with Georgian cuisine. It has many vegetable-focused dishes (very vegetarian friendly!) which was quite welcome after spending over two months traveling in Central Asia - when the focus is plov (rice with meat) or bread, you dream of vegetables other than a cucumber and tomato salad! Georgian cuisine also has a strong focus on good bread (khachapuri, lobiani, and other stuffed breads) which seems to balance out all the nutrient-filled vegetarian dishes. The fresh produce is amazing here and I definitely arrived during a good time - it’s the season for ripe stone fruit and figs and I love picking up a bag of figs on the walk back to my hostel.
Here’s a quick look at some of the meals and foods I’ve had while making my way across Georgia. If you’re in New York I recommend checking out Chama Mama. It’s a Georgian restaurant located in Chelsea that features delicious Georgian food and wine. Special shoutout to Jesse and Christine, who first recommended this restaurant, and Liz for introducing me to my first Georgian meal!
One of my favorite things about Georgia, especially visiting in August and September, is the fresh and sweet figs and stone fruit! These figs are the best I’ve had in my life.
Bread is a staple in Georgian cuisine. Here you can see khachapuri (bread stuffed with cheese) being baked in a traditional oven.
Chebureki is a fried dough stuffed with meat that closely resembles an empanada. The pastry was deliciously flaky, but the meat filling inside was quite sparse!
Look at that fig! Equally beautiful and delicious.
One version of khachapuri, cheese-filled bread, bought in Kazbegi, Georgia. We were able to get them fresh out of the oven from a bakery owned by a pair of brothers who invited us into the shop to take a look at how they bake the bread. They only make khachapuri, lobiani (bean-filled bread), and plain bread.
A deeper look into chebureki.
A story about kindness and 48 hours in Bishkek
Before I share some postcards from Bishkek, let me tell you a story about the journey to get there and the kindness of the locals I met along the way.
I ended my three weeks in Kazakhstan in Shymkent before making my way over to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan and the beginning of my month-long adventure in the “Stan” most well-known for its hiking routes and scenic mountains.
Most of my travel research is done through a mixture of travel blogs, with the occasional aid of Lonely Planet Central Asia (the latest edition is only from 2018) and word-of-mouth recommendations from fellow travelers. So when I needed to figure out how to get from Shymkent, Kazakhstan to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, I conducted some very thorough Google searching and reached out to my Couchsurfing hosts for advice. It seemed like the best way was to call a shared taxi to take me from Shymkent to Bishkek which didn’t seem too bad - after all, if you look at a map, the drive looks pretty straightforward, right?
The plan was for my Couchsurfing hosts to call a shared taxi that would pick me up and drive me to Bishkek. Shared taxis are a popular form of transportation in Central Asia; they take multiple people, who may or may not know each other, to the same destination. Think of it like an Uberpool, except you’re all going to the same place.
My host called the shared taxi around 8:30 in the morning…and the driver cancelled an hour later. No other drivers were making the drive to Bishkek so a shared taxi was no longer an option. The back up options were to take an overnight bus from Shymkent to Bishkek (which only ran once a week and honestly the beds in the bus looked quite unclean) or an overnight train from Shymkent to Almaty (east of Bishkek), and then a four hour bus from Almaty to Bishkek. However, that overnight train also only ran a couple of days a week, and not on the day I needed to go to Bishkek.
So I made a new game plan: I’d make my way to the Shymkent bus station, and figure out a way to get to Bishkek. After all Bishkek is the capital of Kazakhstan and one of the major cities in Central Asia - surely there would have to be some way to get there.
Turns out, it wasn’t that easy. Since there was no direct bus to Bishkek, I figured that the best thing I could do would be continuing to make my way eastward, working my way towards Bishkek little-by-little.
At the Shymkent bus station I found a marshrutka (local mini buses in the form of a Mercedes sprinter van) that would take me to Taraz, about two hours east of Shymkent and thus two hours closer to my final destination.
My eventual journey from Shymkent to Bishkek.
I had no clue how I’d get to Bishkek from Taraz and was already starting to panic. I was one of the first people to sit in the marshrutka, and they don’t leave for their destination until they are full which can sometimes take an hour! It was already noon by this point, and I had no idea what the bus situation would be like in Taraz.
In the middle of my panic, a young woman entered the marshrutka and gave me a smile before sitting next to me. Her name was Julie and she was headed to Taraz to celebrate her friend’s baby shower. Because she had studied abroad in Germany and Spain during a university international exchange program, she spoke English fluently. We shared bits and pieces of our lives, including my mission to make it to Bishkek, and discovered that we both had a shared love for traveling.
