After our horse riding adventure, we made one more stop in Kazakhstan, the lovely city of Aralsk. This used to be a peaceful fishing village, but now has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's worst environmental disasters, which was also reflected in the mood of the locals. Dan and I both enjoy interacting with the locals, but didn't expect much of that happening in Aralsk due to the "unfriendly vibe" we received upon our initial assessment of the town. However, towards lunchtime when the locals had had the chance to down a few vodkas (it was a national holiday) people warmed up and Dan, as always, made a new friend! His best friend for the day was a chance encounter with a drunk, "sumo-wrestler-like" military man called Borat (not kidding) who took an instant liking to Dan and gave him a crushing hug lifting him off his feet re-adjusting his spine in the process!
Kazakhstan had been great, but it was time for us to make good use of our Kyrgyz visas.We said a tearful goodbye to our travel companion of three weeks (Thomas the French guy) and proceeded across the border to Bishkek.We were happy to realize that people in Kyrgyzstan was just as lovely and friendly as in Kazakhstan despite the obviously denser population of tourists in Bishkek...we saw at least seven....
We really loved Kyrgyzstan which was well set up for tourists who wished to stay with families and take part of the culture. The only downside was their bad driving. This was more than obvious when we travelled in a shared van and went past a bad car accident. The car was upside down (or "upside duck" as my sister would say:)) and completely mangled. Everyone in our van went "Oh" and "Ah" seeing the destruction. Next to the car was a man on the ground. I was not sure if he was still alive, but what surprised us the most was that the driver of our van didn't even stop to check or to offer help?!?! Maybe that's the custom here that if it looks like a lost cause then you move on. I made a mental note that it may be a good idea to wear a seatbelt in this country whenever possible. This would prove to definitely be a good idea later on as we were yet again in a shared van going back to Bishkek. Some of the worst driving we've seen in the past was in Egypt and India, but this may well be the most nerve wracking ever. The driver of our particular van was nonchalantly changing lanes back and forth, but for some reason he preferred to drive on the wrong side! Sure there wasn't that much traffic, but to take on fairly windy roads and blind corners at 130km/hr, still driving on the wrong side, would probably make even Schumacher a bit sweaty!. To make matters worse the driver insisted on turning his head and talking to the man sitting behind him!!! Argh!!!! If our Russian had been any better we would've told him to keep his bloody eyes on the freakin' road!!! Instead I frantically fumbled to put my seatbelt on while having flashbacks from the "car accident man" . I hadn't done it before cause no one else had and I didn't want to be "uncool", but screw that, I was rather alive than "cool". Poor Dan didn't have a seatbelt available to put on and I was desperately holding on to him just in case we were going off the road....(like that would've helped!) Needless to say it was an unpleasant 2 hrs ride back to Bishkek, but we made it safe and sound even though it took a good while before my heart rate went back to normal.....maybe I'm getting too old for this....
Kazakhstan had been great, but it was time for us to make good use of our Kyrgyz visas.We said a tearful goodbye to our travel companion of three weeks (Thomas the French guy) and proceeded across the border to Bishkek.We were happy to realize that people in Kyrgyzstan was just as lovely and friendly as in Kazakhstan despite the obviously denser population of tourists in Bishkek...we saw at least seven....
We really loved Kyrgyzstan which was well set up for tourists who wished to stay with families and take part of the culture. The only downside was their bad driving. This was more than obvious when we travelled in a shared van and went past a bad car accident. The car was upside down (or "upside duck" as my sister would say:)) and completely mangled. Everyone in our van went "Oh" and "Ah" seeing the destruction. Next to the car was a man on the ground. I was not sure if he was still alive, but what surprised us the most was that the driver of our van didn't even stop to check or to offer help?!?! Maybe that's the custom here that if it looks like a lost cause then you move on. I made a mental note that it may be a good idea to wear a seatbelt in this country whenever possible. This would prove to definitely be a good idea later on as we were yet again in a shared van going back to Bishkek. Some of the worst driving we've seen in the past was in Egypt and India, but this may well be the most nerve wracking ever. The driver of our particular van was nonchalantly changing lanes back and forth, but for some reason he preferred to drive on the wrong side! Sure there wasn't that much traffic, but to take on fairly windy roads and blind corners at 130km/hr, still driving on the wrong side, would probably make even Schumacher a bit sweaty!. To make matters worse the driver insisted on turning his head and talking to the man sitting behind him!!! Argh!!!! If our Russian had been any better we would've told him to keep his bloody eyes on the freakin' road!!! Instead I frantically fumbled to put my seatbelt on while having flashbacks from the "car accident man" . I hadn't done it before cause no one else had and I didn't want to be "uncool", but screw that, I was rather alive than "cool". Poor Dan didn't have a seatbelt available to put on and I was desperately holding on to him just in case we were going off the road....(like that would've helped!) Needless to say it was an unpleasant 2 hrs ride back to Bishkek, but we made it safe and sound even though it took a good while before my heart rate went back to normal.....maybe I'm getting too old for this....
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