Astana - world nomad games in Kazakhstan

Astana

A very interesting city as it developed after independence from the Soviet Republic when it was decided it will be the capital of the country and it was built up, even though it's really in the middle of nowhere in Kazakhstan.

I don't think it has much to offer on the tourist side unless you are into new buildings and new things as most things have been built in the last 30 years or so. I think their inspiration is a bit in the UAE as they built big and shiny monuments and buildings all over. And for a city that's been planned and it has big avenues, it has plenty of traffic. 

Some key highlights of the city include:

• Baiterek tower which you can go up and get pretty good views of the city, plus right at the top there's a handprint of the first president of Kazakhstan 

• Opera - some people say it's one of the most beautiful ones in the world and it has a capacity for over 1200 people (sadly it was opera performance or nomad games opening ceremony)

• Ataryu bridge - made in the shape of a sturgeon to honor the second type of Kazakh gold after the oil: Caviar 

• Khan Shatyr - a massive shopping mall designed by Normal Foster. It gives the mall of America a run for its money. 

• There are a few cool parks, a massive mosque, national history museum and the palace of peace and reconciliation among other things to visit. 

While there are plenty of things to visit they are all spread out across the city and it's all new stuff. 

But I didn't come to Astana for its touristic appeal but to watch the 5th World Nomad Games. 

These are the Olympics for nomadic culture but it's not just about sports but also about nomadic traditions and there's even a science program (e.g. research into nomadic diet)

But the cultural part it's a huge part and as important as the different sports competitions, which from a fan perspective is just amazing as one gets to watch competitions while also being exposed to the country culture and nomadic culture. 

Another interesting fact is that there are many traditional board strategy games which are considered sports (e.g. their version of what chess would be in terms of sports)

Disclaimer: it's hard to get great photos of sports event and I don't know how to embed videos yet to show things)

• Opening ceremony - the ticket said 4pm but nobody explained to me that from 4 to 7pm they just have some music and the actual opening ceremony only starts at 7pm. 

It was held at Astana Arena and the ceremony is done in the same spirit as the Olympics with each country's delegation parading with their flag on the stage but led by a horse as after all these are the Nomad Games.  And yes, Mexico had a delegation. 

There were 80+ countries participating! Which makes me think it's time for me to start training for the next nomad games in 2026!

After the countries had their time it was time for an hour long show that showcases Kazakhstan nomadic culture. Pretty impressive production that combined lights, projections and 120+ artists performing. Absolutely beautiful and impressive. 

• The ethnoaul village is the main area where the cultural program happens and just visiting this made it worthwhile coming to the games. Some of the medal ceremonies are also held here each evening. 

  
  Within the cultural village, there are a couple sports grounds for different events (horseback archery, horseback wrestling, powerful nomad, eagle hunting, etc. and across the road it was the traditional archery and the famous Kokpar and Kok boru fields)

The ethnic village contained 50+ yurts and each or a few of them would represent a different region of Kazakhstan and they showcased their particular culture as well as their traditional dresses which are overall simply awesome. Some yurts were mini museums, others had 360 movie projections, others were shops and many were simply a way to show Kazakh hospitality and they would offer sweets, food, tea, camel and horse milk, etc. Many also performed music, puppet theater, dancing, a bridal welcoming to the family, etc.  so the whole experience was so much fun especially if you took time to talk to the people and realize that while traditions are similar there are also differences. 

There were also a massive yurt for cultural performance and music as well as a big stage where different performances from there traditional music to opera to a kids orchestra, dancing, etc. 

• Archery - this is done with a bow and arrow….no fancy Olympics equipment. There are 4 modalities and depending on the modality is the type of target they shoot at. (Some are like a typical bulls eye, others are round things which hang and due to the wind are moving and rotating adding difficulty, other is the kind of shape of a fat person and others are narrow bulls eyes top and bottom)

• And men shoot from 70 mts and women from 60 mts.  It's super impressive to see this. 

  

• Kokpar and Kok boru - this is the highlight of the games and central Asia takes this super seriously. It's like playing polo but the difference is that the two teams need to take a headless goat carcass (for the games it's a plastic dummy one) that weights 33kgs and be able to pick it from the ground and then take it to the small circle (kokpar) or the cauldron (Kok boru) to score a point. 

