Shymkent is the big, hot, unpretentious city of the south. With more than four hundred thousand people, it is the third largest city in Kazakhstan and, since a reform a few years ago, administered separately from the surrounding region. It lies close to the Uzbek border, in a green, irrigated plain below the western Tian Shan, and it feels different from the rest of the country: more Silk Road bazaar than steppe outpost, with a mix of Kazakh, Uzbek, Russian and other communities and a food scene to match. The name is often connected with a word for a green place, which suits an oasis.
The city is old, though it hides it well. A caravan settlement stood here for many centuries, and the nearby town of Sayram, now a suburb of sorts, was a major Silk Road stop with a history reaching back more than a thousand years. Shymkent's modern look comes largely from Soviet planning, with wide avenues, plane trees, parks and apartment blocks, softened by a busy, chatty street life. The central bazaar is worth an hour, with piles of dried fruit, nuts, spices, bread, melons and tea.
The riding into and around the city is straightforward: roads are wide and traffic is brisk, with a noticeable disregard for lanes. Rush hours are slow, and in summer the heat is intense, easily above thirty-five degrees by midday and sometimes much higher. Ride early, drink water and treat the afternoon as siesta time. Spring and autumn are lovely, and the foothills to the east catch some rain and are covered with green and flowers for a short season.
This is a place to do all the dull and essential things. Fuel is easy to find, repair shops and parts dealers exist in numbers, and there are plenty of hotels in every price range. Eat plov, samsa, manty and shashlik, and drink tea in the shade of a courtyard. It makes a sensible base before heading east toward the mountains of Aksu-Zhabagly, or west and north toward Turkistan. Treat it as a hub, enjoy the food, and leave with a full tank.