FABULOUS FOOD, VISAS HASSLES AND KARZ IN KAZAKHSTAN

The Central Asia chapter begins with us crossing the Russia-Kazakhstan border, heading south from Omsk towards Pavlodar and Semey in Kazakhstan. Kazakh cities are clean and the local people welcome us, many giving us waves as we pass by, a toot of their car horn, or strike up a conversation with us at the traffic lights. The selection of foods in the markets and shops is fantastic, especially in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty. Before we leave Almaty we secure visas for three other Central Asian countries, an ordeal of a kind. Economic prosperity for many Kazaks is evident in the larger cities where expensive foreign cars abound, as well as luxury items such as fashion goods, jewellery and home-ware products.



Kazakhstan is a prosperous country with significant export income generated from petroleum, as well as substantial wheat, fruit, vegetable and cotton production. Fuel here is relatively inexpensive at about 50 cents Aus per litre for diesel (about 75 cents for petrol). Much of the arable land benefits from irrigation from many of the large rivers running from the mountains in the east. Some of Kazakhstan’s lakes and rivers have reduced water levels and increased salinity and desertification caused by the diversion of irrigation water. In the past Russia tested nuclear devices on Kazakh territory, with resulting sickness in local populations and land laid waste due to radioactivity, a legacy that remains to this day.



In Almaty we apply for tourist visas for Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, essential for our planned itinerary. David Berghoff of STANtours helps with salient advice about the visa application process. To secure all three visas eventually takes us nearly two weeks. We take some time out to have a four day trip away from Almaty to see the local sites, including a drive along the Ili River, camping in this beautiful valley a number of times. On our travels, we discovered a deserted communist village, a National Park with Bronze Age petroglyphs, and a film set.



Investigating some of the local villages and irrigation channels off the main road, we come across the remains of a deserted village likely to have been developed in the 1930’s or 40’s, now with little remaining but the concrete walls of the buildings and the irrigation channels. The former village and surrounding agricultural land appear to cover an area of about 100-200 hectares. The residential, administrative and associated buildings are set out in a regular pattern, but now uninhabited. Within the village there are many planted trees, walking paths, fountain and hot water system piped throughout. The only part of the village that remains largely intact is a Lenin bust sculpture. This village is a most interesting find for us, a page from the history of KAZ, but where are the inhabitants now, why is the village deserted? Again our travels raise more questions than answers.

In many parts of KAZ there are sites with petroglyphs dating back thousands of years. One site, Tamgaly, is recognised as having World Heritage significance by UNESCO. A special two hours for us all, and our guide was keen and interested that we should understand what he was telling us. Charades are very difficult to explain petroglyphs!!
Animal noises to explain the carving were to be heard around the valley.



In travel from South Korea, through Far East Russia, Mongolia, Siberian Russia and now Kazakhstan, there are significant changes to our food sources and diets. We have camped 75% of the time and when doing so we generally prepare our own food, with the occasional lunch at a roadside café. When staying in accommodation, we eat at restaurants and cafes and sample the local fare.

South Korea is a modern economy; food being available in wide variety and quantity, mostly in large and well stocked supermarkets, but also from local grower markets and road side stalls.

In Far East Russia, foods outside the larger cities are limited in variety due to the harsh winter climate, expense of transport, and that many people are quite poor. We purchase many of our needs from growers selling produce by the road, including potatoes, cabbage, carrots, eggs and honey. Local people collect wild foods including greens, fungi and berries, all of which we have purchased on the roadside.

Travelling west into Siberia, the availability of food does widen, with the addition of smoked, dried and fresh fish in road stalls and markets. Some villages have bakeries and the bread is delicious, but others don’t have bakeries, when available, old bread is the only kind on hand. The best places to buy fresh food are the markets located in larger towns and cities.

Our fresh food choices change significantly in Mongolia. The harsh winters, lack of water for irrigation, vast distances and difficult roads means fresh food is in limited supply in most rural areas, the exception is Ulaan Baatar, the capital. Many villages sell only basic food items, including tinned, packaged, dried foods, rice and flour. For example, there is often no bread for sale as most food is prepared in the home for personal consumption and not sold in the small shops. Meat, especially lamb and goat, and milk products seem to form the basis of the rural Mongolians’ diet. Local sheep and goat herders gladly accept gifts of rice, pasta or tinned food from passing overland travellers.

During Mongolian’s Naadam Festival, a traditional food is khuurshuur, fried mutton pancakes which we all tried.

Road side stalls in Mongolia are predominantly stocked with horse milk products such as ‘airag’ (fermented mare’s milk) popular only with Ann in our group, and ‘aaruul’ (dried horse milk curds) also Ann the only taker in our group.

Occasionally we buy lamb (mutton really) at local markets. There is a distinctive flavour to this meat, not necessarily pleasant or agreeable to all. It may be the pasture herbs available to the sheep, as there is a similarity to the lamb meat taste and the smell of the herbs trodden by us at camp.



In Kazakhstan, there is a huge variety and availability of fresh foods, the only possible exception being fresh fish. Alastair has noted more than once that of among all the fishers he has observed, he is yet to see one pulling in a fish. Many villages make their living by selling produce from their back yards, including water melons, other types of melons, potatoes, apples, even bottled soft drinks. A popular roadside fast food is the sale of shashliks, either strips of chicken, lamb or pork on metal skewers, cooked on outside bbq’s as you wait and served on a bed of white sliced onion. There is also ‘kurtob’ or ‘kurut’, dried suzma (like tart cottage cheese) rolled into large marble sized balls, and according to our Lonely Planet guide, it has the half-life similar to Uranium the outside should be scraped diligently to remove foreign matter before eating. There are only a limited number of respondents reporting on these items!



Unfortunately Bron and Alastair have recently come to the end of their large Vegemite jar. After four months on the road, just how long can you expect just one jar to last, no matter how thinly it is spread.



In future we may report on the standard of hotel breakfasts, of which we have only had a few, the availability of pizzas in far flung places, our secrets for success in the battle against dirty and undrinkable water (tap water that is). If you have any interest in any of these topics drop us a line and we will enlighten you.

Ann particularly raises the issue of the well worn saying :”While travelling in Asia, if you can’t peel it or cook it, forget it.” In a word, she says you could starve if you follow that motto. Fortunately as we are travelling in our own vehicles we can prepare most of our meals, we do have control over the majority of the bugs, but not all, that is, except those associated with mares’ milk product eaten by Ann.



As a final thought, we toyed with the notion of including some of the ridiculous “famous last words” voiced by members of the group. For example, we have lost count of the times when camped beside a railway line at dinner time, Chris has confidently announced “This is the last train until breakfast tomorrow morning” or to Ann’s question about clothes washing Chris says “There is sure to be a Laundromat in this town”. We are yet to even see a Laundromat let alone use one. As we have run short of space and the Editor was the originator of almost all of the famous last words, we will leave this topic for another time.



The next chapter in our journey will take us through Kyrgystan, until then, cheers from us all.