Tag Archives: Kazakhstan 🇰🇿

I was going to leave today. Load up the Caboose and walk, walk, walk. Promises had been made. Promises that I would leave. Leave. Leave. Finally, there would be one less German in Almaty, one less half-Hungarian in Almaty. One less one-eighth Russian/Armenian/Swiss-French-whatever in Almaty. Yet leave I did not. Instead I went and had […]

Yes, the rain had come: I decided it would be my last day of therapy: Wanted to go to an outdoor store and ended up in a shop full of guns: Bought a knife: The handle was supposedly made from birch wood, and I immediately fell in love with it. I also got some additional […]

Just a few more days of physiotherapy for me. I didn’t feel quite there yet. My back was better, yes. But it wasn’t 100% fine. I figured it didn’t need much more therapy, it just needed time. And I wasn’t supposed to lift heavily. So I went and had a nice club sandwich: Then I […]

Today I saw rain come to Almaty: It wasn’t quite there yet, but it would be here soon. I could only hope that I wouldn’t get too much rain when I was walking. Sure, the Caboose was waterproof, so there wouldn’t be much of a problem there, but my backpack and my camera bags weren’t. […]

Really felt like taking pictures today. So I took my cameras and my tripod and went to Republic Square: There was a big monument, the Statue of Independence: And at the foot of the statue, as I had noticed three weeks ago, an imprint of the (alleged) hand of Nursultan Nazarbayev, first President of Kazakhstan: […]

Went to a local university today. It’s called KIMEP, and classes there are almost exclusively taught in English. It was quiet in some places: And not so quiet in others: Lots of pretty girls from what I could tell. The whole place somehow reminded me of an article I had read a few years earlier. […]

Went to the post office today: I didn’t just send my books to people. Some of you might remember how during the initial walk in 2008 I was always obsessing about sending my photos home on DVDs. Well, the DVD thing is over. I am using SD-cards now. And since Kazakhstan doesn’t seem to be […]

Had an interview today. An interview where I talked and talked and talked. In fact I talked so much that in the end I felt a bit sorry for the journalists. Later they would have to listen to all of it again on their dictaphones, and then they would have to write it up into […]

Went to another lake today: This one is called Big Almaty Lake. I guess it’s big, and it’s near Almaty. So it’s Big Almaty Lake. By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube I hadn’t come alone though. My friend and fellow photography enthusiast Nazira was showing […]

Time does what it does: it passes. I don’t feel that much better about my back yet. Guess it needs more time. So I went and had a döner today, at the Number 1 Döneria: It was okay. Not likely to win any accolades in Berlin or Hamburg… …but it was okay. Fall was coming […]

Every day feels the same. I get up. I buy two yoghurts and a bottle of water. I go to my therapy. I find something to eat. I write, sort pictures, do things, meet up with friends. Then I go and find more things to eat. Like an amoeba. It’s not like all of this is […]

I like it when my blog posts are up to date. I mean, this is the internet, and it feels nice to know that everything we read about just happened or is still happening, as opposed to, say, reading articles in magazines or newspapers that are days or even weeks old. But there is a problem with being up to date. Yesterday […]

So I started my therapy sessions today: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube Actually it wasn’t just one kind of therapy, it was a whole bunch of different things we did: heat therapy ultrasound therapy electronic spider-like massage thing therapy manual massage therapy And then […]

Remember I told you about my friends who invited me to Esik a few days ago? Well, one of them is a physician. “Is there something wrong with your back?” She asked me a few times. No, I tried to lie. I am a bit of a hypochondriac, so it’s hard for me to trust […]

I spent the day in Almaty. Another day. I had come up with a plan: I was going to leave after Constitution Day. And Constitution Day was today. I figured there would be parades and festivities, and I wanted to see all of it. But there was nothing. Kazakhstan had been shaken by terrorist attacks […]

There is one thing that I only just realized today: I somehow can’t seem to leave Almaty! Every other day I find myself going back to the front desk in the hostel where I’m staying at just to tell them the same thing: two more days please! Why though? I think it’s because a) I […]