Most people who think of Kazakhstan, think of Borat. Most people who have been to Kazakhstan might think of Almaty its former capital, and then there are some who decide to discover what the rest of the country might be like. I decided to go up north, and to keep me company along the way I went with an English man who went by the name of Tim, whom I had met in a rather decrepit dormitory in Almaty. Before long we were on a train riding up the steppes of Kazakhstan and I learned my first lesson on this country. Most of it is steppe! Flat, dry, and in winter cold, with a shade of white. Second lesson, the capital was moved from Almaty to Astana, which wasn't called Astana at the time. Astana means
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