Graeme:
Checking out of the hotel this morning, I asked the receptionist 'Can you drink the tap water? to which his reply was "nooo no no no you can't drink the tap water, you need to drink bottled water here". Oh cool - that information would have saved us a miserable and expensive experience. In Chita, there were signs at the taps saying don't drink the water, and provided four bottles of water for you.
As a result of the illness I'm feeling a bit fragile. Longing for the consistency and reliability of home. Reliable food, water, bathrooms and healthcare. Although we have not needed public healthcare, the thought of relying on it is something I sincerely hope to avoid. In a moment like this, it's easy to get down. It's still crazy hot which leaves us annoyed that we're too tired to drive, yet it's too hot to relax or sleep.
I can't help but wonder if we're a bit over the trip, or is this just typical of half way blues. Surely it's wrong to travel through a country simply for the purpose of 'getting it over with'? I just hope that our high spirits return and we don't waste the time we have left by feeling miserable.
I'll pull out the stops for once and say what I really think. The police here are pissy noncontributing zeros. On a lone stretch of road there will be a speed sign, way too low for the road conditions only to find a police man with a laser speed gun - nice! Every town has a checkpoint entirely devoid of process, but you do a courtesy stop to avoid trouble. If you do get stopped, there is no interest or excitement in where you are from or where you're going, they just ask for a piece of documentation that they can't read, purely to justify their miserable existence and then send you on your way without so much as a smile.
I'm going to even go as far to say the people as a whole are not very good. EVERY time I've tried to make eye contact with a smile, is instantly snubbed with a turn of cheek. The only people any good were the hotel staff, but then again they are paid to smile and nod. I'm first to admit, I might have it wrong. Their culture may deem it invalid to smile here, or nod, but I don't have to think 'oh goodie! Isn't it awesome how we got snobbed again! this culture is so amazing!' Other countries to your north and east are much nicer and not so inconsiderate. Perhaps we're seeing another reason why people don't come here? Initially I just thought it was the roads, but perhaps the people are a big factor in it. I don't think I'm just ranting because I'm hot and tired, I'm ranting because it's only now that my inhibitions are down.
I am genuinely excited at seeing if western KZ'ers are nicer than easterners.
Onwards!
We did 319KM today, 7KM over quota - NICE! And that was only half a day!
Cassie:
We've both been really sick these past couple of days, as Graeme mentioned, most likely from the water in Almaty. Either that or we just caught a bug. We're not quite 100% yet, but I'm sure the next 24-48hrs will see us back on track with our health.
It's so hot here. The past few days have been well over 30 degrees celsius and there's still no shade to speak of. Today we saw a temperature gauge that read 37 degrees. It's just like our trip through the outback of Australia almost a couple of years back now. It was terribly boring in parts and bloody hot because we had to do it during the Christmas holidays when we both had the opportunity for time off. We both said we would never do that trip in summer again. Unfortunately, I didn't count on the tail end of the Kazakhstan summer being just as hot. I asked the concierge at the hotel what the temperature range was during the year in Kazakhstan. He said 40+ in summer and down to well below -20 in winter with snow (in Almaty at least). Wow, I had no idea the temperature ranges were so drastic. If they get snow here, I'm very surprised at the extremely hot temperatures at this end of summer. It's autumn here in a couple of weeks and it's still nearly hitting 40 degrees. Finger
s crossed the temperature cools down enough for us to sleep tonight. We need a good night's rest! I'm envying all of you at home going through winter. And yes, I know Canberra's experienced the coldest winter in 50 years but to me that sounds like bliss! Call me crazy, but I love winter.
Unfortunately, because we were so sick we didn't really see any of Almaty other than what we managed to walk through on Sunday afternoon and what we drove through to get in there and out again. It seems nice enough. Seems to be lots of nice places to eat at and go shopping but we didn't get a chance to do either of those things.
We're on our way to Shymkent and may or may not get there tomorrow, depends on what the roads are like. We were fortunate to have maybe 250km of normal, smooth roads today. Then from there on to Turkestan where there's a temple we'd like to see. From then on it's just a matter of driving across the country to the border. The words we've both used to describe our feeling of this country is "distinctly underwhelmed". Russia and Kazakhstan represent the biggest chunk of our kilometres and time on this trip because they're just massive countries. It's unfortunate that they also have some of the worst roads.
There's four weeks left on our temporary importation for the car for Russia. We've estimated another two weeks from here to get across Kazakhstan which leaves us a comfortable gap of maybe a week to get across the other side of Russia in time before the temporary importation expires. This also has to include a hotel stay at some point in Russia because we have to register our passports at a hotel to ensure there's no problems when we exit. It's feeling a bit like work at the moment and I'm sure being unwell hasn't helped our attitude towards this part of the trip.
Let's hope we still have enough time and energy left after all of this to enjoy Europe.
Oh and another thing, we saw horse meat for sale in the supermarket. The weirdest part was, we think it was boy horse parts vacuum sealed in a packet. Ummm, ew.
Position: 12-08-21 18:47:46 +0600 +0000
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Hi Graeme, Mum told me about your trip. Have been dripping with envy every day reading your posts. Mate, its unreal, such a great adventure.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in russia/kaz I found they did have a frosty public presence- nothing personal, its the way they are. best bet is to get to know someone and get invited into their house- then you'll find some of the most hospitable people anywhere.
Don't worry about getting crook- if adventures didnt come with downsides it would mean your'e still sitting at home.
Looking forward to the next post!!
Martin Edwards
Sounds like you need another epiphany moment, and vodka bottle to smash Cass? Thanks to Martin for his wise words of advise from someone who has 'been there, done that', and on a push bike! The further you go the better your spirits should become as your truck is your familiarity and your home. Love you both. Mum D XXXXXOOOOO
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that you're not feeling well - just remember that this too shall pass (pun is kind of intended..)
ReplyDeleteCassie, yep, we're freezing our butts off here and yep, you're crazy for liking winter...but we lova ya anyway!!
Discovered that what follows sounds a bit like a sermon so feel free to ignore, but, I was hoping to insert a couple of helpful hints.
ReplyDeleteLife can feel like the pits when you're unwell & added to heat it's a recipe for the blahsssssssss. Remember the principle of evaporation & if there is a breeze try & hang a wet towel between you & the breeze. Similarly put one around your neck or if desperate one around your head, or a wet hat, can make a difference too. And drink, drink, drink water. It can make the difference between healthy & unhealthy. Before my last oddessy my GP suggested if I had bad gastro to add about 1/8th teaspoon each of sugar & salt to a glass of water to replace lost nutrients. Never needed to try it. I've no idea of water quality in Russia & ex- Soviet countries, but given your experience, I'd assume its undrinkable unless you are convinced otherwise. Seeing poor locals drink the water is no endorsement of it's suitability for you. Even highly developed parts of developping countries can have undrinkable water. One of the joys of being home was being able to drink & clean my teeth with tap water.
No doubt the brutal history that some of these countries has endured is a major contributory factor in how people respond to strangers. It's just another aspect of travelling and can provide a great source for a bit of philosophising. In other parts of the world you'd be seen as a travelling money bag & not left alone. That is really annoying too.
Don't worry about the horse meat. Like the toilets, there are cultural & economic reasons for it & if horse meat is the worst you see, you'll be doing well.
Hoping you are feeling better, although given the severity and heat it may take a little while.
Are you continuing to like the name Gershina for your vehicle? I think it's terrific. For me, it conjures a picture of a stocky Russian barbushka wearing a kerchief & apron who keeps on keeping on caring for her family and home through the hard political, economic and environmental circumstances of her life. That's what your vehicle is doing, ably tended by it's minders!