We're home

Being back is strange. At first, it's just all normal as we left. But when I get inside my thoughts and remember particular moments of the trip, they are so real and far at the same time, they somehow become shaky and unreal. I remember the day we left Latvia like if it was yesterday, while the trip seems to have happened in a parallel universe. Like if the time of this year had been compressed and placed in some pocket, some small place where you would not notice it if you were not looking for it. But if I take a close look at it, it's so detailed and still so strange to me that I can't place it in time. Right now I have the taste of Sikkimese nettle soup in my mouth, I can smell the fresh orange paint of Sakya monastery in Ghum, I can feel the heat of the morning boiler on my legs in Bikaner, or the snow getting in my shoes in Srinagar, like a serie of déjà vus I could not place between my last day in Rīga and my first days back in Latvia.

But it also feels good to be home. We are now settled in the beautiful Latvian countryside and enjoy a slow return, counting the familiar faces one by one, and rediscovering things we missed during the trip. We can spend the spring on the Baltic seaside and wait for the Midsummer (when this blog was supposed to end, I know), and new exciting things to come in the summertime...

When you travel that way, the people you meet are important. Road companions, amazing hosts, friends, there are so many people who made our trip so special. In this last entry I would like also to share with you the blogs of different friends we have met during our trip. You can find the links in the "Friends" category on the right column of the blog :

-  Kim, a musician we met on the ghats in Varanasi : Au son du bansuri

- Myriam, who volunteered with us in Bikaner, and travelled along in Jaisalmer and Bundi : Somewhere in Asia

- Anastasia and Sascha, another binationnal couple, who did Vipassana with us : From Prague to Singapore

It was cool to write our own blog, and share a bit of this adventure with you, everywhere we go. I think we'll miss doing that. Also in the blog we built with each entries a playlist of hidden songs (that you can find here). Thanks for reading!

Nursultan's Kazakhstan

Astana. After Bishkek stucked in its soviet past, Almaty desespertly normal and rooted in the present, we are in the future now. The new capital of Kazakhstan is a futuristic city that appeared out of the desert about 15 years ago. Nursultan Nazarbaev, first (and still current) president of Kazakhstan, decided soon after the independance of the country to rise a new capital for 21^st century's Kazakhstan, as well as for his own ego. The skyline of the new city is impressive, and so unsual that many conspiracy theories see in Astana either an evidence of Illuminati's hand holding the world, either a capital for the New World Order. I must admit, without giving credits to any of this, the city is strange and a walk in its center surprising.

 

Let's start the visit with the most curious monument of the city. The pyramid is conceived to be the geographical and symbolic center of the city when Astana will have reach its planned extents. The place is named Palace of Peace and Accord. It was built to host regulary the Congress of World and Traditionnal Religions. In the underground is an opera theater. Climbing up in a diagonal elevator, you pass by several floors dedicated to administrative offices, meeting halls and exhibition galleries before to reach the upper part of the pyramid. The last thing to cross before to arrive at the top is a ridiculous winter garden of fake plastic flowers. The upper part is a conference hall called the Cradle hall, with windows decorated by stained-glass doves. A special elevator, reserved for the president Nazarbaev, brings him directly to this hall. ''Jesus Christ!'' says Tince with astonishment, but if Jesus would come here, he would have to take the stairs. It's weird to imagine the religious leaders and representants of the world gathering around Nazarbaev, in this place full of symetry and symbolism. Outside and nearby the pyramid, you can see a recent but beautiful mosque. Although this is the largest mosque in Central Asia, the building is still smaller than the pyramid, as the cult of the president has more importance here than Islam.

Inside the cradle hall of the pyramid.

Crossing the river, you can find the residence of the president, Ak Orda. The parliament, the senate, the tribunal can all be find at a near-distance and all the powers of the country are gathered around the same square. Two shiny golden-glassed towers keep the entrance to the place. On top of the residence itself you can see a sun, carried by a flying eagle, same as on the Kazakh flag. This solar symbol makes me think about Ancient Egypt, at a time when new pharaos regulary moved their capital to a new built city with temples dedicated to their own cult and where the previous pharaos could be forgotten.

In the city center rises another strange monument : Bayterek. A tower crowned by a glass golden ball. Bayterek is supposed to represent the Tree of Life, and to remind a Kazakh legend where a mythical bird lays a golden egg containing the secrets of Human desires and happiness in the top of that tree. The place is a strange mix of modern architecture, Kazakh mythology and cult of personnality. In the golden orb, one can enjoy a great overview on the city and place his hand in a print of Nazarbaev's hand, in a golden triangle at the center of it.

The center of Astana is built on an east-west axis, with a large esplanade linking all those places. In the morning, the sun rises behind the glass pyramid, at noon it passes over Bayterek, and sets in the evening behind a large transluscent tent : Khan Shatyr. The material used for the tent is so that the temperature inside remains the same all year long. Inside the yurt is a big shopping mall. When visiting the place, I think about the symbolism of this. In Kazakh nomadic culture, the yurt is the center of the family life and traditions. Isn't it representative of modern lifestyle to bring this temple of consumption in the very core of family life ?

