The line is broken because I reached the China/Kazakh border at Korgas, and was told that the border was closed due to Kazakhstan Independence Day. This was not so simple to determine. I had just taken a 13 hour terrible overnight sleeper bus to Korgas, arriving at 5am in the dark and cold...and almost nobody was outside. The couple people who were obviously could not speak English, so I did not understand them. Also, my guidebook did not have a map of Korgas because it is such a small town. So I started walking in the dark until I found a hotel, which I thought would mean warmth. Unfortunately, many places in the region use heat sparingly, so the lobby of this hotel was ice cold. At least there was no wind. The night guard (who I awoke from in front of a TV showing an NBA basketball game) kindly used all manner of charade and writing numbers to tell me that the border was closed for at least the next five days.
Unsuccessful at traveling overland, I returned on another overnight sleeper bus to Urumqi and bought a plane ticket leaving immediately for Bishkek(Kyrgyzstan). The ticket was about $240. I did not fly to Almatay because the flight was much more expensive and no plane was leaving that day.
One last picture from Urumqi in western China, a fascinating region where Chinese, Islam and Russian meet. I have no idea what this sign says, but it is like many signs in the city, with all three writing(Islamic is at the top). Good luck at finding any English.
The flight to Kyrgyzstan over the Tian Shan (Heavenly) mountains landed me at Bishkek's airport, which is being half rented out to Uncle Sam. Here is the lineup of U.S. Air Force planes seen on arrival, note the left one loading up with our boys.
I hung out in the tiny airport for a while, watching some Americans come and go through guarded doors on the third floor. A couple military folks went to the airport Post Office to get a sack of mail...I stopped them to say hi. They were not friendly at all. So about Central Asia: the five former Soviet Republic 'stans are as follows (see the map):
Kazakhstan is the large country in the north, and the visa is easy to obtain (about $25 for single entry visa issued on the same day in Beijing).Kyrgyzstan is the small country in the east, and is famous for its mostly mountainous territory. The visa is easy to obtain, especially because it can be bought for $30 on arrival at the airport (which is what I did). Kazakh and Kyrg people are traditionally nomadic, so their cities are not necessarily as full of history as the other 'stans.
Tajikistan is the small mountainous country in the southeast bordering Afghanistan. The visa is easy to obtain. The country is quite poor and unregulated compared to the other 'stans. It was a parcel of land wrestled over between Russia(from the north) and Britain(from the Pakistan side)--a piece of history called "the great game"and parodied in the '80s movie Spies Like Us.
Uzbekistan has the most interesting Silk Road cities but is difficult to visit. With adequate planning, an American can get a visa (and the required invitation) for about $140 (which is still quite alot, considering most countries are wonderfully free for Americans to visit). Uzbek has made the process especially expensive for Americans because relations are not great currently.
Turkmenistan is in the west bordering Iran. The president who recently died was a dictator who liked putting statues of himself all over. The country is difficult to visit, requiring being part of a tour group in order to get a visa. Actually one can get a Turkmen 3 day transit visa, but only if heading to or from Iran(not to Azerbaijan). Americans basically can not get an Iranian visa...except maybe if part of a tour group. I had no plan to visit Turkmenistan currently.
Although I had obtained the Kazakh visa in Beijing, and had my Kyrg visa by arriving at the airport in Bishkek, I had not planned well enough for the Uzbek visa...and now it was going to cost me $270 and a week of time to obtain. This was too much, so I decided to skip it....I will go back to the region once it is more stable (and hopefully Turkmenistan and Iran will be easier to visit by them). I also decided to skip Tajikistan, since it is between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, and I could not travel overland there like I enjoy doing (although I could have flown into Dushanbe).
So I was left with Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Sounds good. Even though these are the easier of the five countries to visit, there are still corrupt games to be played. You may be walking down the street and notice some police hanging out on the next corner. They will definitely notice you, and ask for your passport and ask all sorts of silly questions (despite that they barely speak any English), and try to get money from you. When I responded that I was a student, they asked to see my student card, as if it was a requirement. The only way I got away was because three (other) Indian folks passed by. The officers turned their attention to them. By the time I was a block away I saw the officers escorting the Indians into the police van.
Yes I did actually take a seat nearby and take tele-photo pictures of these jokers. This was the next day, after they harassed me. For any traveler who comes upon this blog, note their location: they are hanging out front of the Beta grocery store in Bishkek (this is so common that the guidebook lists their other locations, to be avoided).Kyrgyzstan is mostly famous for its mountains, or for the Silk road town of Osh, located in the Fergana valley (the area full of silly jagged country borders between Kyrg/Uzbek/Tajik). I was only going to see Bishkek, where people did actually have the diversity of Central Asian ethnicities...not to mention a couple neat bazaars. Here are a couple pics from the Osh Bazaar.