While there are 12 horses/people per team, it's played 4 vs 4 and it involves a lot of strategy as to how to first pick up the goat carcass from the ground while on a horse to then how to attack in order to score a point. And how to defend as the team defending will use their horses to block the other horses path and it gets kind of aggressive. Quite a spectacle. 

And even the USA has a Kok boru team. Just for the sake of it as clearly they are not good…. To the point that the stadium announcer and narrator offered 50,000 tenge (~100 usd) to each American player if they scored one point. It was super funny…..I don't think the American team ever had the goat in their possession in the whole game…but great effort!

And the two best teams are Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan which have a very fierce rivalry even though Kyrgyzstan normally wins. Both finals were between these two teams and Kazakhstan pulled an upset winning the kokpar final 5 to 4 amid plenty of controversy but then lost 10-4 the Kok boru final

• Horseback archery - if you think archery is difficult, try doing so while riding a horse. Super cool sport to watch. Some targets are on the ground, others are 5mts up and you need to hit them from below. Lots of skills involved. 

  

• Horseback wrestling - you need to fight the other person and throw them off their horse. Really cool to watch as clearly this ain't easy

  

• Asyk Atu - this is similar to what canicas would be in Mexico and it's a traditional game played by kids. It used to be played with the spine bones of a goat and the idea is that you put 9 bones in a line and there's a big circle of like 3mts in diameter. And then you stand a few meters behind the circle and you throw another bone with the intention of hitting one of the 9 bones and getting it out of the circle to score a point. 

Super cool game and there were many countries competing (Spain, Hungary, Czech republic, etc). What I really love about many of these competitions is that manybare about skills that don't require being born as a super athlete to be good at. 

• Wrestling (in its different modalities) is one of the most popular events and I saw the belt wrestling in which each opponent grabs the other by a belt that's around them and by just using the belt needs to throw the other to the ground and put his back against the floor. Crazy impressive the technique and how they do this. And there's men and women categories.  

  

• Powerful nomad - part of the world's strongest competition. Includes throwing a 13kgs javelin; doing squats while balancing a 100 kg wood pole and other events. 

  

• While watching one of the events, I ended up meeting Dikanuly Shaman who happens to hold a few Kazakhstan records and some Guinness world records for some crazy strength stuff. 

He pulled a vehicle with many people on top of it by just using his mouth. Or he climbs up a platform in which the steps are sharp knives all while carrying I don't know how many kgs in each hand and then while on top of the platform standing on knives edges, he carries someone with his mouth. Crazy crazy stuff. 

• Mas wrestling. Two people grab a stick and the idea is to pull it off the other person to win. Sounds easy but it's super difficult.  I tried it for fun and got destroyed. 

  

• Other cool events include eagle hunting, beige (horseback races but the rider needs to move little obstacles from the ground while riding) and a couple other sports

• TOGYZQUMALAQ (TOGUZ KORGOOL) - Let's not forget the 3 or 4 different strategy board games (kind of like chess and checkers) of which Togyzqumalaq is the most popular and one that its popularity has been steadily increasing worldwide and one I will start playing as I already bought my board game. 

The other super cool thing is that all the athletes are walking around and also going to watch other sports so you can go and talk to them. Very interesting talking to people from all over which one wouldn't expect at the nomad games such as Switzerland, Ireland, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, etc. 

My most important takeaway of the world nomad games is that it's already on my plans for 2026 or maybe even the version of games that apparently happens in Mongolia next year. 

As highlighted in terms of food and traditional Kazakh food I can recommend both Qazaq gourmet restaurant and Arnau restaurant. 

At Qazaq their mini starter of flaky bread with white honey to dip it in is amazing and you can accompany it with a shot of Arkyn - a 45% drink made from horse milk. I would say it's a very tasty vodka. 

As for what to order, definitely try the Chsheke of horsemeat (traditionally it's the whole head but here they just serve you the best parts)

The classic beshbarmak is different cuts of horsemeat over some flat noodles. Really tasty and the Kazakh specialty. 

Uzbekistan - Khiva - am I in Disneyland?

Since I arrived crossing the border from Turkmenistan which was a breeze because I didn't have. Asrone with me or customs would have been a problem. 

Before going to Khiva I decided to do a “not so quick detour” to stop along some of the ancient Khorezm fortresses. Pictures can’t do justice to them. 

This region was part of the ancient silk road. It was part of the Persian empire when Zoroastrianism was the state religion. Some even believe that Khorezm was the motherland of its prophet Zarathrusta.

