More pics from Shymkent, Kazakhstan, April/May, 2004

This is a pic of the little market just up the street from our hotel. There was a canopy above the sidewalk and in that space were a bunch of flower stalls. Up some steps from that were a few little shops sharing a roof, and including a little grocery store, a clothing store, and a children's store. Kazakhstan has amazing florist shops. They are everywhere and have beautiful roses and other flowers.


This is the little market across the street from the first one. This was more a local market and included food vendors selling baked goods and kebabs. Whereever there was an opportunity to set up a little barbecue, you'd find people selling kebabs. But that was true only of Shymkent, not of Almaty. Almaty seemed a more refined sort of city. All in all, I think I liked Shymkent better.

This vendor was selling magazines. They were lying flat on tables.

Another book vendor. That's a bus stop to the left.

Just down the street, a cellphone store. There were cellphone stores and service companies everywhere. Everyone had a cellphone.

This is the storefront of the internet cafe that we went to. It was near a university and always busy. This place was a life saver. It was run by several very nice and helpful young men. When we left, I tried to make a gift of some money to them. It was a small amount, but that was offensive. So I went to the department store where movie CDs were sold and bought a CD for them. "Gangs of New York." Not the best choice, but I had noticed that they liked action flicks. The manager of the place accepted that from me and comped me a little free time on the internet in return.