And of course the region has lots of Nan, which is my favorite food in the area. Vegetarian and hot--although sometimes it is apparently made with animal fat. Last blog I posted pics of a couple Uighur men in western China making Nan. Here is Kyrg man and his wares. He actually looks Slavic, but of course there are lots of European Russian types in the region as a result of the USSR.
and in the tandoori:
I caught a marshutka (the Soviet version of the packed dangerous minibus found in undeveloped places worldwide) from Bishkek (Kyrgstan) to Almaty (Kazakhstan), a 6 hour ride. This included stopping at the border, which I have pictured below.
Now, a discussion on pushing and shoving. I may not say "please" and "excuse me" as much as I could, but I do like some orderly nature in lines. Last blog I described the chaotic pushing and shoving that the Chinese do at every opportunity. Indians can be similar, and Russians are not far behind, but the scene at the Kazakhstan entry post reached a new level of push. We're talking all out full body squishing, right in front of the immigration officer booth...with military folks looking on and doing nothing. The only reason that no one was injured was because the Soviet folks wear poofy furry coats, and many (of the ones rich enough to travel) have significant fat (big bellies, behinds, etc). Contrast this to the thin Chinese who wear thin coats, resulting in alot more bony prominences in line. There was absolutely no regard for courtesy, let alone human life, in this immigration area. People had their faces squashed up against the glass at the immigration booth. The best I could do was to lean into the push, putting all my weight backwards into the folks shoving me.
Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan until about ten years ago, when the capital was moved north to Astana. Almaty has mountains on the south end, but I did not see them because of the weather+ pollution. I did get the oppotunity to stay with Talant (a friend of philfriend Ben H), a young banker who had studied at Columbia in NY. Talant is a Kyrg man now living in Almaty. Being able to talk to a local person, even if only briefly, is better than long times traveling in foreign lands without any communication with the locals. Being able to stay with Talant was fascinating in learning about both Kyrg and Kazah people...only problem is that somehow I forgot to take his picture!
In Almaty I also stopped at the Green Market(above), and Panfilov Park(below), where there is a wonderful Russian orthodox cathedral, and a curious Soviet military monument.
This monument below is just as weird as it appears, and it is 3 dimensional (the military men are coming out at you). There is an eternal flame in front...and strangely this is a place to get married! (note the wedding party on the right).
Next: From Sea to Shrinking Sea.
Although I was going to miss Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, I definitely wanted to travel from the Aral to the Caspian to the Black to the Mediterranean Seas. The Aral Sea is shared between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and I wanted to take a train to the town of Aralsk in Kazakhstan. The Kazakh train system is just like the Russian one (because they were the same system previously), but with trains that are not as well maintained. The stations are just as grand (in the Soviet style). Here is a picture of some detail at the station in Almaty (note the hammer and sickle on the top of every side of every column).
Getting to Aralsk was a little tricky. A couple trains go there a day from Almaty (a 36 hour journey). Leaving Aralsk is tricky too: a couple trains leave Aralsk going west every day, but only one goes west directly to the Caspian Sea town of Aktau...and it goes only on odd dates. This took me a few hours to ascertain, given the language barrier. I was able to buy a ticket to Aralsk, but the Almaty station would not sell me an onward ticket from Aralsk on to Aktau. So i decided to take my chance that I could get out of Aralsk quick enough (it is no place to hang around as we will see...) 
Here is a provodnik (conductor) on the Kazakh train to Almaty. This train passed through the ethnically Uzbek town of Shymkent, and the silk road city of Turkistan. Here are the two guys that took interest in me during the ride (you can also see that the berths are the same as the Russian trains; this is 2nd class aka platz car). The guy on the right is named Borat. I am not making that up...although he looks a little more east asian than the Borat in the movie.
A note on language barrier. American travelers are often cited as being morons when trying to communicate to others....for example if the other person doesn't understand, the American may just repeat the same thing louder and slower in English. Well, this works both ways. People had been doing this to me all through Russia (but not so much in China since the Chinese stick to themselves). Now the two jokers in this picture spent 36 hours trying to yell Kazakh phrases at me to get my response. I kept good humor but was annoyed. Eventually I found a solution. I would just start talking to them very loudly in English (about anything, keeping a smile)...very quickly they would get annoyed and leave me alone for about half an hour.
