'Great Sucess' - 'High 5'

  Almaty, Kazakhstan
Thursday, May 29, 2008

Welcome to Kazakhstan!
Although not many people had not even heard of Kazakhstan before the antics of Borat or the fact that is had alot of natural resources it is actually the worlds ninth biggest country. As this was a big of a side trip in the first place unfortunate I am not going to be exploring much of the huge country. Instead I have
choose to visit Almaty which is not how one would expect Central Asia (especially if you have been watching the Borat movies!). Instead, even though its not the capital it acts as it is the social and commercial hub and feels more like Europe with its quality hotels, slick boutiques, chic cafes and luxurious cars. The city has a back drop of the huge snow capped mountains which are a spur or the Tian Chi Range. When I arrived not speaking a word of Kazak I was surprised that I recognized alot of the words, this is because the city has a strong Russian influence and a lot of Russian living there.
I spend the weekend checking out the local nightlife which was mental! The clubs were really western, some have 3/4 floors, are open until 9am in the morning, sell cheap Russian vodka and are full or gorgeous women, probably better than many of European clubs! There was also a couple of bars which I didn't go to for very rich people (who make there money from oil and gas (or the corrupt government) which had Bentleys, Range Rovers, SLR Mercedes, Harley Davidson's...ect parked out side! I checked out some of the sites in the city including Panifilov Park, St Nicolas Cathedral and Gorky Park. I took the Kok Tobe cable car up into the hills for a better view of the mountains and a view over the city, this was interesting because as soon as you were out
of the city, the big and flash building soon turned into dilapidated buildings with corrugated iron roof, a real contrast from rich to poor. I enjoyed visiting Arasan Baths which were built in the 1980's in a modernistic soviet style and are Central Asia finest which have Russian, Finnish and Turkish levels. There is also a huge plunge pool and you can buy birch leaves which you use to hit yourself with when inside as it intensifies the heat and simulates circulation. This was perfect for hangovers and also showers as the prison cell of a room that I slept on the floor of (and shared with 6 other people with) did not have any water for the whole duration of my stay and was still relatively expensive for Central Asia.

For the last couple of days while waiting for my Kyrgyzstan visa I headed half hour out of the city to a what's known as Almaty's playground for the rich. Its called Medeu which is a huge ice rink 1700 meters up in the mountains made for speed skating where many champions have trained. From there I also headed higher up the mountain range to Chimbulak which at 2300meteres is a ski resort. I would of love to gone skiing in Kazakhstan but I had just missed the season so instead I
headed up the valley to the top of the ski range at about 3800, then to the top of a near by peak just over 4000meters. The weather soon turned nasty and I got soaked. At this altitude and wet it does not take long for the cold to set in, I knew the way back to the ski lift and thought maybe I would be able to get a lift back down on it but it was a long way up a now very wet path, I knew that there was a small road at the other end of the valley so I decided to head for that instead. I made it to the road in good time and began to walk back towards town with my thumb out hoping
someone would pick me up. For ages nothing came and I really was not a bit fed up and cold then I head a sound reverberating from the distance through the mountains. I turned and stood in hope it may be a car, then over the hill appeared a brand new Land Rover Defender, then another , then another... As they got closer could see than that had English plates and it felt like they had been send from heaven. Unfortunately as they approach, me standing there with my thumb out, the first one passes with a sorry look and then the second and third. Fortunately the forth one stopped and asked if I needed a lift, expecting me to be Russian they were very surprised when I replied in a British accent, they all looked perplexed, clearly thinking what on earth is this young English guy doing sojourning into this country and even more so, what
is he doing wet up here in the mountains. They explained that the others couldn't stop as they were full then why they were so shocked to see me, it turns out that that had been in Kazakhstan for about a month, drove across the whole country and not seen a single westerner, let alone a fellow Englishman. They were driving from England to Singapore for the 60th anniversary of Land Rover. The vehicles were all kited out with all sort of technology and gadgets,
all of which I was very inquisitive explaining to then my dream of one day driving from New Romney to Cape Town via the Middle East in an old defender, which they all joked and did not doubt me for a minute as they had found me in the middle of nowhere in Kazakhstan.