Kazakhstan – endless roads

I cross the border to Kazakhstan and spend three nights in Almaty to have the engine oil changed. At the workshop, I meet again the two Englishmen Tim and somebody. I met the two in Chorugh in Tajikistan on the street. There are some places where “everybody” stops. Like at the few motorcycle workshops in the area.

Almaty is a green city in the center. It is criss-crossed by parks and streets framed by tall trees. Despite the heat, you can always walk in the shade. In the early afternoon, when the air has heated up, it is still unbearable to stay outside. Even the locals complain. Climate change does not just affect Europe.

In Almaty one could spend a few days and take advantage of the cultural offer, as for example going to the theater. I do not do that, but rest a bit, for my last stretch home.

I meet a German whose roots are in Kazakhstan. He explains a bit about the history of Kazakhstan. Before the Russians annexed the countries, only a small part of the population was really sedentary. As much as the Russians in this country have ruined nature (for example, Aral Lake), they have also brought education into the country.

Astana means or meant translated only “capital”. The city was only recently renamed Nur-Sultan. The next ruler will probably change the name of the city again.

Setting the capital north was a strategic decision. Socially, there was a clan or caste system in Kazakhstan. I get told that this system is still somewhat rooted. Unfortunately, on my short trip, I do not gain such deep insights in those things. The better-off society live/d in the south, in the north lives/d the socially slightly lower stratum. To maintain political balance and peace, the north has been given the capital.

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I drive on the highway. Taras, Turkistan, Qysylorda, Aral, Aqtobe are my stops.

Kazakhstan is wide on the southern and western side, very wide and yellow (Kazakhstan is also very wide in the other areas). Grain fields or withered grassland shapes the landscape. It is flat.

The roads are endless. Somewhere on the horizon the road ends at a hill. Once you have reached this, the whole thing starts again. Over and over and over again.

It is 2.200 km from Almaty to Aqtobe. That’s about the same distance as from Vienna to Madrid. However, there is a lot between Vienna and Madrid. In Kazakhstan it is a handful of cities. These do not invite you to linger and stroll through the streets. They are just stops on the way to a destination. There is no tourism there.

So there is not always the opportunity to stay in a hostel where you meet different people. From time to time you sit somewhere in a fringe of a city in a shabby hotel room staring into the TV and trying to bypass the time.

Since there is not much exciting to tell, I will write about a few other things that I experienced on the trip.

I am so sorry that I do not speak Russian. You do not get too far with English either. There would have been hundreds of questions about things I was interested in. Being able to communicate opens many doors.

Already in Uzbekistan I have revealed the secret, why there are only the car brands Chevrolet, Lada and Daewoo. These companies have factories in the country. An import from abroad would mean 100% import tax.

I’ve heard from two or three locals that the current government is doing a great deal to move the country forward.

In Uzbekistan, with Xiva, Samarkand, Buxoro, Nukus and a few other places along the Silk Road, there is tourism based on centuries of history.

In Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, it is mainly the hiking and trekking tourism and the Pamir Highway.

I met many many cyclists. I expected to see a lot more motorcyclists. But I think they come in the slightly cooler time of June or September.

During summer it’s off-season because it is way too hot. Usually life starts at eight pm. Many restaurants only open at this time. Recognizable that the charcoal grill for shashlik is heated.

The parks are then filled with families. In almost every park there is an offer for children. Swings, pedal cars and much more. In the larger cities, in the larger parks, there is always something like a miniature amusement park with shooting galleries, horseback riding and other luxuriant offerings.

I usually found the food to be hearty. I also share this opinion with other travelers.

I did not go to expensive restaurants here. Therefore, I can not really judge how varied the food is. There are soups in various ways with vegetables and meat inlay. Shashlik is the dish that exists everywhere. It’s also the easiest to order. In the cheap restaurant or the street kitchen often also with neat portion of fat and cartilaginous. In better places there is the tender, better meat.

Laqhman is the other very common food in Central Asia, consisting of meat, vegetables and specially prepared noodles.

Smartphones are also widespread here and most of the people are staring at it all the time. And here the adolescents are afflicted with this disease, to make selfies constantly too.

In rural areas, life is sometimes very simple. Often it is due to the low interest of the government, not investing money there.

The police, especially the traffic police is quite over-present and punishes people a lot. Once I was too fast, but I recognized the policeman standing in the shadows too late when he swung the red club and just rushed by. Apart from that, I kept my good behavior to the traffic rules or was lucky, or was warned by oncoming vehicles.

You will not have any problems with authorities, as long as you don’t commit a crime. As these countries are, I would say, semi-dictatorships, other travelers and I think, they treat tourist well, or let you go with minor misdeed to give a positive image to the outside world.

The constant attention that is given to you can also be annoying. I know, the n-th person of the day that  greets me kindly and wants to know where I’m from, does not know that I have been asked many times already. Of course I stay friendly.

Sometimes on the highway, someone drives beside you for a while and looks. Now and then they honk and want your attention. Sometimes, I ignored that. Then they honk until I finally look aside. They wave or give thumbs up and that’s it.

So I leave Kazakhstan and travel to Russia again.