THE GHOST TRAIN TO BISHKEK

4th Apr 2025

On to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, by train. I was advised to book the ticket in advance so, two days before leaving I paid a visit to the station ticket office to get one. There are two railway stations to the north of Almaty; Almaty 1 and Almaty 2. Almaty 2 is within walking distance of the northern Metro station Raiymbek Batyr. Almaty 1, where my train was due to go from and at which I was told to get my ticket, is about 15km north of that. Most inconvenient! I walked (c/o the invaluable Google Maps on my i-Phone) to Almaty 2. 

Left: Almaty 2 station. There was a bus station there. I assumed there would be a bus to Almaty 1. There wasn't! I was not going to use a taxi (as you know I am allergic to taxis, although they have a good Uber equivalent here, 'Yandex.Go', but I didn't have the 'App' then).

Right: An amusing statue outside Almaty 2. Haven't a clue of whom. Maybe a tribute to lost and helpless tourists?

So, a walk back to the Metro station and got advice from a friendly lady in a nearby car sales room as to what bus to get. She tried hard but the bus stops around the area were many and most confusing. Eventually I managed, with the help of a local lad who spoke English, to find a bus (No.73 if you are interested) which took me to Almaty 1 railway station, a 25 min journey.

Being an ex-Soviet country I was amazed how all the people I have dealt with so far have been so cheerful and helpful. I wondered where the traditional bolshy unhelpful Soviet-style 'Nyet-merchants' had gone. I found them at Almaty 1 train station. The ladies at the ticket and so-called 'information' office there (they were all ladies) were the most dour, unhelpful and sour-faced 'babushkas'. NO English! They did not even try to communicate. Their smile muscles had been removed. Fortunately the WiFi worked and I managed to communicate, eventually, via the 'translate' app with much reluctance on their behalf. I managed to buy a ticket to Bishkek, departing 06.40am on the 4th. The distance (on the map), by road, between Almaty and Bishkek is about 180 miles. My ticket read that I would arrive in Bishkek at 10.50pm! What!! 16 hours for 180 miles?

The hotel got me a splendid and efficient 'Yandex' cab at 5.15am on the 4th which arrived within 3 minutes and took only 20 mins or so to get to Almaty 1 station and cost a mere £2.50p (equiv). Time to spare at the station and I tried, without success, to get exact platform and departure times from the sullen babushkas at the ticket desk. No! Just look at the sign board….which was very confusing. At least the cafés were open.

Anyway, I somehow found the correct platform and while waiting for the train met a charming young Russian man who spoke good English. He was a lawyer and was waiting for a train bringing some of his belongings from family in Russia. He had 'escaped' to work in Almaty about three years ago to avoid conscription at the beginning of the Ukraine conflict. He told me that other professionals such as himself had done likewise.

The train, about 20 carriages long, duly arrived. I found my carriage and was 'greeted' by a somewhat grumpy lady, who spoke no English, who inspected my passport and ticket. I had a 'couchette' compartment to myself.

Left: My 'couchette' accommodation. It was perfectly functional, if basic, with no power points and certainly no WiFi (I had not yet downloaded an e-sim card which later in my travels proved invaluable) and I was given a sort of mattress to lay on the seat.

I discovered that of the 9 compartments in this carriage only three were occupied. 

The 'lady' official and another male functionary had a small room at one end of the carriage and there was a very primitive and rather dirty tin 'toilet' which did not flush at the other end. There was absolutely no form of buffet car, carriage service or any means of finding 'refreshments'. I had taken the precaution of bringing a tin of beer and a bag of nuts with me.

The train left 20 minutes late at 7.00am. It was the slowest train I have ever been on. Max speed in parts was about 50mph, but frequently dropped to not much more than walking pace and often just stopped in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason! 

