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Asia » Kazakhstan
September 10th 2006
Published: September 10th 2006
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We are in Kazakhstan - the land of Borat. We’ve been here for two days, chilling out, seeing the sights of Central Asia’s wealthiest city - Almaty. We’ve also been preparing for our travels through Russia. Later today we catch a train to Novosibirsk. Getting to Siberia is something that greatly inspires us. In the meantime, here’s what we’ve been up to recently…



Our final days in Kyrgyzstan

After leaving the capital, Bishkek, we spent three excellent days in and around Karakol, near the shores of the famous Lake Issyk-Kul. It was a very chilled-out experience - a quality homestay with a family of artisans, a DIY trek through remote Alpine valleys, and some relaxing hot springs.

We’d read about a village with several natural hot springs somewhere up in the mountains, so we decided to head there. There was no need for a guide - just one fairly long (18km), uphill road to the village, Artyn Arashan, so we set off by ourselves. The scenery was beautiful - the location resembled some cool mountainous region of Austria, Canada or even Romania. The air was crisp and fresh; the river was strong and cold; and there was hardly anyone there.

Travelling through Asia has given us ample time to reflect on what we value, what we enjoy and what - and who - is ultimately important in our lives and for our future. Sometimes, though, you get stuck into a kind of routine - even when travelling. What you do when moving from A to B doesn’t change radically, whether you are in Phnom Penh, Beijing or Kyrgyzstan - you read about a place or hear about it from other travellers, you arrange travel there, you find a place to stay when you arrive etc.. You talk to locals (if poss), you talk to other travellers, you walk around and see the sights.

But once in a while you do something really different. When this happens, you relax in a different way and see things from another angle. The alpine valley was just such a place, and the hot springs there were the icing on the cake for us. We sat down in the hot water, inside a log cabin, and talked about many things: our girlfriends, our families, our friends, movies we love, places we’d love to visit (such as Iran, Siberia and Cuba) and similar things. Before we knew it, we’d been there for over two hours. Later we were treated to an impressive, delicious dinner at the homestay we’d arranged.

In general the level of service found in homestays organised by CBT is way higher than I’d expected. In Karakol, we stayed with a bohemian family who’d designed their own house from scratch and who owned an artsy souvenir shop in the town. Their home looked like a futuristic, spacious creation from ‘A Clockwork Orange’. The African artwork and Uzbek carvings were different from anything I’d ever seen before. Moreover, the people were very welcoming and generous. They let us use their ping pong table, they washed our clothes and prepared us eye-watering meals (see the attached photo for proof!)


Kyrgyzstan - not to be missed. Not to be taken lightly, either

On one hand, Kyrgyzstan was one of the three countries I was most excited about visiting (the others were China - awesome - and Russia, which I’m very much looking forward to). It has the reputation of being the most ‘open’ and welcoming of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. It has made great
Random photos from China #7Random photos from China #7Random photos from China #7

Sunrise over Lake Karakol - Spencer's fine camerawork ;o)
leaps in promoting itself as a tourist-friendly destination. Locals were telling us that apart from gold, it has few natural resources from which to derive wealth. Initiatives like CBT can only help Kyrgyzstan.

On the other hand, there are remnants of corruption and difficulty, which hinders independent travellers.

Example #1 - When entering Kyrgyzstan from China, we experienced the most arduous, drawn-out border crossing yet. This was largely due to vague regulations and loose organisation on the Kyrgyz’s part. At several times, local military officials demanded our passports, took them, and then marched off with no explanation. One time I asked the guy what he was doing and when we’d get the passports back. He shrugged, like he didn’t give a shit, shoved the passports in his pocket, and said he was off to have lunch. Another official appeared half an hour later, and told me in no uncertain terms that he “liked English brandy” and that if we were to “give him a gift” he would get our passports back quicker.

Example #2 - In Kyrgyzstan there is often no public transport at all between cities. Normally this creates a confusing grey area where private ‘shared
Indie and me on a typically tree-lined Almaty streetIndie and me on a typically tree-lined Almaty streetIndie and me on a typically tree-lined Almaty street

Fresh from the hairdressers - at last!
taxis’ - basically just local guys with a car, out to earn a quick buck - will ferry people between cities.

The trouble is that many of these ‘taxi driver’ characters are fundamentally not decent people. Initially, they come across as charming and friendly. They then fail to do what they say they will: they say they’ll take you to the city centre, then drop you off 10km away, in the outskirts, from where you need to conveniently get another ‘taxi’ whose driver they know… Or they randomly increase the agreed price because of sudden ‘petrol costs’. In short, when you challenge them about this, their demeanour changes in a flash. They become aggressive, confrontational, and start making crazy threats. We’ve had a couple narrow escapes where we’ve had to get into a shouting match in the middle of the street, refuse to pay more than the agreed price, run away from crazy drivers, and we even had to pay $10 more just to avoid threats to cut our throats.

In a nutshell…

Kyrgyzstan is a physically beautiful country - one which has (generally) warm and likeable people. If it can overcome the aforementioned problems, it could
We didn't expect this!We didn't expect this!We didn't expect this!

