Kazakhstan

On August 15th, we crossed the Russian-Kazakh border. What I will never forget is the incredibly friendly expression on the Kazakh border officer's face when it was my turn to get a border pass. As I continued on my journey, I realized that this kind of friendliness is the norm. The customs officer petted my dog, assumed that I was as friendly as he was, warmly welcomed me to Kazakhstan, and let me through. And so it went: steppe on the right side, mountains at various distances on the left. The first night in a simple hotel to obtain a registration certificate. Apparently, the state wants to check the hotel operators to prevent them from accepting too much black money from foreign tourists. By the way, I have never received a bill without being asked in any hotel, regardless of the country.

On the onward journey to Almaty, we passed through steppe, desert, vast fields of crops, and mountains on the right. We drove on muddy roads to a lonely lake. The next day, we continued on well-paved roads to the next overnight spot in the mountainous border area with China. It offered a wonderful panorama of snow-covered mountains. Thanks to the highway, we made good progress and reached the Quapschagai Reservoir, 80 km before Almaty; the water source for the city of Almaty and a recreational area for its residents. Unfortunately, I initially ended up at the old pumping station; the suction pipes were 3 m above the water surface. This facility was only used as a stable for livestock; the former resort buildings have fallen into disrepair. There is endless trash in the busy areas of the lake. Kazakhstan has a garbage problem: the cost of waste disposal is significantly higher than the penalty for illegal dumping. Visitors don't care about where their toilet paper ends up or what happens to their trash. And today, I arrived in Almaty. Here, the car's customer service is done before I do some shopping and travel to Kyrgyzstan.

What stands out is that the people here are incredibly friendly and open. I had to wait longer to exchange money and observed that people here chat and greet each other as if they have known each other for a long time. This is simply their way of interacting, which I really like.

Russian is actually spoken more here; many people (in stores, hotels, gas stations, restaurants) don't understand or hardly speak Kazakh. I could have saved myself the trouble of learning Kazakh. However, by 2025, Kazakh will be mandatory and the official language, written in Latin script instead of Cyrillic.

The dominant religion is Islam, accounting for 70%. You can see mosques, some without minarets. I can hear a muezzin now, even though I live in the Turkish district of Almaty. Women wear pretty headscarves that are tied back in colorful patterns. I have only seen the strict version three times so far.