« Prev 1 ...5 ...146 Next »

Astana: Living a diplomat’s life

Posted on June 18th, 2010 in Asia,Kazakhstan by robjkentjr

The reason why we decided on the day-long train ride to Astana over Almaty is to visit our friends who recently were assigned to the US Embassy in Astana.  It was an inspiring moment for Rasa and me to have a glimpse of diplomatic life.
The blue dome is the home of President Nazarbayev and beyond is his legacy, which he built in the middle of nowhere all in the last 15 years.
At the top of the Bayterek Tower, you can place your hand into a mold of Nazarbayev’s to hear music and a guiding light showing you the divine way.  The security guards turned it off while I was there because I’m sure they are tired of continuously hearing it.
Another surreal aspect of Astana is visiting all these fabulous buildings and then having a whole 5-star restaurant to yourself.
The entire city is not a carnival.  There is a great selection of cultural and art shows to choose from.  Here is the travelling Buddy Bear exhibit.
One of the strangest sights though is looking out at endless steppe and seeing all these world-class architecturally designed buildings and parks that just do not seem to fit in.
Considering that Astana is one of the highest hardship posts (remember that winter averages -40°F), the life of a diplomat does not seem so bad while living in these fully paid luxury apartments.
This state-of-the-art toilet is another perk of being a diplomat.  It even has a heated seat that massages; standard in every FSO house.  We heard Rasa shriek from across the house when she hit the red button.
It was a great week to spend with our friends, especially for Rasa who discovered the CLO position at the embassies (She will talk more about that in her blog).  Next we flew to Ust-Kamenogorsk, which is the departure city for Russia, China and our next country Mongolia.

  • Share/Bookmark
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 25-hour train ride

Posted on June 12th, 2010 in Asia,Kazakhstan by robjkentjr

Normally, you can buy your train tickets online but since Rasa and I are cheap we waited until arriving in Kazakhstan to get our tickets from Shymkent to Astana.  Despite there only being 3rd class tickets left (and the cramped, stuffy beds) we really enjoyed the ride and having a chance to interact with the locals, especially getting to drink fermented mare’s milk.
Rasa and I arrived at the station about an hour early and waited for the train and sunrise, while sneaking some pictures in between patrols.
We were adopted by several families on the train.  They made sure we tried their fermented mare’s milk and soggy pasta with sheep’s fat.
This was the corridor for our 3rd class .  It was cramped and very stuffy.
We could not even sit up in our bunks; they were only for horizontal use.
The toilet drained right on to the tracks and the conductor would lock the door at stations so you could not flush.  Very considerate I think.
I was so happy to see the spring tulips blooming.  It was like this for the first couple of hours out of Shymkent.
It seems every Russian landscape worth photographing has to have electoral wires and pylons in it.
The biggest problem on the train was getting harassed by the police for taking pictures and then having to delete all my photos because of security concerns (thank you Scandisk for recovery software).  Luckily, this was not so much of a problem in the Fantasyland capital of Astana while we were with people who have diplomatic status.

  • Share/Bookmark
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page — Next Page »