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Kazakhstan Travel Blogs


Native Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated into the region in the 13th century, were rarely united as a single nation. The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1936. During the 1950s and 1960s agricultural "Virgin Lands" program, Soviet citizens were encouraged to help cultivate Kazakhstan's northern pastures. This influx of immigrants (mostly Russians, but also some other deported nationalities) skewed the ethnic mixture and enabled non-Kazakhs to outnumber natives. Independence in 1991 caused many of these newcomers to emigrate. Current issues include: developing a cohesive national identity; expanding the development of the country's vast energy resources and exporting them to world markets; achieving a sustainable economic growth outside the oil, gas, and mining sectors; and strengthening relations with neighboring states and other foreign powers. To be updated

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Well I finally finished my mt. biking trip through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and while it was a very tough trip, it was one of the best trips I’ve ever done. I really had a great time! I hadn’t biked much in the past couple of years so I was not in biking shape at all and the first 5 days were really hard on me as they were all long hard rides that allowed no time for recovery. Luckily days 6 and 7 were heli-biking days which gave me the opportunity to recuperate a little! We actually went up in this [View Full Entry]

ScottMcD - Scott McDonald | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
171 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 35 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 18th 2008 | 333 Views | [diary=313658]

Jim stompen on it!
Gavin and Sultan
Small river crossing

I arrived in Almaty Kazakhstan two days ago. Yesterday my bike mule (aka Jim Wilson) flew in with my bike and tomorrow we start off on 12 days of mt. biking from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan and back again. I t promises to be beautiful but grueling ride as we climb over 12K foot passes. I will write and tell you all about it when I get back to Almaty on the 11th! [View Full Entry]

ScottMcD - Scott McDonald | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
71 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 27th 2008 | 169 Views | [diary=305156]


Saturday 24 May - Kizilorda to Shiyeli, 134 km Up at 5.30, no shower as water cold. A long day, but not too bad. Nice green bushes and small rivers the early part of the day, but later back to dry steppe. The road was good and we had a following wind. Today we cycled in our groups; the Reds let me go ahead with Jean-Jacques and we had a good day. We had a bit of a wait at lunchtime, stopped for some time before the van arrived, which was a big waste of time in the middle of the [View Full Entry]

Grannysmith - Angela Smith | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1776 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 5th 2008 | 320 Views | [diary=295637]

Three little boys 250508
Red team at the 2008 milestone
Welcome ladies at Shimkent 280508

Saturday 10 May - Astrakhan to Ganyushkino (Kazakhstan), 140 km A grey morning. To a square by the Caspian Sea for a reception; I got interviewed for TV in French We all received a bag with a nice picture of Astrakhan and a calendar, and some little girls danced for us. It started to rain. On the way out of town I had a puncture in the back tyre and the guys changed the wheel for a spare from the blue van. The terrain today was all water; water on either side of us, often crossing bridges over rivers. Loads of [View Full Entry]

Grannysmith - Angela Smith | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1184 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 3 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 2nd 2008 | 229 Views | [diary=294366]

Shepherd on a horse
Arriving in Asia

Wednesday 14 May - Makat to Mumkyur, 115 km It rained in the night. There was a hole in the ceiling over my corner and some of my gear got damp. A bit of ceiling fell in one of the other rooms, so I didn’t get the worst! Walked to the restaurant for breakfast - eggs, good. It wasn’t raining when we set out, the rain had liquefied the mud on the village streets so it was less slippery, but outside the village the road was just as bad as yesterday - mud, ruts and huge holes full of water. Then [View Full Entry]

Grannysmith - Angela Smith | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1944 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 5 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 2nd 2008 | 255 Views | [diary=294404]

Khazak pothole 150508
Stuck truck 140508
Me and Musicians 160508

Tuesday 20 May - Toretam to Josali, 88 km My big bag did not turn up in the lorry yesterday, but I found it this morning hidden behind some cardboard in the second lorry for some reason. Had to do some hasty luggage sorting and also get a new chain on my bike before leaving. Claude managed to rip the school gate off with the lorry, not a very good return for their hospitality! Very hot - 42 degrees in the afternoon. I had threequarter trousers and a lo g-sleeved shirt to keep the sun off. At 65 km we stopped [View Full Entry]

Grannysmith - Angela Smith | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
958 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 3 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 5th 2008 | 154 Views | [diary=294418]

Jalaghash girls 210508
Bike wash 230508

Tuesday 20 May - Toretam to Josali, 88 km My big bag did not turn up in the lorry yesterday, but I found it this morning hidden behind some cardboard in the second lorry for some reason. Had to do some hasty luggage sorting and also get a new chain on my bike before leaving. Claude managed to rip the school gate off with the lorry, not a very good return for their hospitality! Very hot - 42 degrees in the afternoon. I had threequarter trousers and a lo g-sleeved shirt to keep the sun off. At 65 km we stopped [View Full Entry]

Grannysmith - Angela Smith | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
958 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 2 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 2nd 2008 | 157 Views | [diary=294419]

Bike wash 230508

Rond 7 uur 's morgens arriveert onze trein in Tobolsk. We hebben een dagje tijd om de stad te verkennen, laten onze bagage achter in een locker van het station en nemen de bus naar het centrum. We zijn gewaarschuwd door onze reisgids: "laat je niet ontmoedigen door de immens grote en vele sovjet-appartementsgebouwen die de nieuwe stad sieren maar geniet van de pracht van het witte Kremlin en kuier een beetje door de oude stad". Dat is precies wat we doen! Een warm zonnetje maakt het allemaal wat aangenamer. Maar meer dan het prachtige Kremlin is er ook niet te [View Full Entry]

Ergens onderweg - Maarten En Eva | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
545 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 49 Photo(s) | 1 Video(s)
Published: June 17th 2008 | 525 Views | [diary=285845]

Tobolsk
Tobolsk
Tobolsk

By Matt Y
May 31st 2008
Kazakhstan Asia » Kazakhstan » East Kazakhstan » Almaty
Kazakhstan got the shortest visit of my trip, despite being a huge country. It serves as more of a gateway to other places than a destination in itself. for me it was the place to collect my visa for Uzbekistan and is also the departure point for the last country on this trip - the strange and foreign UK! Arriving in Almaty I wasn't quite sure what to expect, a taste of the USSR, little change from western China? In the event it is a very European feeling city, wide streets filled with posh cars. People dress well to stroll past [View Full Entry]

Matt Y - Young and Wild | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
850 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 4 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: May 31st 2008 | 309 Views | [diary=282214]

Man and his bird
Wads of cash
Snacks

I wandered past the Uzbek embassy an hour or so before it was due to open for visa applications, just to get the lay of the land and see if anyone had turned up to start queueing. I spoke to the guard, who wrote my name down on a list and told me to come back at 2.30pm. Instead of hanging around there I had a pleasant hour or so mooching around in Gorky Park, and then psyched myself up for another afternoon of hassle and returned to the embassy, fully expecting a sea of flailing elbows and women with russet [View Full Entry]

burningmatt - Matt C | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
377 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: May 22nd 2008 | 156 Views | [diary=278938]