So Long and Thanks for All the Maple Syrup...: Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan You Very Nice Place

I’ve decided to break this up to make it a bit more manageable for the reader (and myself..). I’ve separated Kazakhstan into 3 parts: the first being in Almaty from August 1 to August 4, the second on the train and in Shymkent from August 4 to August 6, and the final voyage from Shymkent to Almaty and then to Bishkek from August 6 to August 7.

I think it’s more sensible and permits a fluid reading experience.

Алматы Almaty – 01.08-04.08

We – three Canucks: Ronny, Aleks, and I – departed Bishkek on Wednesday August 1^st for Kazakhstan around 09:30. The border process was more or less painless and took about 45 minutes. When we exited Kyrgyz customs, the guard politely yelled at us that we didn’t need a visa upon our return to Kyrgyzstan – great news.

The trip was planned accordingly and I had reserved a place with a couchsurfing host a few weeks prior. However, a day before leaving, our host canceled on us and I had to make some last-minute arrangements with some friends I met back in July at a restaurant in Bishkek. We were fortunate that there was enough space at her flat for us and the accommodation actually worked out perfectly well.

The overall journey to Almaty took about 4.5 hours and we were able to take in the scenery of the steppe in Kazakhstan. It’s really quite amazing how much the landscape changes after you cross the border. We arrived around 13:30 and got a cab to a café/bar of our choice from my Lonely Planet guide book. For the record, Штаб (‘Shtab’) is a nice place with decent pizza and a generous selection of beer.

Afterwards, we walked towards the center of Almaty, picked up Kazakh sim cards and an American girl along the way, and bunkered down on Almaty’s Арбат (‘Arbat’) street – a pedestrian-only street similar to Sparks Street in Ottawa. We had some beers and our favourite Central Asian smoked salty snack, чечел (‘chechel’) cheese; the perfect accompaniment for a cold beer on a hot Central Asian day in August.

After some time, I made contact with our host and my friend, Tamilya, who promptly met us at the café after work. After some time there, we left our American friend and headed for Tam’s place. We showered, made some dinner, and my second friend I had met at the same restaurant in Bishkek, Aigerim, showed up at the flat. All five of us had dinner then crashed well enough at night.

The next day, Thursday, we got up and did some sight-seeing before Ronny had to go back to Bishkek and guinea-pig the new visa law for us – which worked flawlessly. Before Ron left, we took a short trip up a small mountain in a gondola with Aigerim. It provided a nice view of the entire city and you could really see the difference between old and new. Didn't have my camera, though. At night, we met up with Tam at the nearest Western-style mega-mall for some dinner and went back to have a good night’s sleep. ..I think it was also this day we took the greatest taxi ever driving past all the traffic for about 3km in the opposite lane. I simply said, “Just hope the cars in front go right and we’ll be fine.”

Friday morning, Aleks and I headed to the Immigration Police to register as all foreigners staying in Kazakhstan for more than five days must register with the police. We found the place rather easily and went inside… Of course, many people tell you terrible stories, but knowing enough of the post-Soviet space, I know these stories are either half-truths, rare occurrences, situations brought on by extraneous circumstances, or straight-up bullshit. Of course, we went in, handed over our documents and were told to come back in an hour and twenty minutes by 11:00.

So what did we do?

We went to the café beside the police station without any legal documentation, ate breakfast beside a table full of police, and sat there sipping tea or coffee for the next hour or so while groups of cops on their breaks passed in and out of the café. There is an appropriate idiom I once heard that says hiding in plain sight is often the best cover… but then again, it’s not like we are very suspicious considering every other foreigner waiting for their documents to be processed were also frequenting the same establishment. We picked up our documents and registration without issue and took the day to walk around town, went to Зелёный Базар (‘Green Bazar’), saw the central mosque, and went to meet Aigerim.

…then this happened

They served me well and came from a beer case, so I can’t really complain. We headed back to the Green Bazar and I bought another pair for a whopping $20. They were more impressed that a Canadian was actually in their shop… and curious as to why the hell I’m in Central Asia. But that’s a question I’ve heard many times – right before they ask you if you’re married. And why not.

We checked out Медеу ('Medeu'), an overlook about 1500m or so above the city. You can take gondolas, but we did the stairs. At the top, you could see the skating rink where speed skaters come to train although in the summer it's a place for kids or fun activities. Medeu provides a very nice picturesque view of the mountains south of Almaty and after a short while we headed back.

We grabbed some lunch then headed to the train station and bought tickets for the train to Shymkent. It’s about a 14-hour trip so we got a night train. They were sold out of купе (‘coupe’) tickets, a comfortable enclosed box with four beds, so we got платзкарт (‘platzkart’) tickets instead – essentially, four beds in an open room with baggage shelving and another two beds stacked perpendicular to the other four. The journey was beginning already.

At night we met with Tamilya and went back to the station to get her ticket and, after some minor difficulties, she had her spot on another platzkart wagon and we were set. We celebrated by going out to a club until 04:00 Sunday morning. Good fun, good friends, good times.

A memorial to a woman sniper and machine-gunner of the Second World War - or the Great Patriotic War as it is known to Russia and the Post-Soviet space.