An example of the excellent service we received during our Kyrgyzstan homestays. The food was superb.
become a more welcoming and indeed more accessible place. I really hope that it does.




Kazakhstan - Jagshemash!

My only previous ‘knowledge’ of this country came from watching Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Borat’ character. Plus, I’d read it had vast oil reserves and was Central Asia’s economically richest republic. Almaty is truly an affluent place. We have a budget for each country we’ve been in, and we’ve generally stuck to it or been below it. Here, it’s been blown to smithereens! This is by far the more expensive city we’ve been in - way more so, even, than Beijing. Eating out in a restaurant costs almost as much as it does back in the UK. Apart from that unexpected fact, it’s very pleasant - developed, tree-lined and quite cosmopolitan. But it doesn’t feel like Asia, which is weird. Russian is obviously spoken everywhere; bankers strut around making deals and lunching in expensive places, and Soviet architecture dominates the city.

Yesterday, we were in an internet café where Indie downloaded the trailer for the new Borat movie. If you’ve never heard of this (or even if you have), then click on this link

We watched this and were cracking up. I really was in stitches, and we were getting some weird looks from the locals. The fact that we were fixated on this hilarious Borat trailer here in Kazakhstan just made it all the more hysterical. By the way, the movie is out in November!




Siberia dreaming

I am so excited about Russia. At school I studied Soviet history - we read all about Tsar Nicholas II’s downfall, Lenin’s architecture of the October revolution, the Civil War, and then Stalin’s despotic rule. At uni I studied Russian from scratch until third year, but it was all just words in a textbook. The history and language intrigued me, but ultimately it didn’t really make sense. Now I am finally on the verge of visiting a country I have read about and about which I practiced numerous textbook ‘lingo’ conversations. This means a lot to me.

We hope to see at least Novosibirsk, Kazan, Suzdal, Moscow and St Petersburg. Other travellers have warned us of unfriendly, surly, uncommunicative locals. I have read about endemic racism, aggressive nationalism and corruption in Moscow and beyond. We have heard the usual ‘horror stories’, but such anecdotes must be taken with a pinch of salt. For a start, none of the people sharing their Russian experiences could speak the Russian language. I hope that the fact I do - albeit with dodgy grammar and a limited vocab! - will go a long way. It will be a major challenge, but one I will embrace.

Another thing - our friend Spencer, who we travelled with in China, has sent me some excellent photos of our days in Xin Jiang province. Check them out - titled 'Random photos from China'.




Indie, on: What you dont know about your mobile phone

( Forgive me once again this week if this entry seems a bit confusing but my camera decided to stop working this week and those of you who know me know how important photography is to me and how this has made me a bit sad.)

What you dont know about your mobile phone - At present there is a conflict going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A conflict that has arguably been going on since 1960 after the Belgian colonists left the country in ruins. More exactly however, mass fighting has been going on since 1998. In these 8 years since fighting began 7 nations have been involved, over 3 million people have been killed and over 2 million people have been driven from their homes. These figures are not far from the number of those massacred during WWII yet how often do you read, hear or see news about this conflict in the papers, on the radio or on the television?

You may ask why no serious action has been takes to stabilize things or even stop this conflict?

You see "they" dont want you to know what is going on. "They" dont want you to know because they dont want you to find out that this beautiful African nation is also rich is a mineral called Columbite-tantalite or Coltan for short. I expect that this is a mineral that most of you havn't heard about. It is a rare commodity that is a vital ingredient in the manufacture of mobile telephones, computer chips and other pieces of technology.

Various armies have taken advantage of this conflict to secure areas with mines rich in this mineral. The Rwandan army being the most obvious example. In securing these areas and indeed after they have been secured, thousands of Congolese civilians have been slaughtered, tortured and forcefully put to work in these mines. Children as young as 10 whose parents have been killed have become slaves. This mineral is then sold to corporations (mostly international) at around $200 a kilo or even more. This enables these armies to hold these areas secure and hence keep the conflict in the DRC continuing. The corporations make profits as the technologies mentioned are becoming more and more important to everyday life and when they need more they pay the armies more money for more coltan which inturn keeps the conflict continuing. Its a vicious circle.

The UN of course know that this is going on but it is either bribed to keep the names of these corporations (many of them American and British) under wraps or just issues strongly worded letters and statements saying that this is wrong and should not continue.

During the Kosovo crisis Foreign aid was $207 per person. In the DRC conflict, Africa's First World War, $8 has been given per person in foreign aid. ( www.globalissues.org)

Let me give you a synonym for the above sentence. This is a line from the thought-provoking movie Hotel Rwanda.


:

You're dirt. We (The West and The Superpowers) think you're dirt. We think you' re dung, we think think you're dirt. You're worthless........ You're not even a nigger, you're an AFRICAN






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Spencer just sent me these, so check them out!


10th September 2006

Nice!!!!
Hey Ian and Indy, It's great to hear that you're still enjoying your travels. I hope that your blog encourages other people to be more adventurous when choosing a location for their own trip. Take care guys.

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