A short trip to Shymkent and Astana for the Cardiff University Kazakhstan Open Day

2026-03-29

Cardiff University Kazakhstan held their open day yesterday (in Astana) and I'm writing this blog post on the final leg of my trip home, where I'm looking forward to seeing my dog (my wife and kids will also be there).

Prof Gillard asked me to go, a bit last minute, but I was glad he did. Sultan, who coordinates a lot of the logistics on the Kazakhstan side, got me sorted with flights. Then Talgat, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at CUK, got in touch and asked whether I could support him at a school fair in Shymkent and at the Digital Forum Kazakhstan. I liked the idea of meeting prospective students outside of Astana, so I said yes.

Then came my flights.

This ended up being my itinerary:

  1. Train from home to Birmingham International (3 hours)
  2. Birmingham -> Almaty (4 hours flight + 2 hours transfer + 6 hours flight)
  3. Almaty -> Shymkent (2 hours transfer + 2 hours flight)
  4. (1 night in Shymkent)
  5. Shymkent -> Astana (2 hours flight)
  6. (Open day in Astana, 1 night)
  7. Astana -> Almaty (2 hours flight)
  8. Almaty -> Birmingham (6 hours flight + 3 hours transfer + 4 hours flight)
  9. Train home to Borth (3 hours)

So: 5 flights across 3 countries in roughly 72 hours, 2 nights in hotel beds, and some very tight layovers in Almaty. Not exactly a leisurely trip. Sultan was great about the madness of this schedule and very supportive throughout.

Early Wednesday morning I set off, and after a long chain of train -> plane -> plane -> plane, I landed in Shymkent. At this point I'd logged around 13 hours in the air but had managed to grab some sleep, so I was still functional.

Here's a small side story about the journey (read on if you enjoy stories about how much of an idiot I can be):

When disembarking in Shymkent I left my laptop on the plane. I only noticed once I was inside the terminal. I completely panicked but what followed was surprisingly heartening: the staff at SCAT Airlines were absolutely brilliant. They were calm in the face of my panic and without any fuss, they retrieved it and got it back to me. The airport staff were equally helpful. Crisis averted, dignity only slightly dented.

With laptop safely recovered, I rushed to the school to meet Talgat (the vice provost for Academic affairs at Cardiff University Kazakhstan). We had very little time to coordinate, but we gave a genuinely good two-person talk, bouncing off each other in a way that felt like we'd worked together before. It was fun.

Talgat and I giving a talk at Ziyatker school in Shymkent

More importantly than our talk, it was great to meet local teaching staff and take questions from students who are weighing up their university choices.

With the staff at the Ziyatker school university fair

While at the school I noticed a mural on the wall, a network diagram mixing English words with Kazakh ones. The Kazakh words: ะ•าฃะฑะตะบ (Enbek) (labour, diligence), Talap (aspiration, ambition), Qanagat (contentment), Raqym (compassion), Teren Oi (deep thought). I liked that contentment and compassion made the list alongside ambition and intelligence.

School mural at Ziyatker Mektebi mixing English and Kazakh values

Talgat kindly dropped me back at the hotel afterwards. I did some work (my PhD student Harry has some interesting things coming soon!) and eventually crashed.

It's good that I did, because the next morning started early. We headed to the Digital Forum Kazakhstan, a large national technology conference. Security was high, as you might expect for an event where one of the panels featured eight prime ministers. One standout moment: a demonstration that in Kazakhstan it is now possible to buy a house entirely via your phone, without any physical paperwork. The country's digital infrastructure is genuinely impressive.

Talgat and I at the Digital Forum Kazakhstan

The main panel at Digital Qazaqstan, Industry 5.0: The Power of Connection

We returned to the school in the afternoon to give another talk and meet more students, then I had a late flight up to Astana.

The next morning I was up early, enjoyed the gym's treadmill for a run, and had a small breakfast (I have a dietary requirement that makes eating in Kazakhstan somewhat challenging, though the CUK team do an make huge efforts to make sure I am fed!).

We headed to the open day. I gave a couple of talks to prospective students, but my highlight was running into students I'd taught back in January. Seeing them again made the whole trip feel worthwhile in a way that's hard to articulate.

Seeing my students again at the open day

After that, a few of them challenged me to a game of basketball. I accepted willingly and was soundly outclassed, just as I was last time.

Getting soundly beaten at basketball

The CUK team then took us out to dinner, which ended with a live performance of traditional Kazakh music.

Traditional Kazakh music performance at dinner

After that, I headed to the airport for the first of my two overnight flights home.

It was an intense trip with a flight schedule that looked more like a puzzle than a travel plan, but I genuinely enjoyed my time there. The students in Shymkent were engaged and curious, the Digital Forum was eye-opening, and the open day in Astana felt meaningful, especially those familiar faces. I'm grateful to Sultan, Talgat, and the rest of the CUK staff for making it work so smoothly despite all the moving pieces.