Tuesday, 30 April 2024
My train was supposed to arrive at 00:10 and depart at
00:30 but it only came at 00:45. It was a good thing I asked some locals and
not board a train that arrived at 00:20 for that train was bound for Astana.
When the train arrived, I quickly walked to wagon 3 where
my compartment was. I made the bed, performed ablutions, changed clothes and
promptly fell asleep. I had purchased a bunk bed in a business class
compartment that comes with its own toilet, sink and shower. Apart from the
time when I showed the officer my ticket to be shown the direction, no one came
to check my ticket during the journey.
I woke up at 04:00 for morning prayers and went to sleep
again. I woke up at 07:50 and had a shower. The sink tap and shower continued
flowing out even though I pressed the tap down many times. It took a while and
much wasted water before the water stopped flowing.
After freshening up, I set to have ramen for breakfast.
It was then when someone tried to open the door. Turned out I have a
compartment mate joining in from Taraz. He’s a 60-year old Korean and we had to
use some translation app to talk to each other. Well, it was a good thing that
I woke up and showered when I did! He was very thoughtful and came with a
plastic bag containing two bananas, two eggs and a sausage for me. I took the
bananas but was not sure about the sausage so I left it. I later found out that
we can expect to get halal food throughout Kazakhstan.
We reached Almaty 2 train station at almost 4:00 p.m.
There is another train station, Almaty 1 station, but it is outside the city. I
walked to find Information but the ladies at the counter couldn’t speak English
and one of them used a translation app to tell me to go to Altyn Taraz, a
nearby building, to enquire about Onay card. After struggling to communicate
with one of the officers there, I decided not to buy the card. The card costs
400 tenge and only provides one ride. I would need to top up the card. And I
would have to return the card to get the unused balance. The fare would cost
slightly more without the card but it wasn’t as if I would be riding too many
buses in Almaty anyway.
I went back to the station and waited for trolleybus no.
5. I had no small change for the 200 tenge so the driver helped to find change
for me. I got down at Auezov Theatre and asked a few locals for directions. And
it was a good thing I did too as I lost my bearing. And I should have stopped
at the next stop but how was I to know that as the only landmark I had then was
Auezov Theatre. I walked and finally asked a cyclist who was stopping at a red
light and he said I was on the right street. Alhamdulillah. I walked on another
block before I found my hostelhostel.
I was shown around the hostel and where I would spend the next three nights. I was not happy to find that my bed is on the upper bunk and that I had to put on the bed sheet, duvet cover and pillow case myself. And the girl below me was not friendly – until she found out I wasn’t a local.
I was tired – it had been a long day so I had a shower,
performed prayers, had a light dinner and rested after that before climbing up
to sleep. Walked only 3.1 km or 4,662 steps today as I spent the bulk of the
day aboard the train.
Wednesday, May Day 2024
Woke up for morning prayers then climbed back up to my
bunk. One of the girls was still up, playing games on the notebook. Another
girl kept getting up to check her phone. Another slept through her alarm. I
finally got up before 08:00 and got ready for the day. I walked to
Kazakh-British Technical University, stumbled upon the Memorial of Glory,
checked out the Ascension Cathedral (Zenkov Cathedral) and then walked to
Almaty Central Mosque, browsing the Green Bazaar on the way to the mosque.
I turned back and walked to TsUM and beyond. It started
to drizzle and I walked quickly until I found Lanzhou Noodles where I had
noodles for lunch (not easy to place my order as hardly anyone spoke English!).
I was missing noodles. Rice, not so much. From experience, I know I can live
without rice for at least a month.
The rain had eased by the time I emerged from the
restaurant. I walked back to the hostel, enjoying the view along the way - the
towering mountain ranges in the distance, the river Esentai, the budding trees.
The sky was still overcast and true enough, it rained shortly after I reached
my hostel. I rested then ventured out again to find some bread for dinner.
After dinner, I asked the girl manning the reception how I could get to
Autovokzal Sairan by public transportation. She made a search and told me the
bus stop to wait at and the trolley bus number too. I also found out that four
of the occupants in the dorm are students attending nearby colleges and
universities.
Walked 18.5 km or 26,043 steps on May Day!
Thursday, 2 May 2024
This morning, I decided to check out the bus stop that I
found out the evening before. it took about seven minutes’ walk from the
hostel. After that, I walked along Abay Avenue to the Central State Museum
before crossing over to the Independence Monument. Then I walked down the lane
from the Independence Monument (even found Hermes boutique
along the way!) and finally went to the Green Bazaar. I browsed the bazaar and
left after buying a pack of plov rice. I returned to the hostel, performed
prayers and had lunch (was informed by my dorm mate that it was Uzbeki plov and
that Kazakhstan does not have its own plov). I then started packing as I would
leave early the following morning. I stayed in for the rest of the day. Today,
I walked 18.9 km or 26,643 steps.
Friday, 3 May 2024
I woke up for morning prayers. After a brief rest, I
freshened up and had breakfast. I then checked out and walked to the bus stop
at Abay Avenue for the trolley bus no. 19 to Autovokzal Sairan. At the bus
station, I bought ticket for the bus to Bishkek. Ticket cost KZT3,000 and not
KZT1,800 as what I’d read on some blogs. Good thing I still had some tenge! I
also met two Malaysian girls who just arrived the evening before. The bus
stopped at a rest area to enable us to stretch our legs and use the facilities.
We finally reached the border check point. We got down
with all our belongings, collected our bags and walked through passport control
on both sides. Then we had to wait for the bus and driver to clear passport
control before re-boarding the bus at some stalls about two hundred metres
after the border. I changed USD20 at a money changer at the bus station for my
bus fare. From Bishkek Autovokzal, I asked a local girl who told me to take bus
no. 6 to Bishkek Park where Sheraton Bishkek is (my landmark). It was an easy
walk from Bishkek Park (which turned out to be a shopping mall) to Izzzi
Hostel. Hello, country no. 94!
After checking in (I paid USD for my bed), being shown around the hostel, performing prayers and discovering that Bishkek is an hour ahead of Almaty, I ventured out to explore the neighbourhood. I walked to the City Hall, Molodezhnyy Theatre to the National Bank, turned back to the International University of Kyrgyzstan which is sited at the edge of the Toktugul Satylgano Philharmonic Square. The Manas Statue is here too. It was a bright afternoon and there were many people at the square, skateboarding, playing volleyball, spending time with their families or walking. I enjoyed the walk around the square. I also noticed a lot of young South Asians around, they must be international students there (although recent developments may drive them away).
I then walked to Café Faiza for early dinner. Unfortunately, although the website is in English, hardly anyone spoke English. None of the table servers did. I had to ask customers at a nearby table if they could help me with the menu before finally ordering laghman (prepared from hand-stretched noodles, meat and vegetables) for dinner. It was three days later when I realised that laghman is another spelling for la mian (our local pulled noodles). After dinner, I walked back to the hostel and stayed in for the rest of the evening.
To be continued
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