Blogs from Kazakhstan, Asia
Bread seller
This is a story of the peril of potholes and the immense kindness of Kazakh people. Although it is also the tale of my holiday adventures with Joan and Nikki it is the people we met and who helped us that are most important. The stupid cinema stereotypes that have maligned Kazakhstan and its people bear no resemblance to the openness, intelligence, generosity and kindness of Kazakhs in their home country. Almaty to Turkestan by train At last it was time for me to have a short break from work as Nikki and Joan, friends from the UK, came over to join me in Kazakhstan. When they finally woke from their 3am arrival, I took them into Almaty for a breakfast of coffee and pancakes. We were looking forward to exploring some of southern Kazakhstan including ... read more
Gaziza
Fate often plays a hand in people’s lives and this seemed to be the case for myself and my new Kazakh co-researcher. The project needed to find a Researcher/translator within Kazakhstan and Zhar had kindly forwarded a couple of potential CVs. One was unsuitable as they were a full-time student so in the end I arranged to interview just one, a young teacher of English with a glowing CV of awards and achievements. Gaziza arrived at the hotel on time and we were soon deep in conversation as I explained the project and she explained her career history and documents. Friendly, intelligent and well-spoken, Gaziza seemed like the ideal candidate and by the end of the interview I was convinced and asked if she would like to join us. She seemed surprised and delighted and asked ... read more
Cigdem
Hicran Çiğdem Yorgancıoğlu ‘nun Kazakhstan Devr-i Alem Hicri Alem Hicran Çiğdem Seyahatnamesi’nden ..seyahat notlarından alıntılardır . Her hakkı saklıdır .. / Eserin tüm telif hakları H.Çiğdem Yorgancıoğlu’na aittir . Eserin izinsiz kopyalanması çoğaltımı ,yayını ,dağıtımı halinde 5846 sayılı Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Kanunun hükümleri geçerli olacaktır. Hicran Çiğdem Yorgancıoğlu ‘nun Kazakhstan Devr-i Alem Hicri Alem Hicran Çiğdem Seyahatnamesi’nden ..seyahat notlarından alıntılardır . Her hakkı saklıdır .. / Eserin tüm telif hakları H.Çiğdem Yorgancıoğlu’na aittir . Eserin izinsiz kopyalanması çoğaltımı ,yayını ,dağıtımı halinde 5846 sayılı Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Kanunun hükümleri geçerli olacaktır. Hicran Çiğdem Yorgancıoğlu ‘nun Kazakhstan Devr-i Alem Hicri Alem Hicran Çiğdem Seyahatnames... read more
Rap to the apple
Almaty is the city of apples: big ones, red ones, green ones, felt ones, bouncy ones ... bouncy ones ?? Well 3 large red inflatable apples were fascinating the local children. Almaty is famous for its particularly large and tasty variety of apple and was celebrating this in one of its many leafy squares with music, exhibitions and stalls selling a wide variety of apple products. I had Sunday free to explore the city and I was delighted to find Almaty Apple Fest. The sun shone and the music played – from folk singing to an enthusiastic rap band. About fifty stalls were selling all varieties of apple which many a shopper held up to his/her nose to smell to assess the flavour. As I picked up a delicious looking red and green apple to do ... read more
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SURPRISING STEPPE DISCOVERING THE ROOTS OF KAZAKH CULTURE Petroglyphs of Terekty-Aulie Leaving the asphalt behind, our driver has to win the fight against the jolty tracks of the steppe – and he succeeds brilliantly. The first stop of the journey: Terekty-Aulie – a collection of rock carvings (petroglyphs) in the heart of the Kazakh lowlands. With its origins in the Middle to Late Bronze Age (about 1500-100 BC), the carvings bear a central meaning for Muslim-Kazakh faith. In Terekty-Aulie we are faced with the remains of past nomadic cultures carved into granite. The word “Aulie” relates to the Arabian name for a saint (“wali”) and alludes to the significant meaning this place embodies for Muslim pilgrims. Islamic Mysticism contains the belief that the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law blessed this place with his godly gift (“barakah”) on ... read more
Hmmmm.... where to start? I guess our first point of entry into Central Asia would be good. Kazakhstan- After 7 days awaiting a visa, an overnight in a border town and 5 hours at immigration, we were granted permission to leave China. Getting into Kazakhstan was easy in comparison, a smile, a salam and a stamp. Another couple of bus rides later and we arrived in Almaty. Oh Almaty, so lovely and gridded and not overcrowded. In between doing silly bureaucratic stuff, such as registering with the local police and obtaining visas for continued travel, we strolled the streets and well manicured parks and ate doner kebab and fries daily. Our first stop in Central Asia was a great one, the people very helpful, the food tasty, the city lay out easy to navigate and the ... read more
Clara
Clara looked after us on the Moscow to Tashkent train. She sold food up and down the train; very forcefully. We resisted the first night but next morning after a somewhat abrupt and loud awakening, at 6am we breakfasted off savory crispy doughnuts with a tasty minced lamb and onions filling (we agreed to buy three so we could go back to sleep, but somehow ended up with six; only 100 roubles though, so not exactly enough to break the bank). Back to sleep until 9am. For lunch we had steamed dumplings with a similar filling, again very tasty - we managed to keep the numbers down to three this time. Best of all were the shashliks, served with sliced onions which we enjoyed for afternoon tea (again, for some peace from “My Name Is Clara, ... read more
The Modern-looking part of Almaty
Kazakhstan, the ninth-biggest country in the world, was the first stop on my third solo adventure. Nothing like the nation depicted by the fictional character Borat, KA3AKCTAH was an oil-rich central Asian republic doing very well for itself. Skyscrapers were shooting up all over Almaty and Westerners on the scent of a dollar to be made were arriving in droves. My trip to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan was a visa headache of epic proportions. Letters of Invitation and pieces of paperwork written in Cyrillic were passed back and forth via email, which together with the fees I had to shell out to smooth the way forward, made it a bureaucratic nightmare. As it stood, I had one visa stamp already in my passport, Kazakhstan’s, and hopefully with bit of luck, I’d pick up the other two ... read more
I had no plan about tour in Almaty at all. The only reason I’m here is to apply my Uzbeki and Kyrgyz visas. I reserved 5 workings days for it. Out of my expectation, I got both on a day, through an annoying, inefficient, chaotic, and suspicious corrupt procedure. The remaining days were full of upset. I lived in a typical old-fashion Russian hotel full of moisture and oldness. Only few lodgers lived here, at nightfall, the silent hallway under the dim lamp is somewhat creepy. As well as Russian style, the rooms are like cells, and here is a gloomy jail. I can’t speak Russian, stayed in a place nobody talk with is depressed. I got in an outdoor restaurant in a Commercial strip and pointed to the picture above to indicate what I ... read more
Railway to Asia 3 The train stopped at a small station. I stepped down to the platform for a rest. I walked backward for Wouter and Chloe. I saw a crowd of venders surrounding them with hubbub. They flocked to them not only for trade but also for fun and curiosity. A Slavic-like man was translating for them and it’s the cause of this hubbub. They both got a window to communicate. He was their new friend in their carriage, a Slavic with Kazakhstan nationality. (Only little bit more than 50% of the population of Kazakhstan is Kazakh people.) He invited us to have beers that night. Near midnight, I walked through the aisle, cross the gaps between carriages to their compartment. The train stopped in a small station, they went to buy some beers ... read more
