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WONDERCRUST

hard on the outside... (Part 3)

By Carolyn Chon

February 18^th, 2014

中国,再见!

We left Yining almost at the crack of dawn, enjoyed the last sunrise in China before we bid farewell to the Motherland.

kazakhstan bound!

Our journey from Yining to Almaty (the former capital of Kazakhstan), took us approximately 13 hours. To some it may seem horribly long, but to us, it was a good ride. Unlike all the Chinese public transportation we were taking up till then, this bus was spacious and had comfortable bed size where you could actually turn while you lie down. My favourite had to be that they made the aisle in the middle so cosy and communal, because majority of the ride, the passengers would sit there and well, chat. Whether or not they just met, somehow people here could be so friendly with one another so easily. I tried my level best in holding a conversation with one of them, of course I struggled most when my Chinese vocabulary failed on me.

It was a pleasant ride from the outskirts in Kazakhstan and heading into Almaty, the scenery outside our windows were beautiful. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop to get down to take photos or even enjoy the view a little longer, next trip on a bike perhaps?

almaty

We couchsurfed in Almaty because to be honest, accommodation there wasn’t the cheapest and because getting by in Kazakhstan without speaking any Russian was going to be just a little bit hard. However in our case, because through out our time in China, I was the one that did all the communicating, because I spoke Mandarin. Now, it wasn’t as if Jules took up Russian before our trip, but on the last couple of days while in China, my dear friend took the initiative to learn how to read the Cyrilic alphabet. Trust me when I say, if you’re not going to learn how to speak Russian in your lifetime, but plan on going to places that speaks the language, at least learn how to read Cyrilic.

Kazakhstan doesn’t seem to be a place flocking with tourists like Russia, Germany, China…etc. So, the people who would speak English there are at a minimal, specially if you spoke to the older generation.

We arrived at our host’s place in the evening, albeit having a bit of communication problem with our taxi driver (i have to elaborate on the taxi system later). Our host, is a one of a kind person and I’m not exaggerating in my case because I’ve never met anyone like her. I mean I’ve met many interesting people in my current lifetime, from a Zoo Designer, to an Olympian, to a real life hippie who grew up in the woods and went for Rainbow Gatherings, all thanks to my work and travels. So, back to our host, Uki. She’s a Yoga instructor, she wakes up every morning at 4 or 5 am and goes to a nearby mountain to meditate, she lives in a basic home, and I mean basic. Her unit consists of floor mats, a small breakfast table with two chairs, a fridge, kitchen cabinet, stove and a built-in wardrobe. Yup, she sleeps on the floor. Now, to be honest I don’t think it’s cos she can’t afford stuff, but she chooses to live a life that simple and finally, she’s a fruitarian. Yup, she only lives on fruits and has been for the past 6-7 years. How amazing!!

Apparently, she’s very likely the only couch-surfer who actually hosts people in Almaty. Once, she had up to about 10-12 people surfing at her place! What an awesome girl! While we were there, there were also 3 German girls surfing, so we had a simple home-cooked breakfast and made sure we bought fruits for Uki at the market.

We went to check out the city after our home-cooked brekkie by Jules. спасибо Jules!

Almaty’s city trains were relatively new and their stations were quite good looking. I liked how the escalator looked like it went on forever, it kinda felt like it did. I think Jules timed it and it took about almost 2 minutes, or wait, that could be in Russia. Hah. Anyway, we checked out a market and bought ourselves some old stuff, Jules bought herself a mouthpiece organ, okay, I don’t know what’s it called. We checked out a Catholic church and hung around for a bit while Jules sketched it. As we were minding our own business, sitting on a bench outside it, an elderly lady walked up to Jules and told her not to sit cross-legged! We were somewhat dumbfounded, but hey, when you’re told off by a local, just obey whatever rules they have.

Next, we went to a food market and got ourselves some cheese. Mmmmmmmmm, Cheese. (exactly how Homer would say it)

While we were there, a friend whom I got to know back home went back to Almaty to get married, so naturally she had to play the duty of a tour guide for at least a few hours. We also went to Medeo, which is the highest skating rink in the world and freezing up there!!

We said our goodbyes the next day and left for Shymkent on an overnight bus. We were actually running out of time, so we had to miss out on a lot of beautiful sights such as the Charyn Canyon and the endless lakes and mountains. Another trip back is in order! Thank you Dinara for bringing us around!

photos do not match text.

I’m gonna write about the taxi system and not the view we had from our train out of Shymkent.

It was when we arrived at the unassuming bus stop in Almaty from Yining, when we first encountered a non-taxi taxi. Yup, we took a non-taxi. Basically, everyone with a car can double up as a taxi whenever they want and/or feel up to it. So, what does one do when one want to catch a cab somewhere? You just randomly stick out your hand and wait for either a real taxi or a non-taxi. So, if you have a car and you’re on your way somewhere, you could essentially pick a stranger from the road (assuming you’re headed the same direction), get a bit of petrol paid for. Pretty cool huh? Though of cos, it may not be so easily applicable to many unsafe countries.

shymkent - moscow

We took an early train out of Shymkent, this was going to be our longest train ride of all. A whole 60hours! Were we worried? Not really. We were getting excited about it and about Moscow, our final destination.

до свидания

Our 60 hours spent on the train was made really, really awesome and sweet by the locals we met. Obviously, we were fed again! It wasn’t easy for us to communicate, but we managed to, one of the girls spoke the best and she would act as a translator on behalf of her two friends. I think I’ll look her up as well the next time I go back to Kazakhstan, which I hope be in the near future!