A Honeymoon to Remember

[anjum153]

The official language of the country is Kazakh, actually a Turic language that was shoe-horned into the Cyrillic alphabet early last century. Everything is printed in both Kazakh and Russian - menus, road signs, newspapers. We figure most of the people around us speak Kazakh with each other, and quickly fall into Russian when speaking with ethnic Russians or us. The country is 35% ethnic Russian. Everyone grows up speaking Russian, although the guide book says (we can't tell) that many ethnic Kazakh adults speak Russian with an accent. Kazakhs were historically nomadic and that background still comes across in the free and easy way they deal with people. Although converted to Islam periodically over the centuries, it seems they never took it as seriously as groups to the south of them, and we really see very little sign that we are in a nearly predominantly Muslim country (supposedly 47% Muslim). Maintaining a Muslim religion was particularly difficult in the face of methodical extermination of imams and destruction of mosques by the communists early last century.
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An example of a sign written in both Kazakh (on the left) and Russian (on the right).

[anjum153]

One indication that Islam is not strictly adhered to: beer is consumed everywhere at any time of day. People can bring their empty pop liter bottles to the beer tap room, fill it up, and head home for nice fresh tap beer with dinner. You know how much you'll pay before you go in because prices are conveniently posted outside just like gas stations in the US. We naturally think this is a brilliant idea.
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Beer is bought by the liter and prices of beer per liter are posted like gas prices.

[anjum153]

A Kazakh gentleman.

[anjum153]

A woman in Kazakhstan at the beer tent in Semipalatansk

[anjum153]

Another Kazakh gentleman

[anjum153]

Pity the sun wasn't coming from the other direction, this woman's gold teeth really sparkled and matched her hair.

[anjum153]

Kazakhs live primarily in the communist-era apartment blocks, but those who have houses have old houses, and every single house in the country has some form of teal Kazakh blue on it. It is so common that we wonder if it is a government mandate. In the most decrepit of villages, where the walls are gray and crumbling and the walks overgrown, you can bet the window sills all have a fresh coat of Kazakh blue applied. It was a constant across our time in Kazakhstan. Here is a photo of a nicer brick house:
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Typical Kazakh house.

[anjum153]

Typical window sill in what we have come to call Kazakh blue.

[anjum153]

Some go with more blue than others.

[anjum153]

Some deviate slightly from the blue mandate.

[anjum153]

And some get the blue on where they can.

[choctalpur]

No offense, but if they cycle all day, what do they do in nights, SLEEP IN HONEYMOON ???

[daniyalahmad]

Hmmm
Interesting

[taz_rulez]

really interesting! carry on and update fast........

[anjum153]

Aug 17: Train into Russia

Sunday August 17, 2008

We left Kazakhstan via train, from Semey to a town on the other sided of the Russian border, Aleysk. The actual train ride was uneventful, but getting on the train caused a fair amount of hullabaloo on the platform. We had been told when we bought our tickets that the bikes could get on the train no problem, so when the train pulled up, some Kazakh guys who had gathered around the bikes full of curious questions started helping us get the bikes on the train.
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Typical curious crowd collected around the bikes.

[anjum153]

Over the station woman's dead body - she literally blocked the door to the train and started screaming about how it was simply not possible to take bikes on the train. This triggered all kinds of outbursts from the crowd, most people saying the bikes were under the weight limit for baggage, so why not? I was on the train with our bags shouting out at Sam, who was on the platform with the bikes, with three station agents around, all quoting various prices we could pay to get the bikes on. We didn't have any more Kazakh tenge, having spent it all in anticipation of leaving the country, and only had dollars. The station agent eventually extorted a $20 bill from us. When I handed it to her, she asked in Russian, 'what's this?' apparently never having seen US dollars before, and I seized my opportunity to cuss a bit in Russian and tell her it was her pinche $20. She pocketed it and stomped off the train, and we made it the rest of the way, through two borders, four drug-sniffing dogs, several Kazakh and Russian border guard checks, without any hassle.
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Prepping to get off the train at 1 am in Aleysk, Russia.

[anjum153]

Kazakhstan by the numbers

Saturday September 6, 2008, 51 miles (82 km) - Total so far: 879 miles (1,415 km)

Cumulative stats:
Percent of trip days spent riding: 41.6%
Average number of miles per riding day: 51.4
Percent of nights spent in a tent: 41.6%
Stats for Kazakhstan:
Days in the country: 12
Miles traveled by bike: 257
Number of riding days: 5
Number of rest days: 7
Miles traveled by bus (Taldyqorghan to Semey): 457
Miles traveled by train (Semey to Russian border): 67.1 miles
Nights spent in tent: 5
Nights spent in hotels: 7 (three in Taldy, four in Semey)
Nights spent in bus: 1
Total expenditures for Kazakhstan (not including plane ticket there): US$745 ($90 on bus and $70 on train, plus three nights at $58/night were most expensive items)
Mean people met in Kazakhstan: one, the station agent in Semey

[anjum153]

Aug. 18: Lovin the Russian roads

Monday August 18, 2008, 55 miles (88 km) - Total so far: 305 miles (490 km)

We got off in Aleysk, spent the night and started pedaling due east the next morning onto backcountry roads, trying to cut a straight line to Biysk 180km away
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Morning in Aleysk was dreary, but the day soon brightened.

[anjum153]

The first day out of Aleysk was dreamy after riding on the Kazakh roads. The road was beautiful blacktop, well-maintained, no trash, no broken glass, no traffic - we thought we'd maybe accidentally gotten off the train in Europe. The weather was cool, a morning rainfall painted the landscape a clean, sparkling hue

Lovely Russian road.

[anjum153]

The first day we made it to the bend in the Ob river, to a small town called Ust Primeny, where we had the most incredible borscsht at 80 cents a bowl served with fresh Russian bread.
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Best borscht yet, in Ust Pristan