The architecture of this city is indeed impressive, and gives the city of being in a megalopolis. However this feeling is still somewhat artificial and misleading. Sometimes if one turns into the wrong street behind this or this tower, one can arrive out of the city, facing the desert. The city is unfinished and in many parts cranes are just part of its skyline. In the Palace of Independance, it is possible to see the city plan and have an outlook on how the city should look like in 2050. For instance, behind Khan Shatyr will be built an inside city, a complex of building with the capacity of 1 million of people who will be able to enjoy a life inside with constant 27°C of temperature, and also parks and river. People living here have very different opinion about this city, some liking it and some don't. I don't know about living here but it's definitly worth a visit! After almost two weeks here, there's only one place left to see : the airport, which will take us home tomorrow!

Yuri Gagarin on the silk road

Kazakhstan. Last country before home. After a week in Almaty we begin the longest hitchhiking neither of us have ever done. More than 1200 km to cross the country from the very south of the ancient capital until Astana.

Almaty was normal. That's the best word to describe it. The other would be boring. Nothing really fascinating about this big modern city. It could be anywhere in Europe. To save it a bit, I could add that if it's not so interesting to visit, it must be pleasant to live in. The city is clean, green, young, active, and the level of life in this place reaches much higher than many place of Central Asia. But soon we left it to hit the road one last time.

When we imagined hitchhiking those almost 1300 km, we wondered a lot how we would make it. It went actually easier than we thought! Soon after starting, a young and friendly man took us for free until Balkhash, roughly half way between Almaty and Astana and near the lake of the same name. Actually he would have taken us until Astana, but we wanted to make a stop, and enjoy the road, rather than to drive it at once.

And what a road! Most of the road from Almaty to Balkhash is a desert. Wide and plain. In all four horizons one can see kilometers of nothing. Not a man, not a house, not a tree. Sometimes a rare eagle spread its fast shadow on the dry ground. Only once, on the side of the road, four poor houses offer tea to the cars that stop. ''There's no network here'' says a woman who must have endured the hottest summers and the coldest winters. Behind the small sheds and wagons, altogether four of them, four toilet houses are standing lonely in the middle of the windy fields. I am thinking about the president's determination to make Kazakhstan enter the top 30 highest developed countries of the world before 2050.

Balkhash lake is the largest of Central Asia since the Aral sea is shrinking. It spreads in a long snakelike shape and has also the peculiarity to be half of fresh water (in the west) and half of saline water (in the east). Closer we get to the lake, the more people we see. The more camels too, carrying their furry two-humped backs in the dry land. And the more policemen, who are really everywhere in Kazakhstan. Nothing really grows here. Except marijuana. Long time ago, when no one knew such Kazakhstan, Chu valley was already known in Russia for that reason, tell our driver. This might be one more reason for policemen to stand here.

Arriving in the city of Balkhash we soon get caught by a half crazy woman called Lastochka who still shows helpful as she finds us a cheap place where to stay a couple of nights. We rented a flat from two overdressed young ladies with heavy make up. Do not drink in the streets, come to drink in the flat, one of them warns us while closing the hole in the window with a tape. We spent so two nights in this place, and one incredibly hot day (around 35°). We looked for freshness near the lake where I had a swim in sensibly cooler water (probably between 15 and 20°).

The next day we were back in the outskirts of Balkhash, thumbs up. We didn't wait long for a car to pick us up. It was a van full of dry fishes smelling mouthwatering and strong. We travelled the remaining 600 km to Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan.

9 days of lepeshka

Day 1

We've arrived in Karakol, the starting point of our walk. The 4^th biggest city of Kyrgyzstan is a village with a breath of glorious past and only two asphalt streets. We are immediately in love with this place and don't understand why Lonely Planet is underestimating it so badly. Keeping in mind that Kyrgyzstan is famous for its nature, not the cities, Karakol is probably the most interesting city we have visited.

At the evening we try banya, russian sauna, wich is very popular here. Still we are not brave enough to go to the public one, as it's gender seperated and probably totaly naked. Family one we rent for one hour turns out to be a really neat, little private sauna. An old woman at the entrance gives us two metal bowls for washing and wishes C лёгким паром! Even if we both love sauna and have one at home regulary, Nicolas later admits that the last time he has had such a heat was probably in Finland.

Day 2

We start walking only in the afternoon and are surprised to reach our today's destination in just two hours. Jeti-Oguz also called The broken heart or Seven bulls is a row of red sand rocks, each of them somehow cut in half right in the middle. There is no cafe here so we go in the only shop opened to ask for a warm cup of tea. Besides the tea we get also a place in a yard to build a tent and a friendly dog for guard. Night seems the longest of my life as the wind from nearby portentous mountain valley brings rare snowflakes and freezing cold.

