To the edge of Europe
Trip Start
Jul 06, 2011
1
3
35
Trip End
Mar 05, 2012
Atyrau, Kazakhstan
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Odessa - A city on the black sea, which I had a brief dip into. Very much a seaside retreat for Ukrainians, except for its coastal location there was nothing really that made the city standout from the many we've been through so far. For more information about Odessa your best bet is to listen to the Bee Gees song about the city.
Kiev - Our visit to Kiev was very much defined by our choice of Hostel and the Hostel's owner. Jochaim (also known as hostelman) had one catchphrase/promise on arrival - 'I get you drunk'. Its fair to say he did this and then some. Luckily we had two nights in Kiev on which to recover. In general walking around Kiev reminded me a bit of when I passed through Beograd a few years back. It had a similar scale, atmosphere and the neo-classical buildings, without the massive Kalmegdan fortress at the centre. I'm probably doing both cities a bit of disservice, and I'd actually recommend a visit to either (especially as chicken kievs are the best in kiev).
Russian Border - After our long days driving we finally end up spending our first night in Graham about 100km short of the border. We had wanted a cheap hotel/motel but found little option in the darkness (although the next morning we found out that two were just down the road). A far more comfortable night than expected, with the added highlight of pasty looking local trying to sing to us through our window just after we parked up. The next morning though we found out that our quite car parking location backed onto what may of been a shrine or grave, so made a quick start towards the border.
Into Russia - After making a few 100 kms into Russia we pulled up at a road side restaurant to have our first go at meal roulette. Its fair to say we all lost in some way. I played safe for food with a bowl of borsh but lost out when I ordered a bottle of salt water to drink (that claims to cure everything from kidney problems to light cases of death). Stuart also had a success with his meal plumping by luck for some fresh mackerel, sadly his drink of choice Jolly Joker turned out to be a tequila and sugar fueled, fluorescent yellow substance that he couldn't drink due to the zero tolerance drink drive limit. Finally Mark played safe with a bottle of Pepsi. His luck fell apart though with his choice off the menu. It brought so much hilarity from the waitress that she called over another customer to laugh at his choice. Whilst Mark's plate of mashed potato was perfectly healthy and edible it wasn't quite the full meal he'd been looking forward to.
Volgograd - Stretching 7km along the banks of the Volga the history of the place can't help but overshadows everyone's conception of the city. Dominating over the city is the massive Mother Russia statue set on top of the Mamayev Kurgan hill littered with other statues and monuments to Russia's past. They are all no doubt impressive and stirring to the soviet spirits but it all feels very much contrived nationalism. At one point they are even blaring patriotic songs out of a statue. The one point were you begin to get a concept of the cities history is the only remaining building from WWII, the ruined flour mill. Its position surrounded by a bland concrete podium and beside an odd cylindrical marble museum only adds the texture and history of whats left of the mill's structure.
Astrakhan - Siting at the northern part of the Volga's delta, Astrakhan is another holiday town. Whilst Odessa felt a more restrained coastal city, Astrakhan was definitely heading more in the direction of Costa del Volga. The strip along the river was filled at night with amusements, blaring Russian Trance music, bars and nightclubs. With so many brightly lit, cheesy options we could easily of fallen into some tacky little venue for food and a beer. And that's pretty much what we did. We were treated to a Russian rendition of Lady in Red by the resident DJ and being asked by a local 70 year old man in a string vest if we could demonstrate some Scottish country dancing.
Atyrau - Due to a contact of Mark's we found ourselves in the delightful 4* Hotel Atyrau. By far the most pampered placed we have stayed, makes a bit of a mockery of the perceived unwashed/uncomfortable nature of traveling. Atyrau in general has two sights of note. Firstly the beautiful, blue and white tiled mosque stands out amongst the monotonous concrete and glass that surrounds it. The second place of note is 'Burger House' a complete plagiarism of Burger King. With little other option for lunch and a high level of intrigue we decided to try our luck, and we were in for a treat. Not only were the logos and packaging a brilliant copy but they had even managed to recreate the course, cardboardy texture in all the food. Truly astonishing.
Towards the Uzbek border - On the way to the Uzbek border we spent spent two nights in the rough scrub of Kazakhstan. Since leaving Russia the landscape has gradually became flatter and went from grass plains of the Volga to scrub and desert in Kazakhstan. Also the wild life has moved from cattle and horses, to camels, goats and the occasional gopher. Neither nights sleep were the most comfortable (mainly due to the 30+ degrees heat). Living rough at least gave Stuart the chance to use all his Ray Mears bushcraft skills to create a campfire to make food on. And on our second night we took the interest of a local Kazakh Kowboy who game across, after hearding his goats, to investigate why there was an ambulance parked in the middle of the nowhere. A now customary game of charades with the prop of a map seemed to get the message across of what we are doing.
We are now in Tashkent, Uzbekistan after spending a week traveling through the country. I'm going to keep all the Uzbeki adventures for the next blog update as there is lots to say and I don't want to drag this one out too much longer.