The Khorezm fortresses were strategically built on elevated positions so they could look over the Karakalpak desert and hence protect themselves from invaders and probably more important control the trade and all the trade routes. These fortresses used to be mini cities. 

Ayaz kala is probably the most famous and oldest kala. It is actually three fortresses. It was built between the 4th century BC and continued up till the 7th century. It sits kind of at the edge of the desert as towards the south one can see green pastures due to the rivers but to the other side it's the expanse of the desert. It's a pretty cool place and one can see how huge this fortress was.

Just walking towards it in the middle of the day with the sun on top and the wind blasting sand in your face makes me wonder how rough things were two thousand years ago with zero comforts.

Being at the edge of the Kyzyl Kum desert the fortresses probably served as border posts and lookout towers.

Toprak Kala, meaning “clay fortress,” dates back to the 2th century. It was a massive walled city covering an area of approximately 32 hectares and was the administrative center of ancient Khorezm. The ruins of the fortress reveal a complex urban layout, including palaces, temples, houses, and streets. 

While the remains of this fortress are way smaller, they are pretty cool and once one is on top of it one realizes how big the whole fortress actually was simply by looking where the remains of where the watch towers were 

Not far from Toprak Kala you will find Kizil Kala or the red fortress. Nobody really knows what the purpose of Kizil Kala was but it's a cool place to visit as it has been partially rebuilt so one can see how it probably looked in the past

And now to Khiva - what an amazing place. Not as popular as Samarkand or Bukhara and in my view it's a definite must to visit if you come to Uzbekistan. 

This 2500+ year old town looks simply incredible both during the day and at night. Legend has it that Shem (Noah's son) ordered to dig a well and that's where Khiva came to be. The well is still in the old town of Khiva although inside private property. Khiva was part of the northern part of the silk road in ancient times. 

The place feels surreal as if Disney made it for a movie. Obviously this city wasn't spared by Gengis Khan and most of it was destroyedbduring his bloody reign of conquests. But the city reflorished in the 18 and 19 centuries which is when all the current beauty was created.  

Just walking around the different madrassas, minarets, etc is spectacular. The whole city is pretty much a museum. 

The watchtower is a great place to see the views as well as to watch the sunset. 

One can also do a tour of the city walls or climb atop one of the tall minarets. 

One of the oldest buildings is the old mosque from the 10th century which is all made of wood and contains 213 pillars. As with most mosques the reason why the ceilings are domes was for acoustics so people can listen to the imam. But this mosque didn't have domes so they created a system of holes in the walls to ensure sound traveled all over. Very clever. 

Another interesting fact is that due to high humidity in Khiva, the old mosque with its wooden pillars, has a layer of camel hair under each wooden pillar to ensure moisture doesn't go up to the wood and starts destroying the pillars. 

It's also why many of the mosaics at the bottom of any wall or structure are new and have been replaced as humidity has taken a hold of them. 

Same reason why people get buried above ground and not under the ground here. Couldn't really understand the logic but hey...there must be a not so scientific reason which is more tradition. 

While Khiva is somewhat touristic it's not overwhelming. it's just Hard to explain how pretty all the decorations are. The whole place is decorated in amazing blue mosaics with great designs. The attention to detail is outstanding. Every building simply looks cool. 

Food

Terrasa restaurant has a great rooftop terrace with amazing views for all fresco dining. Their green dill pasta is something different and definitely worth it. 

The Uzbek wine...well it's Uzbek wine. Let's leave it at that. 

Where to stay

As I prefer convenience vs luxury I stayed at a small guest houses within the city walls called Nazira boutique hotel. Amazing location and while the rooms are simple it also has an amazing terrace to chill from and admire the beauty of the city. 

Turkmenistan

TURKMENISTAN- the neutral country. Sounds a bit funny considering it neighbors with Iran and Afghanistan which kind of like making wars at any opportunity they can get. But Turkmenistan declared its independence from the soviets in 1991 and then in 1995 it declared itself a Neutral country. Kind of the Switzerland of central Asia. Why? Because it can...or maybe because of the crazy megalomaniac neighbors?

Here are some myths and facts about visiting Turkmenistan 

1) It's very difficult to go to. Not at all. You contact a tour company and ask for a letter of invitation and sorted. Simple as that. 

2) The country is akin to North Korea. Not at all. One is free to roam about Ashgabat freely. To travel to the countryside you do need to be accompanied by a tour organizer. 