Above is a picture of a tile mural in the train station of Aralsk. The mural has been there for decades. On the right is daddy Lenin approvingly watching, as his minion in green, reads a proclamation ("Provide fish for the country," is my guess) with outstretched arms to the fishermen of Aralsk. Note the fishermen on the seaside, with nets and sails, and barrels to ship all the fish off to feed the USSR.
Before I show pics of the former seabed, here is one pic of the town, to show that there is life there still. It is a small town. I arrived on Dec 21, the shortest day of the year (winter solstice), and it was snowing. The town streets were all black ice with a dusting of snow, making them dangerous (I fell quite a bit). The place is often described as bleak, so I guess I picked the bleakest day to be there. There is no airport, the 2 day train I took is the only way in. Here is the ruins of a building at the (former, and future?) port in town. Note the ship on the right.
Pictures of the Aral disaster often show large ships stranded in the middle of the desert, where the sea used to be. Some of these pictures are taken at places around the Aral that are harder to get to. I could have payed a couple hundred dollars to get driven in 4WD (a few hours away) to these sites, but I decided that seeing Aralsk would be enough. I was not disappointed. Below is a picture of me standing in the Aral Sea (i.e. on the former seabed), with a ship in the back. Note the cow grazing in the sea. Is that what is called a sea cow?
The temperature is about 10F, and yes that is a self portrait. However, the next picture is not a self portrait (despite what some may think). Those asses are walking in front of an area that has been partitioned off...allowing some water to gather near town. Im not sure what they call it, but I suppose it would be the North North Aral Sea. It is about as big as you see in the picture. Some fish are pulled out of it.
Only a couple ships were readily apparent in the former harbor, and by 11 am I had seen them... Well I knew that the waterfront had slowly receeded, so I reckoned that if I walk out to sea, then I will see more ships. So I started walking, nevermind that it was below freezing, windy and snowing (and I was carrying my luggage, which is a small backpack). I was not walking on smooth land. To keep access from the port to the receeding sea, the locals had dug a huge trench out to the water(a strategy to which was eventually abandoned). In this trench, on the day I visited, was muck. Water was collecting in it, and the water could not freeze because of the high salinity. So I walked on the highpoints. Also, the whole area was dusted with snow. After an hour or two of this I did indeed come to some more boats. So I played on them. Here is another self picture of me pretending I am sailing on the Aral Sea, following another boat with my own.
I hope my tetanus shot is up to date.
Back on"land"(i.e. at the town on the former seaside), I came upon these dromedary creatures, and this woman taking her sled to the well to get water.
Although this woman had to go fetch her water from a well, other buildings in town did have plumbing. Although I'm sure some had toilets, I did not see any. I tried at the local museum, the NGO office(a group trying to save the Aral Sea), the train station, and at a restaurant...all pointed me to an outhouse out back that they use...even in the dead of winter. Yes the poop piles were frozen (dont ask how I know). Also, none of these places (inside the business) were heated to more than 45 degrees F...i.e. i couldn't find anywhere warm to sit all day. So I kept walking. I came upon the town market area. In one doorway I found some women selling flounder. These fish were caught from the Aral...or maybe that partitioned area in the picture above with the donkeys. Anyway, they got quite a kick out of me, and despite the language barrier, I could detect a couple marriage offers. Is that what is called a meat market?
The market also had less meaty items, like bread, clothes, candy, DVD players, etc...
Here are a couple pics from the museum. Note the maritime items on display, and the pictures(on the right) of the former sea with ships in it. Quite sad.
There are also some paintings. Here is an especially sad one. Here is my interpretation. This man decorated in military uniform comes back from serving his country only to find his former livlihood gone (as he sits on his overturned boat). Note his headgear: most people in Kazakhstan(and all of central asia) are muslim of course.
So by night I returned to the train station, which was also apparently the local hangout for young males (nevermind that it had no heat). They were enjoying toying with me (and vice versa). One group insisted I take their picture. Note that almost everyone wears all black(this is a common theme through the Soviet areas). Also, something I noticed of males of any age: when you see your group of friends, make sure you shake hands methodically and thoroughly with each one. So I watched a few hours of high schoolish aged guys in black shaking hands.
