17 December

I really liked Taraz, a smaller and more manageable city than Shymkent, and with much more helpful citizens! Whenever i asked people for directions in Shymkent, i was always given contradictory ones, but not so in Taraz, which was fantastic!

Not that the city was without issues. Due either to this, or just the problems of travelling by myself, i dont know, but for the first time in Kazakhstan, i was stopped and questioned by the police...TWICE! First was at the trainstation, where i was sleeping, after arriving in the city by train at 3am. I was woken up and taken to the police room for questioning, most probably in the hope of getting a bribe. But thanks to limited Kazakh I have, and a stubborn determination to be polite and civil and not pay anything, it turned into a friendly chat about the city!

The next time was less fun, but resulted in an even better reward. I had been trying very hard to find a bus to take me out to this, and had achieved little more than discover that no one knew how to get there. It was only 20km outside of town! Two police men came and asked me to follow them into an alley, where they demanded a bag search, and the usual questions about drugs, guns and money. One was very friendly, the other....less so, and I think the nice one outranked the other, as after a less than friendly encounter, where he has established my innocence, an effort was made to help me! They ended up walking with me to the other side of the bazaar, and got me on the correct bus. It was a great ending to the whole ordeal. But it got even better.


At the bus station, the ticket lady instantly called up her daughter and told her to come and talk to me. I was slightly apprehensive, but It actually turned out to be great. Her English was great, and she became my tour guide for the rest of the day, taking me to see Ayasha Bibi, getting an invite for lunch with a lady on the bus, and her 90 year old father, which not only was tasty, but i got to see his photos from the 40's and 50's that were soooo interesting! After the war, he had worked at the local hospital, as a physiotherapist.

After the great lunch, it I then went back to my new guides family home, for a nap first (trying to sleep in a near freezing trainstation is not great for sleep), and then a dinner, before getting a lift to the station for my train back to Almaty, and some money (traditional gift for travelling guests) and some prayer beads from Mecca! Such a lovely family, it was a great day, and a great way to end my time in Kazakhstan.