Trains

On my trip to Karaganda I got to experience the trains here firsthand and by the time I returned to Ecik I liked traveling this way a lot more than flying. It takes a lot more time of course but you get to see and experience things that you otherwise wouldn't. The train ride from Almaty to Karaganda takes about 19 hours and 18 1/2 of those are spent chugging across the endless Kazakh steppe. I looked very hard for anything interesting and while I occasionally saw the lone horse or flock of sheep there really wasn't much else out there. Once the passengers board the train they usually change into something more comfortable like a training suit. I shared my kupe (compartment) with three other trainees and it sleeps four quite comfortably with upper and lower bunks. The window in the kupe can't be opened but you can always step out into the hallway for a breath of fresh air. A water boiler at one end of the car provides hot water for tea and you can buy sheets and covers for your bed for about $1. While some of the trains have restaurant cars you're much better off boosting the economies of the villages where the train stops buy buying food from the vendors there. Every time a train pulls in they flock around the train exits selling all kinds of things. Fried fish, smoked fish, manti, pierogis, soda, beer, vodka, ice cream - you name it it usually doesn't take much of a walk at all to find what you're looking for. Depending on where you are the sellers will even bargain with each other to give you the lowest price and they'll climb underneath trains to get their wares to you; I really was impressed by how much effort they put into it. The only thing you have to watch out for is where some of the food comes from and how it was handled; one of the trainers told us that some of the fish may be smoked in toxic fires and I saw one lady drag her fish on the gravel as she climbed under one of the trains. Some other things I found out during my train trip was that almost all trees around Karaganda are not native to the area and that they were planted when the area was settled en masse in the 1920's. Many buildings around the tracks seem to have fallen into disrepair since the Soviet collapse; it must not have been profitable to operate many of them once that took place. After this trip I'm definitely looking forward to my next train ride to my site next month - I just hope it's not a 40 hour ride next time!

Comments

[Susanne]

hallo thomas,freue mich dass du gesund wieder zurück bist von der reise...es scheint dir ja gefallen zu haben..wie waren die sänger in der 'Fledermaus'???und wie der Graf Orlovsky??
bu mu
ps sylvia ist auch gut zurück aber ging sofort in den krankenstand wegen einer virus infektion