Advertisers

Fundraising for travelling and volunteering

Work as a charity fundraiser

Raise funds for deserving charities and earn money for your gap year at the same time

Find out more >>

YOUR MONEY PLANNER - V1.0

Download our FREE gap year financial planner.
Useful charts and planners to help you budget for your trip!

Find out more >>

Fundraising for travelling and volunteering

Bangkok to Brighton by tuk tuk: Thoughts on Kazakhstan

Thursday 20th July 2006: Kazakhstan
Ants writes...

"In a perverse way, Balkash was one of the most interesting places I have ever been. Despite the pollution, the filth, the dereliction and the disintegrating apartment blocks, Balkash had its good points. As Jo has already written, we were saved by a young Kazakh called Maxat, who found us a mechanic and filled the holes which my elementary Russian couldn’t cover. Neither of us can get over how kind and generous the Kazkahs are, they will go to any lengths to help you and make you feel welcome in their country.

At times, however, this can go a little far. Whilst navigating our way through Karaganda two nights ago a white Mercedes drew up beside us. The blacked-out window wound down to reveal a gleaming set of gold teeth owned by a handsome young Kazakh. 'Where are you going?' He shouted in Russian. For the next ten minutes we drove in precarious tandem to our hotel, me attempting to dodge the oncoming traffic while simultaneously conducting a conversation with Goldie next door. Later that night the same man, dressed head to toe in pin stripes and mock-croc, burst into our hotel room brandishing beer and insisting he showed us round the local hotspots. After much polite negotiation, we declined and he was off as rapidly as he had appeared. How he found his way to our hotel room remains a mystery...

Kazakhstan

The Kazakhs also have a nerve-wracking habit of pulling up beside you at 60 mph, so close you could tweak their moustaches, and firing a barrage of questions at you, 'Where are you from? How much was your car? Where are you going? Do you want to come and stay with me?' The more persistent ones force you to pull over and have impromptu photoshoots, the encounter ending with a handing out of phone numbers and insistence you pay them a visit. Yesterday it was two cars full of ‘Polizi’, all apparently called Eric, the day before a BMW crammed with well-fed men, whom I felt sure were up to no good.

We have spent the last 36 hours in the Kurghalzhino Nature Reserve, famed for its pink flamingos, of which we have seen not a whisker. It’s a strange place, a cursory attempt at eco-tourism which doesn’t quite work. We are the only people staying here and the rest of the inhabitants are builders and random, slightly drunk men.

Our arrival here the other night was even odder. Having driven along the longest, straightest road from Astana, (where I had completely lost my rag after getting lost for ages) we came to the town of Khurgalzhino, which we assumed must be where the reserve was. It was 8pm and the sun was sinking rapidly in th sky. After a brief diversion from the village drunk we ascertained that in fact the reserve was another 45 km up a dirt track... so off we sped. At last, out of the gloom, appeared the gateway to the ‘famous’ reserve, which we had been assured was well signed. As we pulled up, a ruddy-faced, inebriated-looking Russian limped out of the wooden hut, clearly wondering whether he was hallucinating or not. We quickly discoved that the reserve was closed for the night and we would have to wait till the morning to get in. We looked around despondently - nothing for miles. Just the lonely steppes.

Eventually, after much pleading and gesturing that my mother was far too old and delicate to camp (which she isn’t), and a series of phone calls to the ‘Director’ our luck changed. Nikolai, the limping Russian, who smelt exceptionally sheepy, gave us our tickets, relieved us of $60 and off we went, assuring us that 8km beyond was a Gostiniza, with soft towels and moonshine. As we tukked off down the track into the darkness (it was now 10pm) I found it hard to believe that there was any civilization in such a place, let alone hot water and a place to lay our heads for the night. What we found, was a strange collection of wooden huts, a single yurt and a lot of drunk Kazakhs. After haggling for another half an hour over the costs of our simple hut, we hit the sack, exhausted.

Its eight weeks on Sunday since we left Bangkok, amazing. Neither Jo or I can believe it. Even stranger is the fact that we’ve been in Kazkahstan for ten days, and it seems like only yesterday that we were sitting by Saryam Lake mourning the end of our passage through China. In two days we will be in Russia, leaving Asia firmly behind us. Kazakhstan has been a curious experience, it’s a country of anomalies where nothing quite adds up, neither Asia or Europe, but betwixt and between. It’s the ninth largest country in the world, yet with a population of only 15 million, and falling. Its (benevolent) dictator Nazarbaev, has a grandiose economic plan for the country 'Kazakhstan 2030', yet everywhere you go poverty stares you in the face.

Kazakhstan is also full of anomalies in other, minor ways. In Karaghanda two nights ago, a steppe town famed for coal and gulags, we found ourselves in a Belgian restaurant where we were served Hoegarden and waffles. And in Almaty last week, we had a pint of Guinness in an Irish Pub called Mad Murphy’s where a trio of maudlin Russians sang bizarre renditions of Beatles songs.

That’s it for now. We’re off to Astana today and my Ma flies home tomorrow to leave us to Russia and its rhinoceros-sized mosquitoes."

Love Ants and Jo x

Click here >> to follow the journey from the beginning
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update from Vientiane, Laos
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update from Vang Vieng, Laos
Click here >> to Ants' and Jo's update from Luang Prabang, Laos
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update on arriving in China
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update on troubles in China
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update on the Stone Forest, China
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update on China Under Construction
Click here >> for Ant's and Jo's update; dirty tukkers in China
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update on Western China
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update on the Silk Road
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update on the Great Wall of China
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update on sand tobogganning in the desert
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update from Turpan, China
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's final update from China
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's first update from Kazakhstan
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update from Almaty, Kazakhstan
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's first update Lake Balkash, Kazakhstan
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's update on their impressions of Kazakhstan
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's first update on Russia
Click here >> for Ants' and Jo's thoughts on Russia

Why are Ants and Jo undertaking this crazy trip?

The girls are completely the 12,000 mile journey from Bangkok to Brighton in an attempt to raise £50,000 for the mental health charity Mind. Here at gapyear.com, we fully support their efforts and wish them the best of luck in their challenge. We'd also ask that anyone who has a spare few pennies sponsors Ants and Jo, as it really is a fantastic cause.

Click here >> for the full story

More about Mind
Mind

Mental health problems can affect anyone, rich or poor, young or old, shattering the lives of those affected and the lives of the people close to them. One in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives. Each year more than 250,000 people are admitted to psychiatric hospitals and over 4,000 people take their own lives. Mind is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales working to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress.

Further info

Click here >> for an interview with Ants and Jo
Click here >> to sponsor them now - every penny counts...
Click here >> for Ants and Jo's website
Click here >> to find out more about Mind
Click here >> for more fundraising information

Relevant adverts