Right: We travelled west along the border with Kyrgyzstan through entirely flat, featureless and almost deserted countryside. There was the occasional shed, or small farmstead, in the middle of nowhere. On one occasion I saw a tractor harrowing a field, miles from anywhere. There seemed to be no road and no habitation, other than the occasional dirt track, for at least 15 miles in any direction from this. How it got there and from where and to grow what, and why, it was difficult to imagine. 

There were the occasional flocks of sheep and small herds of goats and horses, again in the middle of nowhere. Even the occasional camel. I failed to get photos of these.

Incidentally, why is it a 'flock' of sheep and a 'herd' of goats? There is a shep'herd', and a goat'herd'. Just asking. I'm sure my efficient research agency, OMPITA, will have the answer.

The answer from OMPITA was, as always, promptly forthcoming:

The terms ‘flock’ and ‘herd’ are nouns used to describe groups of animals contingent upon their behaviour. The distinction between the two is somewhat subtle and in the case of sheep, who collectively behave in a flock like manner, this results in them being described as a flock as opposed to a herd. 

Flocks take flight as a group all simultaneously following a leader - especially birds. Herding animals simply graze together and don’t necessarily all flee in unison when spooked. 

I think that groups of humans could therefore be described as 'flocks'!

The train stopped, for no apparent reason, on several occasions at very dilapidated homesteads such as this (left). Nobody got on or off; well they couldn't as there was no platform and the drop from the train door to the ground was at least 6 feet.

Right: Another seemingly pointless stop. All these shabby dwellings had grotty outside 'toilets', and I never noticed any humans present. All rather baffling! How do they get their 'supplies' and from where? The occasional cow, donkey, horse, goat and even a camel at one such place were tethered outside. 

We stopped at two villages (according to my vague GoogleMaps reading), namely Otar at 9.00am and Chu at 12.45pm. The train, when it did stop at a station, was often parked between lines of freight wagons carrying oil and petrol (Kazakhstan has large oilfields and refineries and is a comparatively wealthy country as a result). 

In between having naps, I ventured along to the cabin containing the lady official, and her uncommunicative fellow male colleague. Deploying my finest chat-up technique I did manage, despite the language barrier and intermittent use of her 'translate' app on her i-phone (she had a WiFi connection although not too good at using it) to establish quite a friendly rapport. She then made me mugs of instant coffee at £1 per mug……quite an advance. There were never any announcements, and even if there had been I would not have understood them. I did meet one of my 4 fellow passengers in the carriage passageway, an affable young man from the area of Turkistan, but although he spoke no English he did help the lady with her 'translate app'.

I had little idea of where we were going. It seemed, after we had travelled further west, that we then headed north, then west again and eventually south-east for hours and for little obvious purpose. At about 3.15pm we stopped at quite a large town, Lugovoy, and it was at a platform this time. There were a few people wandering about but, again, I didn't notice anyone getting on or off. After 45 minutes we set off again, in the opposite direction. Presumably the driver had returned from his 4 course lunch break. I couldn't help reminisce that if this train had been in many other, especially 'far-eastern' countries there would have been swarms of vendors climbing aboard to sell food and drinks to the, by now, starving and thirsty passengers. I had drunk my tin of beer hours ago and down to my last few nuts.

At 6.10pm (I was keeping note of these times as I had little else to do) we stopped in the area of Merki, short of the border with Kyrgyzstan, for the Kazakh exit customs check. A team of officials plus a sniffer dog worked their way down the carriages. They carried out a comprehensive search of the compartment, made me open and rummaged through my bags, took photos and details electronically, and the dog sniffed away (my socks were of particular interest to it and probably ruined its delicate sense of smell). Then, after much perusal, they stamped my passport, thankfully. I'm not sure if there were other teams working on board this long train, but we moved off again after about 1hr 20mins. To stop again inside Kyrg (for short) near the town of Kayngdy, for their entry customs check which followed much the same tedious routine. They make a real meal of these checks and I'm not sure why….there must be a lot of baddies trying to cross the border. Off again at 8.40pm for the short distance east to Bishkek and arrived at 10.45pm (local)…Kyrg is 1 hour ahead of Kazak.