Day 3

Picnic in the tent, brushing teeth in the yard and around 8:00 we are ready to walk again. Our new guard and friend treated with a slice of sausage follows us for the next 20 km until we reach Shalba village. No cafes or shops here, we are lucky to be invited for a lunch at local's home. Kind old woman offers us colostrum (young milk) and remembers Latvia for it's good cows that were brought to Kyrgyz kolkhozs during USSR. After lunch she refuses to take any money, but is interested in our dog. We decide that it wont be allowed on plane to Riga anyway and agree to exchange our friend for a free meal.

Day 4

Finaly we reached the lake and built a tent on the beach between bushes of sea buckthorn. We are trying to make a fire of material available here – dried sheep poop and branches. Poop makes a lot of smoke but no fire, while branches burn out so fast that we hardly have time to cook our dinner. Menu of this week is simple – sausage, cheese and lepeshka, traditional Kyrgyz white bread in the shape of Yulia Tymoshenko's hairdo.

Day 5

Sleeping in the house of a local family tonight. Here in countryside people are very kind and often offer us help (food, ride, their yard) without asking anything for it. Still Kyrgyz people like to say they are poor. Very often they will start a conversation with – So how do you like Kyrgyzstan ? Poor people, no? We are wondering in wich country we have met the most happy people. Surprisingly it's in India, country whose people have probably the most reasons to be unsatisfied.

Day 6

In the drab and half abandoned village Tamga, a sign over the post office door says – mail, telephone, telegraph. Sometimes a man on a horse crosses the dusty road, and we have a feeling that we've arrived in American far west. Locals say that summer is crowded with tourists. We like to travel off season.

Day 7

We've reached our final destination - Skazka (Fairytale) canyon. It looks like in a fairyltale indeed. Different shaped and coloured rocks form a natural maze. There is no shadow, no sound. Probably it's the most epic place we have camped and definately the highlight of this walk.

 

Day 8

A guy we meet on the road tells us about a nearby lake, so salty one can float on it. That's an experience we can't miss so we decide to stay one more day and try to find it. After a short lift in a very fast truck and a long walk between sandy hills we arrive there. The salt lake turns out to be a bay of Issyk Kul. The water is too cold to relax and float, but Nicolas has a fast dip. We return to our tent to empty a bottle of fake Tsinandali, made in Kyrgyzstan.

Day 9

The trek is over. It's time for us now to hitchhike back to Bishkek, and to get ready for a new country...

See : 9 days of daal bhat

Миллион алых роз

Often in Kyrgyzstan it would be easy to forget we are not in Europe. However when it comes to the pure European tradition, such as as drinking or hitchhiking, people here don't really know what it is or how to do. And we realize then, we are far from home.

Forget about the easy rides of last summer, hitchhiking in Iceland. In fact, people here expect to be paid for the ride. We had very hard time explaining them what is hitchhiking. And even after explaining, the reaction was like : "So... How much can you give?". We finally gave up on a free ride and started bargaining a price with drivers. Eventually we managed to get a fair price and a car to Osh.

We didn't do this ride for Osh itself, but rather for the road through Kyrgyzstan that was reputated for its landscapes. And we were not disappointed. Old Russian chanson on the radio, we could contemplate the beauties of Kyrgyzstan by the windshield for more than 13 hours. We definitly got the slowest driver of Kyrgyzstan. Maybe of all Central Asia. But the view was gorgeous. Up to snowy highs where rare locals sell honey and kymyz (a sort of kefir made from mare's milk) and huge ravens draw circles in the sky over the most unspoiled snow. Down to some valleys where horses run in the wild, shepherds gather livestock (mmh... shashlik!), kids race on donkeys... Time by time a handwritten sign shows "Gasoil" and points to a private yard. On the way we passed by Toktogul lake, a large mountain lake in a unreal blue color.

Osh is a city at the border with Uzbekistan. Much smaller than Bishkek, less russified also (we could finally hear people conversing in Kyrgyz and in Uzbek). The main site there is Suleiman Too, a muslim pilgrimage site on a rocky hill in the very center of the city. This hill makes a pretty park where to have a walk, with high caves where to climb. But the first thing that caught our attention in Osh was a huge statue of Lenin (at the end of Lenin street!) welcoming us in town.

One evening, going out for diner, we ended up in a kind of salle des fêtes/tautas nams. There we met old Uzbeks celebrating what seemed to be a marriage anniversary. Ladies were singing Raimonds Pauls' Миллион алых роз on karaoke and we were soon invited to dance with them.

The way back could have been quick. This time we ended up with the fastest (and most dangerous) drivers of the country. However we got caught in a snow storm on the pass in Ala-Too mountain range, about 100 km before Bishkek and had to remain immobile for about 10 hours.

On a totally different matter, we have some news to share with you guys. First it seems we won't be able to finish this trip as we intended, driving back home on the transsiberian railway. We saw our visa application to Russia being refused. At the embassy we were told to go to our home countries, apply for visa there and come back in Kyrgyzstan. Great. Positive point : we now have more time to explore and enjoy Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Then you can expect us to be back in Latvia. Here comes the date : May the 6th, 2015.