3) It's all awkward and looks old and typical of the ex Soviet Republic. Actually you arrive at night and feel more in Las Vegas... Every building looks new and made with white marble and many buildings are decorated with neon lights. 

4) In Ashgabat, walking around to explore the city it's probably not smart as the city is super spread out. This place gives Texas a run for its money in terms of size matters. Every building is huge. Every block is massive. While a map might look like a couple blocks.... It can be 1 or 2 kms. So the walkability of this city is pretty much non-existent. 

If you plan to visit, hire a driver or a tour. It's worth it to go to every place. 

Taxis are everywhere if you want to go that route. 

5) Ashgabat isn't empty or a ghost town. In a city with just 500k people and being so massive obviously it looks a bit empty. The infrastructure of the city and size can probably cater for a couple million people. 

6) All cars in Ashgabat can only be white, silver or gold. And mostly are white. Good luck finding your car. 

Also you aren't allowed to drive a dirty car as you will get a fine and get your car impounded. So if you drive in from the countryside before entering city limits.....car wash time. 

7) gas prices. What about 7 usd cents per liter. Damn. 

And of course in good 3rd world style, the owner of the gas company is the president's nephew which apparently or allegedly also owns part of the railroad, airline and any key industry. 

Now, a practical tip and why many foreigners think Turkmenistan is so expensive. The official Bank exchange rate was 3.5 manat to 1 USD. The real market rate on August 2024 is actually 19 to 1. So of course if you multiply prices by >5x because of this....you will think it's very expensive. But it's only so for dumb tourists. 

Arriving at Ashgabat airport is what I would call the epitome of inefficiency. You land and you need to get the visa so you make a line for this. You leave your passport while they process it. 

Then you go to another line to pay for the visa. 

The. You go to a different line to pay for the COVID test after which you go to get the COVID test. 

Only issue is that in each line there's only one person helping for a full flight so things take their sweet time. 

And when you finally think you are done....not yet...time for immigration and another line. 

This whole thing took around 2.5 hours which is exactly what one feels like doing when you land at 2am. 

Welcome to to Turkmenistan!

Oh....and the airport is built in the shape of a falcon/eagle which is kind of cool.

So here are my impressions of my 1.5 days touring Ashgabat:

- Old nisa. 3rd BC city ruins. One of the ancient cities part of the silk route trade part of the partheons. The ruins themselves are not much to look at (better depiction in the national museum). The majority of ruins were destroyed in the 1948 earthquake. 

Interesting to see as in many old structures around the world, their building techniques were impressive , using some sort of mixture between bricks which is stronger than concrete and this was over 2000+ years ago. Go figure. 

The fun fact about visiting Old Nisa is that the entrance to the ruins was built for the visit of Francois Mitterrand (who liked researching the partheons and this time period) but because he had a limp, the long stairs are actually built with one step higher and one lower so when they filmed him walking it would look as if he walked normally and he wasn't limping...

If you are up for an adventure, you can do a 8km+ hike to go to the poet statue from next to the old Nisa ruins. Climb up a small mountain and then down towards the statue. It's super steep and I didn't feel like doing so in 35c weather. So can't comment if worth it or not 

- All over Ashgabat there are monuments and monuments. Every roundabout has a pretty cool monument. Kind of whatever ministry or key building is around that area will also have their own monument. 

But they are all quite impressive and have lots of photo opportunities.   

One of my favorites was one with the map of Turkmenistan and some bicycles as well as camels in honor of the silk route. The reason for this monument is that June 3rd is the no private transport day. Nobody can use their cars. Either bicycle or public transport.  

The second president was very keen on bicycles so he created the no private transport day.  

- they also love their Guinness world records, so I had to visit the largest indoor ferris wheel. It looks even cooler at night to be honest. Because there's not much around the ferris wheel it's normally empty (for which the attendant is very happy about as he says he has a very easy job) so I got a private ride on the ferris wheel.  

During my tour around the city I learned that my driver was a plane pilot for aeroflot and Turkmenistan airways for 40 years and retired in 2014. For someone used to flying places....he drives kind of slow. But a very cool guy with interesting stories. 

- History/National museum. Worth it just because it helps you picture how all the old city and current ruins used to look back in the day. Also if you want to learn about all the details of the history of the region from prehistory to modern times. The guides inside the museum are super nice. You tell them how much time you want to spend and they will adapt a tour to suit what or how much you want to learn. 