The railway station in Bishkek, fairly deserted at this time of night, is at the southern end of town. My little hotel (called, coincidently, My Hotel) booked 'on spec' the day before was in Chuy Prospect, a main street running east-west across the northern end. It was about 2.5 kms away. I walked. I needed the exercise! Thankfully with the use of a very basic Lonely Planet town map and my phone (Google Maps, which does not need WiFi to show you where you are), I got there at 11.55pm. Phew! Quite a journey. It makes GWR in UK look fast and efficient.

The lady receptionist at My Hotel was delightfully welcoming and even told me where to go, nearby, to get some rations from a large supermarket surprisingly open at this time of night. It was a very pleasant (and relatively cheap at £30pn) hotel.

Before I forget, I learnt the word for 'thank you' in Kazakh, which is 'raschmiet'. In Krygh it is 'raschmat'. You might find this useful?

Still miles, three weeks, behind with this journal and much more interesting things to come from Bishkek, and beyond…..

ALMATY ENCORE

2nd - 3rd Apr 2025

The Central State Museum in Almaty

Being, as you will have appreciated, a serious 'culture vulture' I decided to visit the State Museum. As with most of the City's important Government buildings it is located at the south end of the centre. A vast and grandiose building with enormous display rooms inside and relatively few visitors while I was there.  I attach some photos which might interest you.

Left: The entrance hall. Most of the ground floor rooms were devoted to Kazakh 'ethnology', 'anthropology' and 'palaeontology'. Just a load of ancient stones, pots and pans, shards of porcelain and a few skulls in spacious display cases. Very dull.

Right: What looks like a crowd of people (above) are all 'dolls', including the chap in the chair at the front.

Left: These two were impressively made.

The two upper floors, very spacious, contained all sorts of Kazakh memorabilia such as costumes, weapons, musical instruments etc., all well displayed in large cabinets or free-standing on the floor. Right: An old Kazakh gent with his pet bird and other accoutrements.

Left: A lifelike diorama (very well constructed) of even even older Kazakhs having a picnic.

Right: A traditional yurt with old musical instruments in the foreground…..banjos and ukuleles etc.

Left: A bit of ancient weaponry.

Right: The smart man-about-town, circa 1400? Getting through the front door might have posed a problem.

Left: A rather more up to date tractor.

I went on a walk around this southern part of town which houses most of the Government and 'official' buildings. The area was noticeable for very large spaces, buildings and wide boulevards which are, I suppose, an architectural legacy of the Soviet Union era. 

Right: What I think is the City Hall, or somesuch. Plenty of office space, but I didn't see much activity or comings and goings. Maybe they are all, in true UK fashion, working from home (WFH).

Left: This sign, by the front door, explains what it is.

Left: Alongside were some very attractive and well maintained 'memorial gardens' with fountains and more statues of prominent Almatians. I was told that the Presidential Palace was, or had been, behind this. On getting there all I could see was an area shielded off by high hoardings. I believe it was the Palace, burnt down in the riots/uprising of 2022, and being rebuilt.

What I did see off a street nearby was this construction site. This, apparently, was the Presidential Library (right). Did they manage to save any books?

Further city sights while wandering downtown. Left: A couple of girls enjoying an al-fresco cup of coffee. As mentioned previously, the ladies around here all looked slim, well dressed and cheerful. I really haven't had sight of any fat, let alone obese, tattooed, nose-ringed, sullen monsters which so commonly disgrace and wobble along the streets in UK. Diet? Perhaps, but they have fast-food outlets here. I just suspect the ladies here take a pride in their appearance and demeanour from an early age.

Right: More happy girls relaxing in the sun.

Left: A street-side artist at work.

Above: Street musicians enjoying their singing…even if nobody else was.

