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Published: February 9th 2010
Kazakhstan - A huge oil giant country known mostly to the west by Borat, and that is all.
The reality is that it is a country full of hospitality, Sovietised nomads, The Polygon, Siberian Steppe.
The Effects of Sovietism are quite stark here,
1. The Aral Sea - yadda yadda yadda
2. The Virgin Lands Project - huge swathes of steppe was ploughed up and removed a good few feet of top soil, and no on one of the crazy long bus journeys we have taken you look out on nothing, endless and monotonous. Also Lake Balkhash shrinks because of this, similar to the Aral Diaster.
3. The Polygon - The nuclear testing facility in the Siberian Steppe - Stunted trees, health problems in the nearby towns and a large area where no one goes is what remains. The beggars in Semey don't just not have a home but also no fingers, or brain function.
4. No more nomads - the Kazakh people, a nomadic tribe where rounded up and mainly collectivised or industrialised. Dress is quite Russian in the towns. What remains is Plov(Rice and meal), Lagman(Noodles and carrot) and Samsa(pastry with meat and onion).
5. Baykonur Space Centre -
One man and his Stead
nr Kashkasuu, riding to the Uzbek borderFlying people to the moon since the space race.
But in what one might seem as a miserable descimated country, is actually something that is much less seen in Central Asia.
A) A non-extremist state (either religiously, socially or politically), with many towns having a large distribution of Cultures - Turks, Uzbeks, Krygz, Kazakh and Russian.
B) The politics show signs corruption and waste, but actually no more than the west really, with an emerging middle class(practically unheard of anywhere else i've been) and I've met many working class people building their own houses, moving house etc. Signs that the poverty is far from abstract on the whole. Still there's a long way to go with little social services etc. But you can't expect miracles.
C) A leader who is economically savvy - He kept oil reserves reserved, moved the political centres to towns of not much else, like Astana and Taldykorgan from Almaty, a city that will look after itself with its plethora of universites.
D) Gosting - a tradition of letting people into your home and being undiscrimanately generous! I will write a blog just about that.
E) A medical institute and an end to nuclear
testing at the Polygon, maybe you'll start hearing about the research one day.
F) A load of cash for hiring out the space centre!
So there you have it, Kazakhstan. It's nice.
Tim
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