Blogs from East Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Asia - page 4

I flew with Air Astana to Kazakhstan. The local carrier has most of its fleet registered on our neighbouring island of Aruba, with the code “P4”. Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan and the former capital with about 1.5 million people. Astana is the capital since 1997 but I did not go there because it’s the second coldest capital in the world and I’m not really friends with the cold. Even though it was early spring, the weather in Almaty wasn’t too cold! I think curiosity (as a Geography teacher) was the main reason for me to visit this country. The five “Stans” (part of the former Soviet Union) are very unknown and mysterious for most people because not so many people visit the region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. You hardly hear anything ... read more

Geo: 43.2551, 76.9126... read more

Zharkent Our last stop in Kazakhstan. Tomorrow we do the border crossing to China. It will take Monday and Tuesday to get all the vehicle permits finished. For me it will be the last border crossing.... read more

When a country's capital city is shifted elsewhere, it is always intriguing to know what kind of legacy is left behind in the nation's former capital city. Almaty is such a case, and to this day, this urban area still remains the country's largest, and, one presumes, its largest centre of finance, so just how well does Central Asia's most modern city measure up? The answer is, in a nutshell, incredibly well, as there are numerous visible ways in which the city of Almaty holds its own. The city's best vantage point for viewing not only the entirity of the city from up on high, but also the majesty of the surrounding mountains is a place known as Kok-Tobe, which can be reached either by cable car or by bus, if you are aware of the ... read more

Arrived in China this morning at the border crossing in Khorgas, but I was soon turned back because I did not have proper documentation for the vehicle. I am now back in Kazakhstan to sort out the paper work for the car. From Georgia I headed north to Russia and then from Russia I entered Kazakhstan to pick up the silk road south of Kazakhstan near the border with Uzbekistan. I chose this route to avoid visas for the 'stan countries. Looks like the silk road journey may end here in Almaty. I am in good health and the car is running very smoothly. More updates later.... read more