The drive to Taraz was stuffy (A/C in a marshrutka? Pfft!) and bumpy (the road infrastructure outside of Almaty isn’t great) so I could feel my eyelids fluttering shut. I could hear the low murmurs of Julie talking with someone on the phone and let that lull me into sleep.
I naturally woke up when we were 15 minutes way from Taraz. Julie saw that I was awake and shared that she had given her parents a call to ask them how I could make my way from Taraz to Bishkek. It turns out that her family was originally from Taraz but had moved to Shymkent in order for the children to go to university there. I was stunned. This random stranger cared enough about me to call her parents and ask them for ideas on how I could get to Bishkek - what?!
Julie had learned from her parents that there was a marshrutka that could take me from Taraz to Korday, the border town between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and from Korday it should be easy to take another marshrutka from Korday to Bishkek (see above map). As we got closer to the Taraz bus station, my hopes increased - maybe I would make it to Bishkek tonight - no, I would make it to Bishkek tonight!
When we arrived at the bus station, Julie walked with me around the bus station, asking locals and passengers if they could direct us to the marshrutka to Korday or to a bus to Bishkek, if such a bus existed. An older woman who looked like a babushka (Russian for grandmother) responded that she was headed back home to Bishkek and could make sure I made it there.
I finally had a concrete way to get to Bishkek! I turned to give Julie a hug. “Thank you,” I said, “Thank you so much for your help and for going out of your way to help me.” But I wondered, “Why? Why did you even bother in the first place?”
Julie smiled. She shared that when she studied abroad in Spain and Germany, she struggled navigating how to travel internationally but so many people had helped her along the way. Because of this, she’s always wanted to pay it forward and help other travelers in need.
We exchanged a hug. I felt so grateful for her kindness and support and hoped that I too could pay it forward, whether that be back in New York or during my travels abroad.
Julie and I at the Taraz bus station, right before we parted ways.
Obviously I ended up making it to Bishkek. After all the title of this post does include the words “48 hours in Bishkek”. So what happened after Taraz?
Long story (kind of) short (because it’s time to get you those postcards):
It was a five hour marshrutka ride from Taraz to Korday and also a ride with no AC. I can hear my dad say, “well when I was your age…”
The marshrutka dropped us off right at the border, and the babushka, Gulgana, gestured me to walk with her to the border. She guided me to the two-stop border crossing and patiently waited for me to go through the Kazakh and Kyrgyz border stations before continuing on. She asked, using a series of hand gestures, if I needed to exchange Kazakh tenge to Kyrgyz som, and proceeded to take me to some makeshift currency exchange stations. She walked up to several stations but would dismissively “pfft”, shake her head, and walk away. Not knowing Russian or Kyrgyz, I can only assume that the rates weren’t to her satisfaction - it’s amazing how much you can understand through body language and facial expressions, even when you don’t know a language.
After the border crossing, we searched for a marshrutka that would take us to Bishkek. She paid for my bus fare (another “what?!” moment of feeling shocked at her kindness) and we got off a couple of stops early at a bazaar where there were better currency exchange rates. When the cashier wouldn’t accept my Kazakh coins, Gulgana reached into her purse to do a currency exchange with her own money.
From the bazaar, Gulgana bundled me into another marshrutka that would take me to the hostel. She empathetically reminded the bus driver to signal me when it was my turn to get off the bus before giving him money for my ticket. I shook my head, motioning that I could pay for it, but she smiled and waved me off.
As my marshrutka pulled away into the road, I could only think about what an incredible day it was. A day that started with frustration turned out to be a heartwarming experience. I was blown away by the amount of kindness I received. It was a beautiful reminder that there are humans in this world who are just genuinely good and kind people, and it inspired me to be more proactive about paying it forward.
And now, here are your postcards from my 48 hours in Bishkek!
These are just a smattering of photos I took when walking around the capital. I loved the colorful gardens around the city and was fascinated by the Soviet-era architecture that made up most of the monuments. To be honest I didn’t spend that much time in Bishkek because I was eager to make my way in the mountains, but here’s a brief glimpse into Krygyzstan’s capital.
