A VISIT TO THE 'STANS' (or some of them).

 28th Mar 2025

You will have heard of many of the 'Stans' which are countries (the coloured ones above are ex-Soviet Union) which comprise a large part of Central Asia. They include those shown above (not including the newly created 'Londonistan') which gained their 'independence' in 1991. They cover a large area. For example Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world and the size of Western Europe, which gives you some idea of the scale. The distance from East to West of the map above is about 2000 miles. I have done a (very) small amount of research before embarking on this trip which, like all previous others, will be organised 'by the seat of my pants' (ie. play it as I go). During my limited research, and purely as a matter of interest, I discovered that the 'Paki' in Pakistan is an acronym from its component regions of Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir and Indus-Sind. You live and learn! Anyway, given the vast distances involved and having little idea of the transport network, I will only find out where I can get to on arrival. The old 'Silk Road' trading routes, 4,000 miles of them (up until the mid-15th century) passed through this area through places such as Almaty, Tashkent, Samarkand etc.

I aim to start this journey on the 29th March at the romantic and charming transport hub of Stansted Airport (somewhere north of London) from where I hope to fly to Almaty at the south-east of Kazakhstan. 

To be continued……….continuing!

I must say I find most airports intensely irritating establishments nowadays. Stansted is no exception and up with the worst. 80% of it is taken up by a vast shiny shopping 'mall' selling all sorts of expensive (duty free!) tat plus grossly expensive food and drink outlets. I do not come to these places to go shopping! The remaining 20% is an actual airport. The crowds and queues were horrendous and, after eventually getting to the security checks, you can never be sure what some jobsworth will find which is 'against the rules' (see my final previous Vietnam blog). I always travel with only a cabin bag and a small rucksack ('under the seat in front' sort of thing), and this is a minefield as to what is allowed 'free of charge' depending on airlines' greed and vagaries. Anyway, I endured this experience without any problems and caught the Pegasus Airlines (a Turkish company) Airbus 321 for the initial, 4 hour, flight to Istanbul East. It was on time. The aircraft was packed and, in cattle class, not much leg-room and no screen for in-flight entertainment or info. There was no 'free' catering service but you could buy very expensive refreshments from a limited menu. It was basic, but efficient.

Left: Istanbul 'Sahiba Gökçen' airport which serves destinations to Asia. Another 'shopping mall' and useless WiFi system which involved having to find a rare machine, with a long queue, to scan your passport to get a code, and most didn't work and when they did only gave you 2 hours of Wifi. I was helped in doing this by a charming young Iranian girl who was much more tech-savvy than me. I was quite hungry by now and found a restaurant where I ordered a pint and a half of lager and a pizza. Cost? £44.50 !!!!!!! 😖

Onwards to Almaty (Kazakhstan) in another packed Pegasus Airlines Airbus 321 (same service as previous) which was 45 minutes late departing at 10.45pm (local time). Interestingly there was a very varied 'ethnic' mix of passengers including a few 'westerners'. I am not sure, yet, what an 'ethnic Kazhac' looks like! I had an aisle seat. A couple of these 'Westerners' were sitting across the aisle from me and wore face-masks for the whole duration! Nobody else was. I thought those filthy rags had gone out of fashion. It was a 5 hour flight and difficult to get any shut-eye in the rather cramped conditions. On approach to Almaty I wished I had had a window seat. The view to the north was spectacular, with high rugged snow-capped mountains glowing in the dawn sun. We touched down just after 6.00am (local time). I think Almaty is 5 hours ahead of UK.

Almaty airport was a pleasant surprise after the previous two. Clean and cheerful, polite staff, not crowded and quickly through passport control with no hassle. The security guards looked faintly 'Chinese' wearing smart Soviet style uniforms and those wide-brimmed service caps. 

In 'arrivals' I exchanged some money for local 'Tenge' currency (£1 = 600 Tenge). There was  a decent café and a most helpful Tourist Information desk manned by a charming young man, called Tim, who spoke perfect English. He issued me with a good city map of Almaty and ordered a cheap and non-rip off taxi (similar to Uber), to which he escorted me, to take me to my hotel. It arrived promptly for the 20 minute, £3, journey. He also shared his 'WhatsApp' comms and told me to contact him if I needed any more advice. An impressive service.

I write this from my hotel, the Reunion City, where, having had a freebie breakfast, I am off to get some kip. I have not had any sleep since waking up at Stansted at 6.00am yesterday and I've rather lost track of the time. It seems a very decent hotel and at £40pn very good value.

That will do for the 'intro' on arrival at Almaty and  Kazakhstan.