Surely, it is better to photograph Turkestani market in summer when melons and watermelons are brought from plantations, and the spicy smell of pepper and sweet aroma of wild apricots are wafted for miles. When wasps are circling around the stalls and cheerful southerners escape the heat only by drinking kumys.

In winter market means slush, rime under your feet and terrible cold. However, none of the locals would ever say a bad word about the market. Because it feeds them. It is their only opportunity to survive.

According to official data, Turkestan population, including neighbouring villages, numbers about 250 thousand inhabitants. Wikipedia says that there are 13 industrial plants operating there.

The most common note at Turkestan market is 200 tenge.

You can repair your shoes for 200 tenge. In winter these men work from 8 a.m. They earn 1200 tenge a day.

Here at the market you can also have a haircut for 200 tenge.

Men's and women's parlours are situated in different buildings, but near to one another.

It is impossible to find licensed CDs or DVDs. Turkestan market is our own China. Not only DVDs are counterfeit here, but also detergent, shampoos and cleaning agents. Place of manufacturing - neighbouring houses.

The most popular shoes are flat soft boots and galoshes on top.

Good galoshes cost 600 tenge.

A pack of naswar costs 15 tenge. It is sold openly in the market and is bought by both men and women.

A lot of children work at the market on Sundays. Six-former Mukhamedzhan is standing behind the counter of "1000 trifles" shop till afternoon. Then his elder brother will step in.

Married couple Valikhan and Aliya sell dried melon at the market. They bring is from the neighbouring village Baltygul. A pack costs 200 tenge. They can earn up to 2000 tenge on a good day. Rent for a stall constitutes 300 tenge per day.

Women selling hot food are standing in a row. All of them have the same dish in the boiling pots - assep. It is a bowel stuffed with mutton and rice.

One portion of the "home-made sausage", as it is called by the sales women, costs 150 tenge.

Here you can eat and drink a cup of tea with milk.

These wash basins installed in the court yards are made by local Uzbek workers at their workships.

Other businesses prosper around coal-selling. For instance, Dastan sells hot tea to the workers.

Meanwhile, it is possible to do some household chores.

In winter the market closes down by 4 p.m. and people go home.

Not only the Mausoleum is surrounded by walls in Turkestan. All detached houses, which constitute the majority in the town, stand as a continuous wall.

There are backyards behind the walls where you can find shade in summer to hide from the heat.

In summer it will be very hot in Turkestan, up to +45 degrees during the day.