Shymkent

Shymkent sits in the south near the Uzbek border, a city of over a million and the most Central Asian in feel of the large Kazakh cities, with a climate, cuisine and street life closer to Tashkent than to Astana. The old citadel mound at the centre, occupied since at least the twelfth century and destroyed in the nineteenth, has been rebuilt as a heritage park with walls and gates in a reconstruction that is more park than archaeology. The main draw is the bazaar, a large working market where produce from the south, dried fruit, melons, spices and household goods change hands. Independence Park and the regional museum fill out a day. It is the base for Turkestan, Sayram and Sairam-Ugam.

What you actually see

• The bazaar - the large working market at the centre of city life.
• The reconstructed citadel - the rebuilt walls on the old fortress mound.
• The regional museum - the collections on southern Kazakhstan.
• Southern street life - the cafes, teahouses and parks.

When to go

April to June and September to October; summer here is very hot, with temperatures regularly above forty degrees, and winter is cold and grey. Nauryz in March fills the parks with celebration.

Honest expectations

The citadel is a modern reconstruction rather than a preserved site. The city is spread out and industrial in parts. Summer heat is severe. English is little spoken and signage is in Kazakh and Russian.

Nearby

Sayram lies east; Turkestan is northwest.