Back on the train...another 36 hour, 2 night journey, this time from Aralsk to Aktau(Kazakhstan) a city on the Caspian Sea. Traveling by train from the Aral Sea to the Caspian Sea! That sounds like a once in a lifetime experience, so I paid $34 instead of $22 and got a first class compartment. The scenery was Kazakh steppe; steppe is Kazakh for "this scenery is as exciting as driving across Kansas". The first class compartment meant that instead of many random folks trying to talk Russian to me, I only had 3 trying...and boy did they try. And try. The main one was a woman, age 64, going to visit her son in Aktau. She insisted so heavily that I eat her fish (which stank) and eggs (which stank) that she almost shoved them down my throat. She had a motherly concerned look on her face that I was going to perish eating the bread and jelly that I had. I also had ramen noodles that I bought in Aralsk, but the noodles were stale! Stale ramen noodles. Now that is reaching a new low. Well by the time the train arrived in Aktau at 6am, I had communicated that my intention was to take a couple pics of the Caspian Sea, then go to the airport and fly over the Caspian to Baku (Azerbaijan). The woman insisted that her son (who picked her up at the station) drive me. He was a 30 year old tall fellow who spoke English. He was a Kazakh immigrations officer who actually had once taken a trip (with 16 other colleagues) to McAllen Texas to get trained in immigrations security by the U.S. counterparts. Anyhow, I paid him the taxi equivalent, and he did indeed take me from the train station into town, to the seaside to take some pictures in the dark, then to his apartment (where I met his wife and kids and new cat), and to the airport. Once again, entering the home (and having tea and toast) with this Kazakh family on the Caspian Sea was an experience worth many times more than simply traveling by myself. Also, I got to see lots of pictures of the Days Inn where he stayed in McAllen Texas.
...and the airline lived up to its name! We all boarded amid tremendous pushing and shoving to walk up a small staircase onto the plane. No seats were assigned. Im not sure why the pushing, because there was thankfully enough seats for everyone. Then the engines started. Then they stopped. Then some mechanics came on board and started taking apart parts of the plane. Here is a pic of them opening a ceiling compartment and working with some wires inside.
Did I mention the airlines name was SCAT? All passengers were asked to get off the plane. We waited in the "terminal"for a couple hours, then returned (pushing and shoving) onto the plane. By now I was planning how to survive a plane crash. I had my inflatable globe. I had a Nalgene plus a disposable water bottle, which I figured I could empty for additional buoyancy once the plane crashed in the Caspian. These planes actually do crash...the safety records are so bad that some of these former Soviet airlines are banned from other countries' airspaces!
One hour and no crashes later, I landed in Baku, Azerbaijan. Above is a map. Azerbaijan is the reddish one on the left side of the Caspian Sea. There are 3 countries in the "Caucausus" region. (yes this is where the word Caucasian comes from). All 3 are former Soviet countries. Azerbaijan is a Muslim country. Georgia and Armenia are mostly Christian. Georgia is the green one, and Armenia is the small brownish one. Note that part of Azerbaijan is separate from the main part...see the small brown area to the west of Armenia. If this map were more detailed, it would also show that Armenia currently occupies part of what Azerbaijan considers their territory. In other words, these countries hate each other. One other note: Armenia hates Turkey because Turkey practiced genocide on over a million Armenians during WWI. A volatile region, especially considering it is borderd to the north by Chechnya (a Muslim populated region of Russia; main city Grozny) and to the south by Iran.
Here is a picture of me on the Caspian Seaside in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. As my Scat flight landed, I met the British oil worker (Andy) (there is alot of oil work in Kazakhstan) who had been held up for a day in Kazakhstan due to extortion by immigration officials. He was the only other non-local on the plane (also, there were no female passengers). He was on business, so his company paid the costs of the "penalty" bribe, plus his airline fees. Anyhow, he was a nice fellow who offered me to ride his cab into town, then to shower at his nice hotel...and then he joined me for a day of touring around Baku. He had been there before, but hadn't yet done the tourist thing, so he enjoyed being able to see town while waiting for his flight home the next day. It was nice to have English speaking company.
They were actually quite fun, despite the language barrier. Note the walnuts that the fellow on the left has. They are grown in the region. I gave them to him after I determined I could not crack them by squeezing them against each other (he had encouraged me to buy them by insinuating that they are easily cracked by squeezing...he was not much more successful). Below is a typical station platform merchant.