- Carpet museum. Pretty amazing collection of carpets. Still I couldn't find the flying carpet I was looking for. So I will have to keep looking. 

Truly incredible artwork. 

Each of the five regions of Turkmenistan have their own symbol or pattern which is clearly displayed in many of the carpets. 

But let's not forget one more Guinness world record with the largest carpet which weighs 1200 kgs. It's impressive. No clue how they move it or hang it. 

And I had to have the visit cut short because the museum was expecting a VIP delegation which turned out to be the Afghanistan government... A.k.a the taliban. And hell no....I don't want to be anywhere near those barbaric bastards as I wouldn't contain myself and not give them a mouthful. And probably Turkmenistan is not the best place to speak freely....one thing is being neutral. Another is neutral to free speech 

- There's even a mini Blue mosque as turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Turkmenistan independence in 1995 and they built a copy of the blue mosque in 1999

- one of the most recent monuments or memorials is the newly built and recently inaugurated (May 2024) 60-meter monument to the Turkmen poet Magtymguly Fragi. It sits at the top of a mini mountain so it stands above the whole city. It's quite impressive. 

Definitely go visit at night after sunset as the lighting makes it look way better than during the day. 

Also it gives a pretty impressive view of the city

Ashgabat 2nd day

In one of the monuments (by now I'm a bit confused as to which is which) we saw a wedding procession. 

Quite interesting that the way the bride dresses in traditional attire would have jewelry all over and the weight of this traditional dress with all the silver could weigh up to 46 kgs. I guess this is the wedding and workout day for the bride!

But here, even the cars get decorated for weddings.

The Russian bazar is a very small market with a few souvenir stalls and the everyday stuff. You can buy caviar there as well. For how markets go this is quite small and not the most picturesque. 

The reason it's called the Russian market is because Turkmen people used to be nomadic and they tended to live in the villages around the city while the Caucasian people (a.k.a Russians) were who lived in the city. So it's the Russian bazaar. 

Food wise. Typical central Asian cuisine made of meat skewers or meat dishes. Had good meals but nothing spectacular. 

Ashgabat accommodation

The Yyldiz (star) hotel is the top hotel in the city. 5 star luxury and amazing rooms. The restaurant and bar at the top have amazing views. 

And they have a 2000 sq mt spa with amazing facilities. Plus their massages are very affordable. 

It's in a hill pretty much on its own and it's shape is iconic for Ashgabat 

Mid range hotels - 

Sport hotel - walking distance to one of the most popular malls 

Great Turkemanbat - in city center so one can walk around the area

Cheaper options

AK- altyn - has seen better days and it's close to the city center

Wedding chapel Bagt Koshgi. It also has an hotel underneath but didn't hear good things. It's the weird square structure with a ball inside.  

Mizan hotel - functional for a cheap option but needs transport to go anywhere. 

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Time to venture to the countryside and to the famous Darvaza gas crater.   

It doesn't take long after leaving Ashgabat to start missing the perfect roads as the roads in the countryside quickly deteriorate to bumpy roads. 

But I'm quite impressed with the land cruiser we are driving with only 890,100 kms on the clock..and it drives perfectly fine. Toyota must be proud!

Not much to look at besides typical desert views with small shrubs here and there and a couple mini villages. Some camels and the occasional small oasis. 

So after the 3+ hours of a massage ride a.k.a bumpy ride we finally arrive at the gas crater or gate to hell.  

During the day is not as impressive as during the night but it's definitely something different. Being in the middle of the desert and nothing around. 

So the story is that 50+ yrs ago they were drilling for natural gas and they found a lot of methane so the idea was just to light it on fire and the problem was solved. 

Not exactly as the methane seems to be the gift that keeps on giving and it's still burning 50 years later. That's what I call Russian engineering!

Pretty cool spectacle at night. 

Clearly the concept of tourism here is still not very developed. Besides having a couple yurt camps where one can stay there's pretty much nothing else. Plenty of wasted potential. 

They could make a mini bar at the camp, offer camel rides in the desert, do nature walks in the desert but let's just say I'm happy there was a very basic yurt camp to stay the night as tomorrow was an early morning for another 5 hrs of massage ride towards the border. 

Besides the not so pleasant road, for how borders go it was quite easy. Leaving Turkmenistan was a breeze, you take a bus across the border and then get your visa in Uzbekistan. The only thing they cared about was if I had a drone in my luggage.