Right: I took this poor photo of some schoolchildren, out in their playground, only because I was impressed by their enthusiasm and discipline. There was a teacher, or games-master, (in the centre somewhere)  organising them in doing various excercises and drills which they carried out with great spirit and exuberance. Do our schoolchildren (when not on their mobile phones) get this encouragement?

Left: Another example of respectability. The city police were all smartly dressed, clean shaven and fit looking. They were also helpful in cheerfully directing, as best they could with the language difficulty, a stupid tourist who had got a bit lost and needed directions.

At the northern end of the city I saw a sign which pointed to the Central Mosque. I was curious, so went to have a look. Right: The Mosque in all its glory.

Left: Curiousity got the better of me…..so, shoes off, I went inside. I have never been inside a mosque before. Not many of the faithful were in, but it was probably not the popular time of day. It was very quiet with just a few of the worshippers muttering their prayers towards Mecca with bums in the air.

Right: A couple of Muslim ladies sitting outside. There were many 'headscarved' ladies about town, but not most by any means. There was certainly no sign of any wearing full face-coverings or anything so extreme. I think they are very 'moderate' Muslims….and cheerful with it!

My new hotel was, as I said earlier, well located near to a Metro station in the centre of town.  There was also, much to my delight, another 'Oirish Bear' just around the corner! 'Harat's Irish Pub' (left).  A very pleasant watering hole it is too, and the beer here is much cheaper than in UK.

Right: A peek inside.

Left: With rather an apt sign on a wall.

That has just about covered my brief visit to Almaty, and I was impressed. It was immaculately clean and well ordered, pleasant green parks, the locals were helpful and friendly and I have become quite good at reading Cyrillic writing. 

Next stop;  Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan……by train. There is a story to follow about that.

ALMATY AMUSEMENTS

1st - 2nd Apr 2025 

The statue of Abai Qunanbaiuly in Abai Square in front of the Palace of the Republic.

Abai 'Q' (1845 - 1904) was a Kazakh poet, composer, philosopher, reformer etc. etc. and a revered folk-hero. Probably played full back for the Almaty football team. Many places and institutions are named after him.

Left: The Palace of the Republic and large square with fountains are at the south-eastern end of the centre (confusingly, top left of the city map). They provide a venue for concerts, festivals and other cultural events.

I had moved hotels; to another decent and modestly priced establishment called the Mildom Hotel as it is more conveniently located and near the central Almali Metro station.

The Metro. I used this a lot. There is only one line running north-east to south to west. The stations, all 11 of them, are, irritatingly, not named on the upside down map. Albai is one of them, at the south-east. It is cheap (20p for any journey), clean, efficient and simple. Some of the line is a long way underground (see elevator right). 

Entry to stations involves putting yourself and bags through an X-ray scanner and the platforms are manned by security guards. They all wear those rather large silly Soviet style hats (left). I have discovered that these scans and checks are common at entry to nearly all public buildings. There was a civil uprising here in 2022; many deaths ensued and the Presidential Palace was burned down. Maybe that is why they are so 'security aware'. The checks were very cursory.

I was trying to find a tourist information office which was mentioned in my Lonely Planet guide book (7 years out of date) north-west off Abai Street. It is now a flower shop, but I did come across some jolly firemen who were playing with their long hoses. We had a good chat in rather broken English. 

I did eventually find a tourist info office, in the middle of nowhere it seemed, off the north-east side of Abai Street. It was manned by a really helpful young man called Demir, who spoke excellent English and gave me lots of good advice on further travel and recommended two things locally; the cable car up to a hill called Kok Tobe on which is a tall radio mast, and a restaurant nearby called Navat, which specialises in horsemeat dishes. If you read this, thanks Demir!

The cable car station was nearby so I went there, bought a ticket and up I sailed to Kok Tobe. It was a fairly murky day so the views were not great. Left: Airborne heading for the hilltop over what appeared to be a rather scruffy and down-at-heal suburb. Nothing like the smart city centre.