Aralsk Mope. That is what the schedule said, I guess it is pronounced Aralsk More, which means Aral Sea in Russian. More is an ironic translation for sea because less is the key word here. I disembarked in Aralsk Mope to see the sea...or what was left. Being fascinated by all things environmental, this was a highlight for me. Some history: you may remember the Aral Sea on maps in geography class, being a large body of water somewhere in the USSR. Well, in the 1960s the Soviets decided to divert water from the two main rivers that feed it (the Amu Darya and Syr Darya) to grow mostly cotton in the desert of western Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. Without rivers feeding it, the sea shrank. By 15 years ago, it began fragmenting, like this:
I arrived in Aralsk at the handy time of 8am, and instantly was able to buy a ticket (see above picture) on the train to Aktau (36 hours away on the Caspian Sea) leaving that same day at 9pm. This gave me all day at the Aral. Above is a push and shove picture, to demonstrate ticket buying (I took the pic just after buying the ticket). These people will walk right up to the front of the line and push the front person (me) out of the way (nevermind that me, the front person, is currently being served!). The clerk at the counter will simply help the new person...and rarely try to tell them "hey get in the back of the line." So I go in with elbows out on both sides; I stand in line with my full body pressed up against the person in front...and when I reach the front I put my bag on one side (so no one can come in from that side), and I stand on the other side...making a triangle against the window. Nevermind the language barrier, which forces me to take 10 minutes for a 1 minute transaction, and fully frustrate all behind me.
Aralsk Mope. That is what the schedule said, I guess it is pronounced Aralsk More, which means Aral Sea in Russian. More is an ironic translation for sea because less is the key word here. I disembarked in Aralsk Mope to see the sea...or what was left. Being fascinated by all things environmental, this was a highlight for me. Some history: you may remember the Aral Sea on maps in geography class, being a large body of water somewhere in the USSR. Well, in the 1960s the Soviets decided to divert water from the two main rivers that feed it (the Amu Darya and Syr Darya) to grow mostly cotton in the desert of western Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. Without rivers feeding it, the sea shrank. By 15 years ago, it began fragmenting, like this: Scroll up to the previous map to see the current size.... or even better check out the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea. On the right side of the page are good maps of the shrinking Aral Sea. The Sea is currently broken into 2 parts...soon to split into 3 parts. The irrigation has not stopped, although the sea is dozens of miles out from the great fishing ports. Large tankers lie rusting in the desert. In some conservation effort, a dam (small dirt berm) was built between the current 2 remaining seas, and the North Aral sea has actually come back to some extent...but the South one is disappearing even faster now. Local dust storms have caused epidemics of tuberculosis. The list of social, health, environmental problems is long. Anyway, I wanted to see this mess, so I to Aralsk I went.
I arrived in Aralsk at the handy time of 8am, and instantly was able to buy a ticket (see above picture) on the train to Aktau (36 hours away on the Caspian Sea) leaving that same day at 9pm. This gave me all day at the Aral. Above is a push and shove picture, to demonstrate ticket buying (I took the pic just after buying the ticket). These people will walk right up to the front of the line and push the front person (me) out of the way (nevermind that me, the front person, is currently being served!). The clerk at the counter will simply help the new person...and rarely try to tell them "hey get in the back of the line." So I go in with elbows out on both sides; I stand in line with my full body pressed up against the person in front...and when I reach the front I put my bag on one side (so no one can come in from that side), and I stand on the other side...making a triangle against the window. Nevermind the language barrier, which forces me to take 10 minutes for a 1 minute transaction, and fully frustrate all behind me. 
Above is a picture of a tile mural in the train station of Aralsk. The mural has been there for decades. On the right is daddy Lenin approvingly watching, as his minion in green, reads a proclamation ("Provide fish for the country," is my guess) with outstretched arms to the fishermen of Aralsk. Note the fishermen on the seaside, with nets and sails, and barrels to ship all the fish off to feed the USSR. Before I show pics of the former seabed, here is one pic of the town, to show that there is life there still. It is a small town. I arrived on Dec 21, the shortest day of the year (winter solstice), and it was snowing. The town streets were all black ice with a dusting of snow, making them dangerous (I fell quite a bit). The place is often described as bleak, so I guess I picked the bleakest day to be there. There is no airport, the 2 day train I took is the only way in. Here is the ruins of a building at the (former, and future?) port in town. Note the ship on the right.
Pictures of the Aral disaster often show large ships stranded in the middle of the desert, where the sea used to be. Some of these pictures are taken at places around the Aral that are harder to get to. I could have payed a couple hundred dollars to get driven in 4WD (a few hours away) to these sites, but I decided that seeing Aralsk would be enough. I was not disappointed. Below is a picture of me standing in the Aral Sea (i.e. on the former seabed), with a ship in the back. Note the cow grazing in the sea. Is that what is called a sea cow?
The temperature is about 10F, and yes that is a self portrait. However, the next picture is not a self portrait (despite what some may think). Those asses are walking in front of an area that has been partitioned off...allowing some water to gather near town. Im not sure what they call it, but I suppose it would be the North North Aral Sea. It is about as big as you see in the picture. Some fish are pulled out of it.
