Saturday, 10 October 2026

 

Start: Tashkent (UZ) 10:00

Arrival: Shymkent (KZ) 15:00

 

Total: 145 km

 

 

The Uzbek-Kazakh border lies behind the northwestern suburbs of Tashkent. Our hotel was located on the capital's southeastern outskirts. Which meant that we had to drive right across the largest city in Central Asia. The 30 kilometres took us more than one hour. I just hoped that we were heading to the right spot. The main border crossing "Zhibek Joly" (Silk Road, remember?) was closed for renovations, so they had repurposed a once pedestrian-only crossing for the time being.

 

 

 

I need not have fretted, Navoyi-Kaplanbek was open for business. In front of the border, we slowly made our way through the throng of pedestrians, past money exchange touters masquerading as officials and similar human flotsam. One of them tried Sonia's "hand up, you stop" tactic, probably thinking two European women were easy prey. Mate, I've crossed seven damn borders in two months. I ignored him and drove up to the "terminal". No one at the barrier but us. An official gave us a piece of paper with a number on it and told us to drive on to the main gate. This looked like a ferry or Eurotunnel boarding area. Nice!

 

Unfortunately, the atmosphere at the main gate was less European and distinctly more gypsy. Touters eager to sell their trinkets, women with babies knocking on your door, kids begging for money. Two school-age girls beleagered our car, trying to get in, banging on the door, pulling faces. They stressed me out no end. When I tried to get them to leave, one of them hung onto my door. I slammed it shut. Trapped in your own car. Held hostage by two eight-year-olds.

 

Luckily after a short ten-minute wait, the gate opened and we were let in, together with half a dozen other cars. Compared to other border crossings on this trip, this was a breeze indeed! Much more civilized and ordered, and Sonia was again allowed to stay in the car. If only the sky had been a bit overcast. Waiting outside in line in the midday heat is just no fun. When it was my turn, the Kazakh official filled out my car import papers for the Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan customs union in less than ten minutes. Then bags out, through a scanner, all set. What a pleasurable way to cross into a country, compared to the nightmare on the Polish-Belarus border!

 

 

We were back in Kazakhstan! Compared to Uzbekistan, this country felt almost like home. A passable dual carriageway led us towards our destination for the night. About an hour into the drive, I had to slow down. A horse was standing in the middle of the road, taking a dump. I'm not shitting you.

 

Kazakhstan is definitely a gateway between Russia and the other Central Asian countries. It has elements of both, but even in the small southern Kazakh town of Shymkent, everything seemed a lot more Russian to me. People mostly wore Western clothes, shopping malls were actually open for business, there were a lot less open canals and makeshift food stalls along the road.

 

 

 

 

We rolled into Shymkent, a relatively large town with tree-lined boulevards, billboards and busy shops. Our hotel was close to the centre. We checked in, then made a beeline for the shopping mall to buy a simcard. The guy at the K-cell stand was fast and efficient. Not even my Luxembourgish passport fazed him! Ten minutes later, we were connected to the world again. 2000 tenge (4 euros) for one month unlimited 5G. Kruto!

 

 

We had a delicious fresh pomegranade juice at the hotel bar (picture 3) and decided to bring my blog up-to-date. It's now 20 minutes to midnight, and it's done. Tomorrow: Kazakh steppe, due north. Looking forward to the drive. And no more borders for the next four days, yay!