Right: A poor view towards the Allatau mountains to the south.

On arrival I hadn't expected to find a large 'amusement park'! I was only hoping for some good views which, if the weather had been clearer, there would have been, but it wasn't. However this amusement park provided ample entertainment. Left: The sign which listed all the attractions. (you might be able to read them if you click on to enlarge, and speak Russian, or Kazakh).

I suppose it catered predominantly for children and, of course, superannuated ones like me. There were amusement arcades, houses of 'illusions' and 'mirrors', all sorts of mini shooting galleries, roundabouts, dodgems etc. etc. As with so much of Almaty it was not very busy. Perhaps the cool and murky weather had put people off.

Right: This chap was showing off his pet birdie…..

……which he lent to this couple to enhance their national costumes with pet fox and wolf accoutrements.

Right: I took a seat alongside the Beatles. It seemed rather incongruous to have statues of them up there.

I show below some of the 'entertainments'. I only had a go on one of them.

Left: One of those Virtual Reality rides.

Right: There was an extraordinarily elaborate 'tree-top' scramble course. It looked remarkably hazardous! I didn't see anyone trying it. Rather more testing than an army assault course and seemingly nothing to stop you falling off. Happily they are not so 'elf and safety' paranoid here!

Left: This lady was there to paint your face. She'd done a good job on her own eyes. Mine is a lost cause.

Right: The Dodgems. I was tempted as there were only a father and son (I think) having a go. I resisted the temptation.

Left: The swinging pirate ship accompanied by loud music.

Right. A gun which fired tennis balls at knock-down targets. Very basic, but this chap fired a total of ten balls and missed every time. I was encouraging him and offering 'useful' advice.

Left: Several of these train rides roamed the site. As you can see from the photos there were not many customers around the place.

Right: An 'upside-down' house. I visited one of these in Vung Tau (Vietnam) in January (a previous blog refers)  which was impressive. I didn't feel the need to do another.

Left: Many forms of self-drive transport were available. Not many takers.

Right: The Big Wheel. Yes, I did have a ride on this! 

Left: …..and took this photo of the radio mast and beyond from the top (to the south). I had been hoping that you could go up to the top of the mast which seemed to have a viewing platform, but there was no sign that you could.

There was also a rather dramatic 'swinging merry-go-round' which had several people riding it and screaming. I took a video of this, but now having problems downloading YouTube videos! Might be able to do it later. I think I need a 'technical assistant'.

Left: The cable car down and a view over the city to the north.

Left: Below us was a very impressive looking 'death ride' down the hill from the amusement park. I was going to give this a go, but it was closed. Had there been an accident I wondered!?

Right: I shared my car down with this couple and their children. He spoke good English and was amusing company. They came from western Kazakhstan near the Aral Sea and were here on holiday.

On reaching the bottom I took Demir's advice and went to the Navat 'horsemeat' restaurant (left). It was quite an upmarket place. 

I indulged in the horsemeat mince, onions and noodles main course. Delicious, and was given a complementary glass of fermented mare's milk, which was disgusting! I cannot think why we, in UK, are so averse to eating horses. I know some people who have owned useless racehorses which they cannot find a use for! Forget the fermented mare's milk!

My OMPITA Research Unit might have something to say about this.

Left: The attractively dressed 'greeter' at the front door.

I have other stories to tell about horses in this part of the world, but that's for later.

Right: ….and another 'Oirish Bear' just opposite the Navat restaurant! Almaty seems keen on them. I did not go in….for once.

Magic! Just managed to download the roundabout/merry-go-round from the park. They had stopped screaming when I took this.

A day or two later (I am well behind with these blogs) I managed to download a video. It was taken while wandering along a street downtown. I show it now as if deleted it may never reappear. It may not even work. Anyway, this bloke was quite an adept 'break-dancer'….if that's what you call it. I tossed him a few Tenge.