Only a couple ships were readily apparent in the former harbor, and by 11 am I had seen them... Well I knew that the waterfront had slowly receeded, so I reckoned that if I walk out to sea, then I will see more ships. So I started walking, nevermind that it was below freezing, windy and snowing (and I was carrying my luggage, which is a small backpack). I was not walking on smooth land. To keep access from the port to the receeding sea, the locals had dug a huge trench out to the water(a strategy to which was eventually abandoned). In this trench, on the day I visited, was muck. Water was collecting in it, and the water could not freeze because of the high salinity. So I walked on the highpoints. Also, the whole area was dusted with snow. After an hour or two of this I did indeed come to some more boats. So I played on them. Here is another self picture of me pretending I am sailing on the Aral Sea, following another boat with my own.
I hope my tetanus shot is up to date.I actually saw one ship with 2 people on it...and a fire...it looked like they were living in the remains of the ship!
Back on"land"(i.e. at the town on the former seaside), I came upon these dromedary creatures, and this woman taking her sled to the well to get water.
Although this woman had to go fetch her water from a well, other buildings in town did have plumbing. Although I'm sure some had toilets, I did not see any. I tried at the local museum, the NGO office(a group trying to save the Aral Sea), the train station, and at a restaurant...all pointed me to an outhouse out back that they use...even in the dead of winter. Yes the poop piles were frozen (dont ask how I know). Also, none of these places (inside the business) were heated to more than 45 degrees F...i.e. i couldn't find anywhere warm to sit all day. So I kept walking. I came upon the town market area. In one doorway I found some women selling flounder. These fish were caught from the Aral...or maybe that partitioned area in the picture above with the donkeys. Anyway, they got quite a kick out of me, and despite the language barrier, I could detect a couple marriage offers. Is that what is called a meat market? 
The market also had less meaty items, like bread, clothes, candy, DVD players, etc...
Here are a couple pics from the museum. Note the maritime items on display, and the pictures(on the right) of the former sea with ships in it. Quite sad.
There are also some paintings. Here is an especially sad one. Here is my interpretation. This man decorated in military uniform comes back from serving his country only to find his former livlihood gone (as he sits on his overturned boat). Note his headgear: most people in Kazakhstan(and all of central asia) are muslim of course.
So by night I returned to the train station, which was also apparently the local hangout for young males (nevermind that it had no heat). They were enjoying toying with me (and vice versa). One group insisted I take their picture. Note that almost everyone wears all black(this is a common theme through the Soviet areas). Also, something I noticed of males of any age: when you see your group of friends, make sure you shake hands methodically and thoroughly with each one. So I watched a few hours of high schoolish aged guys in black shaking hands.
Back on the train...another 36 hour, 2 night journey, this time from Aralsk to Aktau(Kazakhstan) a city on the Caspian Sea. Traveling by train from the Aral Sea to the Caspian Sea! That sounds like a once in a lifetime experience, so I paid $34 instead of $22 and got a first class compartment. The scenery was Kazakh steppe; steppe is Kazakh for "this scenery is as exciting as driving across Kansas". The first class compartment meant that instead of many random folks trying to talk Russian to me, I only had 3 trying...and boy did they try. And try. The main one was a woman, age 64, going to visit her son in Aktau. She insisted so heavily that I eat her fish (which stank) and eggs (which stank) that she almost shoved them down my throat. She had a motherly concerned look on her face that I was going to perish eating the bread and jelly that I had. I also had ramen noodles that I bought in Aralsk, but the noodles were stale! Stale ramen noodles. Now that is reaching a new low. Well by the time the train arrived in Aktau at 6am, I had communicated that my intention was to take a couple pics of the Caspian Sea, then go to the airport and fly over the Caspian to Baku (Azerbaijan). The woman insisted that her son (who picked her up at the station) drive me. He was a 30 year old tall fellow who spoke English. He was a Kazakh immigrations officer who actually had once taken a trip (with 16 other colleagues) to McAllen Texas to get trained in immigrations security by the U.S. counterparts. Anyhow, I paid him the taxi equivalent, and he did indeed take me from the train station into town, to the seaside to take some pictures in the dark, then to his apartment (where I met his wife and kids and new cat), and to the airport. Once again, entering the home (and having tea and toast) with this Kazakh family on the Caspian Sea was an experience worth many times more than simply traveling by myself. Also, I got to see lots of pictures of the Days Inn where he stayed in McAllen Texas.A note on the Caspian: of course it would have been more interesting to sail over the Caspian, and this is possible, but only from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan (see above for why I did not go to Turkmenistan). It is also possible from Aktau to Baku (Azerbaijan), but the ship goes once every 10 days unpredictably. So I chose to fly, from Aktau(Kazakhstan) to Baku (Azerbaijan) just a couple hundred miles over the sea.
