To the Border and Beyond!

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Alright everyone! I am officially in the 'Stans. Almaty, Kazakhstan to be exact. In the past 48 hours, I have been on a bus for about 40 of them. I will not do that again for the rest of my life. I spent two nights in a row on the bus. There was the bus from Kanas Lake (14 hours) and the bus to Almaty (26 hours). HOWEVER, not as bad as one might think. Well, the Kanas Lake bus sucked, but the Almaty bus was alright. Much wider and much longer. I could lay flat and not bend my knees. A true bed, really. Older bus, but smooth.

So, the trip starts at 6pm on a Sunday afternoon at Urumqi International Bus Terminal. You have some pretty funky destinations there. Northern Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongol places one has never heard of. So, I got my bags checked and no problem. I met a few other guys making the trip on my bus. Nice folks, the Kazakhs so far. One of the guys was in the bed behind mine and we hit it off pretty well. He is in Almaty for a wedding and to take care of some work. He is a computer engineer of some kind and his english is pretty good (although he didn't know how to explain the title of his job). We drove through the night and arrived at the border town early in the morning and waited for the actual border to open. We were the first bus to arrive that night so we should be the first bus to get through the border, yeah? NOPE! This is CHINA, baby! Pushing in shoving gets you to the head of the line, even in a bus. We ended up being number 4 or 5 I think, to the infuriation of our driver. A string of slurs and colorful language was shouted in a variety of languages from his mouth.

The border was pretty smooth, but just a lot of waiting. "A waiting day" as my new friend said. Wait for the bus, wait for the people on the bus, wait for food at the lunch counter, wait wait wait. Anyway, after the border we finally cross into Kazakhstan where we get to do THEIR border garbage. Now, lemme tell you about Kazakh military and their hats. Those guys have some BIG ol' hats! Comically big. I tried to get a picture with one while I was wearing my rice farmer hat, but no sense of humor under that big hat in the hot sun.

Moving on, the road from the border of Kazakh/China to Almaty is filled with NOTHING and I mean NOTHING. No farms, no buildings, no ranches, just plain old land. Same as it ever was. No rivers, lakes, a few distant hills, but mostly just flat, flat flat. Impressive, really. Ghenghis Kahn saw this same thing and said, "MINE!" I don't think it took much effort to conquer Kazakhstan.

Arriving in Almaty after 26 total hours of travel (including the border crap) we are greeted by screaming Kazakhs offering (demanding) a ride in their taxi. Please just let me breath for a moment then I'll refuse your questions. My friend (name is written down in my books) waited with me at the bus terminal while I waited for the couch surfing host to pick me up. She is a girl from Louisville, KY whose father served in the Kentucky Air National Guard. Sound familiar? It was during the 90s, so probably an unknown. She (Kimberly Powers, the most American girl's name ever) is a student at U Michigan doing some PhD work here. Studies Kazakh and is an expert on Russian Imperialism. Pretty cool stuff. I arrived about 9pm local time, so we just went to the local grocery store for some food. There is an entire aisle dedicated to vodka here. Impressive.

Little differences that let me know I'm making the transition from Asia to Europe: there are blonde people about, she has an oven (first I've seen since leaving America), she has a legit shower (first I've seen since leaving America), there is an aisle dedicated to vodka at the super market, the alphabet is cyrillic, people speak Russian, in addition to blondes, the people start to really look European. An interesting mix for sure.

Okay, I think I should get some sleep now. I will add pictures tomorrow. She has a Mac and that annoys me. Always makes things more difficult (different) than what I'm used to. Okay, all safe and sound though! I also had one beer and it was the best I've had since leaving America. So far so good, Kazakhstan. One thing negative: I asked the girl, "are the people friendly?" "no" Well I'll have to see for myself. On the Chinese side, they're pretty friendly. To be continued in the morning! I will try to add a food post and let you guys know whats happening with that. Also, they have a very wide selection of cheese here. Another difference. Love, Michael

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Photos

Bored at the Border...
My new Kazakh friend and I pass the time at the border.

Comments

[Ma]

quite a trip
Cheese, beer, and a shower--small and welcome joys in life. I Googled Kazakhstan border guards. Wanted to see their hats. Hmmm...ask Kimberly about recent headlines about the guards. I hope you get some proper rest as you continue your adventure. Love, Ma

[Gran]

Michael, Love it. The adventure in you is amazing ! Poo is saying , he has so much natural curiousity , He is great and I am very proud of that kid. Have Fun. Love Gran