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

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

Guchin Us has a few redeeming features: a hot shower, internet cafe and a couple of good restaurants that will cook tasty vegetarian food on request. On our last day Erin and I had vegetable soup that did not contain meat, accompanied with freshly baked bread from the herder group bakery. I think Erin felt sad that we were going as she had become part of our team and it was refreshing for her to speak English with a native English speaker. She has also made a few more contacts through our work and was looking forward to starting an English class for some of the government employees, including Danzan the soum governor. It was as though we were travelling through a different country as we drove back to Bogd. The two days of rain had ... read more

As I sat in the hot sun pulling the coarse metal comb through the tangled knots of the goat’s wool I got a deeper understanding of how hard Mongolian herders work. The goat bleated loudly and struggled against its tied feet as I tackled the knots in its fleece trying to extract the soft undercoat that is valuable cashmere wool. Nyamaa and I were staying with Nyamkhuu and Natseg for a couple of nights to get deeper insights into their family network. Natseg appreciated my help as we worked together and talked via Nyamaa’s interpretation. Spring is especially busy for Mongolian herders. First the baby animals are born, then the goats are combed for cashmere, followed by wool cutting – sheep and camel wool is cut with scissors rather than sheared, another long laborious process. This ... read more

The official at the immigration office at Ulaanbaatar airport scanned my passport and visa, then shook his head and spoke briefly in Mongolian to Enkhbayar, my driver, as he handed back my passport. “Is there a problem?” I asked. “Big problem” Enkhbayar said shortly, as we marched back out of the crowded office. Despite all the weeks of carefully getting a letter of invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Mongolian Embassy in London, to allow me to stay in Mongolia for 90 days, the Embassy in London had stamped my visa as entry only. Was I going to have to stay here forever? We drove back through the chaotic Ulaanbaatar traffic to collect Caroline and get to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office, but too late as they had closed. We returned the ... read more