We arrived at the airport luckily just as the one flight of the day was leaving for Baku. I paid $150, and was issued the last ticket available. The immigration official stamping me out of Kazakhstan frowned at the fact that I did not have my white entry registration card stamped. This is actually a big deal. The current law is that I did not need to have it stamped, and my entry into the country (at the more trafficked post with Kyrgyzstan) knew this rule. However, this official at Baku was playing a common game, and wanted to extort money from me. The only reason she let me go was because the plane was leaving immediately and the airline folks were encouraging me to hurry. I knew that she wanted such money because I met a British (oil worker) traveler on the plane who was scheduled to leave a day earlier, but he had to spend a day and $200 to play the game. Travelers to Kazakhstan: get your registration card stamped when you enter!
Anyway, I boarded the plane and looked at my ticket only to realize I was flying SCAT airlines. Scat arilines!? Wow, there are some things you dont name your airline. This is one of the hundreds of airlines that splintered from the Soviet Aeroflot. It is also the Kakakh national carrier, and I dont know if it stands for anything. Here is a picture. (The pic was taken when landing in Azerbaijan, that is why there is a plane in the background...when departing Aktau there were absolutely no other planes)
Anyway, I boarded the plane and looked at my ticket only to realize I was flying SCAT airlines. Scat arilines!? Wow, there are some things you dont name your airline. This is one of the hundreds of airlines that splintered from the Soviet Aeroflot. It is also the Kakakh national carrier, and I dont know if it stands for anything. Here is a picture. (The pic was taken when landing in Azerbaijan, that is why there is a plane in the background...when departing Aktau there were absolutely no other planes)
...and the airline lived up to its name! We all boarded amid tremendous pushing and shoving to walk up a small staircase onto the plane. No seats were assigned. Im not sure why the pushing, because there was thankfully enough seats for everyone. Then the engines started. Then they stopped. Then some mechanics came on board and started taking apart parts of the plane. Here is a pic of them opening a ceiling compartment and working with some wires inside. 
Did I mention the airlines name was SCAT? All passengers were asked to get off the plane. We waited in the "terminal"for a couple hours, then returned (pushing and shoving) onto the plane. By now I was planning how to survive a plane crash. I had my inflatable globe. I had a Nalgene plus a disposable water bottle, which I figured I could empty for additional buoyancy once the plane crashed in the Caspian. These planes actually do crash...the safety records are so bad that some of these former Soviet airlines are banned from other countries' airspaces!One hour and no crashes later, I landed in Baku, Azerbaijan. Above is a map. Azerbaijan is the reddish one on the left side of the Caspian Sea. There are 3 countries in the "Caucausus" region. (yes this is where the word Caucasian comes from). All 3 are former Soviet countries. Azerbaijan is a Muslim country. Georgia and Armenia are mostly Christian. Georgia is the green one, and Armenia is the small brownish one. Note that part of Azerbaijan is separate from the main part...see the small brown area to the west of Armenia. If this map were more detailed, it would also show that Armenia currently occupies part of what Azerbaijan considers their territory. In other words, these countries hate each other. One other note: Armenia hates Turkey because Turkey practiced genocide on over a million Armenians during WWI. A volatile region, especially considering it is borderd to the north by Chechnya (a Muslim populated region of Russia; main city Grozny) and to the south by Iran.
Here is a picture of me on the Caspian Seaside in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. As my Scat flight landed, I met the British oil worker (Andy) (there is alot of oil work in Kazakhstan) who had been held up for a day in Kazakhstan due to extortion by immigration officials. He was the only other non-local on the plane (also, there were no female passengers). He was on business, so his company paid the costs of the "penalty" bribe, plus his airline fees. Anyhow, he was a nice fellow who offered me to ride his cab into town, then to shower at his nice hotel...and then he joined me for a day of touring around Baku. He had been there before, but hadn't yet done the tourist thing, so he enjoyed being able to see town while waiting for his flight home the next day. It was nice to have English speaking company.Azerbaijan is quite poor, but you would never know it from the people in the capital city Baku. Lots of oil money, and old oil money. So there is old European architecture in Baku, plus ancient Muslim palaces and mosques (see below pic). Baku was one of the main centers for Soviet industrial development. This means that the peninsula that Baku sits on (jutting into the Caspian) is full of tremendous pollution....some of the worst water and land pollution in the world. Not air pollution...the seaside breeze whisks it away. Actually the climate was quite pleasant...60 degrees F and sunny. Palm trees. The lakefront was developed parklike, and it felt sort of like Miami or Chicago....a world of difference from the frozen Kazakh steppe I came from.