Hiking three peaks in the Tian Shan Mountains
One of my favorite hikes in Kazakhstan was a hike that covered three peaks - Furmanov Peak, Panorama Peak, and Shymbulak Peak, all around 3000m in height. I had the opportunity to hike this in early July with two friends I had made during my Steppe Spirit trip, Kazu and Satori, who are traveling from Japan. We had bonded during the Steppe Spirit trip and wanted to end our time in Almaty with one last hike in the beautiful Tian Shan mountains. I hope you enjoy the photos!
Postcards from Turkestan
I’ll let the photos do the talking for a bit because the architecture is pure art.
These photos are of the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, which is the main attraction of Turkestan, a town ~2hrs northwest of Shymkent. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its authentic and outstanding example of Islamic religious architecture. I loved the shades of blue and the intricacy of the tile work - it was beautiful in the morning sunlight.
A quick overview:
Khoja Ahmed Yasawi was a distinguished Sufi leader during the 12th century. Sufism is a mystic religious practice of Islam. He had a significant influence in spreading Islam in Central Asia and consequently is regarded as a spiritual teacher. He isalso well-regarded as a poet. When he was 63 he dug himself an underground cellar to live out the rest of his life.
The mausoleum was built by Amir Timur, a ruthless conquerer of Central Asia during the 13th century, after he had a prophetic dream where Yasawi predicted a successful military campaign. As a result, Timur visited the grave of Yasawi and ordered the construction of the mausoleum.
A bit more on Timur, also known as Tamerlane. He was a Turkic conquerer who founded the Timurid empire in the 14th century. He was a powerful ruler descended from a Mongol tribe and who saw himself as Genghis Khan’s heir (Genghis Khan lived during the 13th century). Depending where you go, you’ll hear different versions of who he was. In Central Asia he is seen as a great warlord and leader, but outside of that region he can be viewed as a mass murderer who was ruthless in his campaign to create an empire.
Here are some more photos from my day trip to Turkestan, although I didn’t see much given that it was so hot. Turkestan is one of the more recognized tourist destinations in Kazakhstan because of the mausoleum and has been named the spiritual capital of the Turkic world, also because of the mausoleum. You can click on each photo for more info.
Postcards from Shymkent
I briefly visited Shymkent, also spelled Chimkent or Chymkent, which is in southern Kazakhstan and in the middle of the country. During my visit, I also took a day trip to Turkestan, one of Kazakhstan’s historic cities and a spiritual center of the region.
Shymkent used to be a minor stop on the Silk Road, was taken over by Russia in 1864, and then rebuilt again during Soviet times. Now it is one of the main cities of southern Kazakhstan. It feels more like what I imagined Central Asia to be - a mix of the old and the news in terms of buildings, architecture, and culture - and contrasts sharply with what I left behind in Almaty.
Honestly in hindsight I don’t know if I wouldn’t made the trip to Shymkent again. I ended up leaving Shymkent a day early because I didn’t feel a strong connection to the city and because my intuition was encouraging me to head back east to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where I could resume hiking and be back in my beloved outdoors. However this experience was a lesson in a couple of things: in remembering that with this time off I have the gift of flexibility and can make spontaneous decisions and in reminding myself to trust my gut and follow my instincts - something that I wanted to focus on during my time abroad.
Postcards from Almaty: First impressions
Almaty is my first stop in Kazakhstan and has been an easy transition into Central Asia. It’s been comforting to spend time in a city that feels familiar as it closely resembles a Western European city. However most people don’t speak English; Russian and Kazakh are the primary languages here and Google Translate has been my best friend.
I’ve spent my week here hiking in the Tien Shan mountains, hopping from bougie cafe to bougie cafe to catch up on personal admin, and trying to “do nothing” in order to not burn out after traveling non-stop for two months. Sending you some postcards from my time here so far - as always, please click on each postcard for more info!
Postcards: Doors of Stone Town
Doors of Stone Town, Zanzibar
Doors are fascinating. They represent portals to literal and metaphorical places. They can also serve as guards, keeping things out and protecting what lies within. They often are first impressions to whatever, or whomever, lies behind entrance.
Stown Town is the “old town” of Zanzibar City in the island of Zanzibar, which is situated off the east coast of Tanzania. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its historical architecture that reflects the diversity of its history and inhabitants - a mixture of Arab, European, and Indian elements. These elements were reflected in the doors of Stone Town - each door had its own story hidden away in intricate carvings that told the history of the family who used to cross over its entryway. Click on each photo to learn a bit more about some of the doors of Zanzibar and the history of Stone Town.
Doors of Zanzibar
Zanzibar and Nungwi Beaches
