Rolling along the rails of southern Kazakhstan

The day at the Bible Institute of Almanty was a welcome relief after the overnight plane from Moscow to Almanty. Alexandr picked us up at 5 am. Almanty was just starting to wake with an orange glow reflecting off the 24,000 foot Teng Chen mountains surrounding this city. We arrived at the institute only to fall back asleep for the remainder of the morning. I took a cold shower, which actually felt rather refreshing in the 93 degree heat. At 9am, they served breakfast, a noodle and milk combination, slightly warm, with toasted bread crumbs on top...and tea. We actually have tea for every meal....back in the land of tea.

Robin and Grazina joined me for lunch of liver and rice--flashbacks to Thursday night dinners growing up...and tea. Then, we took a walk around the Bible complex, which had 21 pianos all being tuned today, left the premise and found money machines and markets. I got three 10,000 Teng notes (150-1$ exchange). I went to the store to buy bottled water for the 14 hour train ride, handed the clerk the 10,000 bill and she couldn't make change. I don't know if I can break it...

Alexandr had soup ready for us at 4pm, so we could catch the 5:20pm train. He was a great and gracious host. He drove us to the train and made sure we got into the right sleeper car...I was excited for the train ride. We pulled
out of the station with Swiss precision, rode slowly through town, and watched it fade in the distance. I had a great view of the mountain range as the train headed southwest. The landscape reminded me of traveling West through South Dakota. The horizon was littered with green sagebrush, goats and sheep and cowboys. And I was only 2 hours into the 14 hour marathon.


To help break the time, one of our traveling companions was a 72 year old grandma from Kazakhstan. She shared pickles, meat baked pasties and of course tea. Then, she gave me an apple...how appropriate since I had just finished reading Apples are from Kazakhstan, a travelogue about this place. After eating, she folded her legs on the bed and said her evening prayers, telling us how nice it was to share and accept hospitality. There are good people all over the world.

The train stops at little villages along the way. I wonder who would live out here or what do they do for a living? As the trains stops, life sprouts along the platform with ladies pushing karts of food for sale. There's chicken, bread, bottled drinks. Little kids selling trinkets. For 10 minutes, the train breathes life to this place. Then as quickly as it comes, it leaves. The women drape their carts with shawls and wait...wait for the next train.



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Location:Between Almaty and Shymkent