After a day in Baku I boarded the train to Georgia. This was the Midnight Train to Georgia (it left at about 10pm). Below is a picture (note the train terminus sign "Baki"). The train crossed the border into Georgia at about 8am, and arrived in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia at 9am.
My first impression on rolling through the Georgian countryside was of the destruction...old train stations were just concrete shells, many homes were in ruins...but at the same time lots of construction was going on. Tbilisi, the capital city, is quite beautiful, and the highlights are alot of old churches.
The national favorite food of Georgia is a cheesy pastry (khachapuri), which I ate way too many of. The next day I caught a marshutka 6 hours from Tiblisi(Georgia) to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Armenia has no open borders with Turkey or Azerbaijan (border with Iran is open), which means that to travel overland, I needed to go from Georgia then return back to Georgia. Easy enough. The route was surprisingly scenic, sort of like driving overLoveland Pass(Colorado) back and forth for a few hours. Here is a picture from northern Armenia.
Armenians claim to have the oldest established Christian church in the world (church here meaning organization, not building)... the current seat of the Armenian Aposolistic church is in Echmiadizin, a town near Yerevan. Here are a couple pictures from Echmiadizin.
...and here is a picture of a curious statue in Yerevan..
The whole region from Central Asia to the Middle East eats alot of gyros/shwarma/donor type food (although I did find some great Lavash bread in Yerevan). On the ride back from Yerevan to Tbilisi I took this picture of the car in front. Is that what you call carrion luggage?
and some more carrion luggage, which someone was carrying on the minivan I was in...I guess it was officially a chicken bus.
by the way, the baaaaaad jokes are free. no kidding.
Upon returning to Tbilisi I caught the night train to Batumi, Georgia, a city on the Black Sea Coast. Arriving in the morning, I found a series of local transport to the Turkish border... One of the Georgian immigrations officials at the border tried a few times to get me to join him in some vodka. (I had actually not seen as much drinking in the Caucausus or Central Asia as I had in Russia). Here is a picture of the dawn on the Black Sea.
After a day in Baku I boarded the train to Georgia. This was the Midnight Train to Georgia (it left at about 10pm). Below is a picture (note the train terminus sign "Baki"). The train crossed the border into Georgia at about 8am, and arrived in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia at 9am.
My first impression on rolling through the Georgian countryside was of the destruction...old train stations were just concrete shells, many homes were in ruins...but at the same time lots of construction was going on. Tbilisi, the capital city, is quite beautiful, and the highlights are alot of old churches.
The national favorite food of Georgia is a cheesy pastry (khachapuri), which I ate way too many of. The next day I caught a marshutka 6 hours from Tiblisi(Georgia) to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Armenia has no open borders with Turkey or Azerbaijan (border with Iran is open), which means that to travel overland, I needed to go from Georgia then return back to Georgia. Easy enough. The route was surprisingly scenic, sort of like driving overLoveland Pass(Colorado) back and forth for a few hours. Here is a picture from northern Armenia.
Armenians claim to have the oldest established Christian church in the world (church here meaning organization, not building)... the current seat of the Armenian Aposolistic church is in Echmiadizin, a town near Yerevan. Here are a couple pictures from Echmiadizin.
...and here is a picture of a curious statue in Yerevan..
The whole region from Central Asia to the Middle East eats alot of gyros/shwarma/donor type food (although I did find some great Lavash bread in Yerevan). On the ride back from Yerevan to Tbilisi I took this picture of the car in front. Is that what you call carrion luggage?
and some more carrion luggage, which someone was carrying on the minivan I was in...I guess it was officially a chicken bus.by the way, the baaaaaad jokes are free. no kidding.Upon returning to Tbilisi I caught the night train to Batumi, Georgia, a city on the Black Sea Coast. Arriving in the morning, I found a series of local transport to the Turkish border... One of the Georgian immigrations officials at the border tried a few times to get me to join him in some vodka. (I had actually not seen as much drinking in the Caucausus or Central Asia as I had in Russia). Here is a picture of the dawn on the Black Sea.
Next update: Gurkan the Turk man, some of Eastern Europe.
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