Kazakhstan Trip

So, I’ve just got back and thought I would write a quick update on how my time in Kazakhstan went.

The first thing to note is that the weather is (for Kazakhstan) about as good as it is going to get! Most days seem to be around the 25C – 30C mark and over the coming weeks it’s set to improve further. I’ve been told that around May time is the best weather in Kazakhstan as it regularly ranges from -40C in the winter to a scorching 40C in the height of the summer. Thankfully, I’ll be long gone before the temperature gets anywhere near those highs or lows!

The camp accommodation I’m staying in is surprisingly good – each room is kitted out with a satellite TV, internet connection and a fantastic laundry service where your shirts come back neatly folded (much better than at home!!!). The only thing that seems to be lacking is activities to do in the evening – the only real option is to grab some food and have a couple of drinks in one of the bars around town or on the camp (or the rather sleazy nightclub called M10).

Probably the best bar in Aksai is called The Western Bar (incidentally I’d say that the vast majority of people who go there are actually locals and not Westerners). They have a snooker table, Russian billiards table, darts board, 2 floors with 2 bar areas and a beautiful outdoor seating area.

The last week was a busy one with work as we were really under pressure to get the bid out, so did very little apart from work, eat and sleep… although I did manage to venture out to the Western Bar a couple of times and of course there was the England V Kazakhstan football game on the Saturday which was lot’s fun and a great atmosphere (the game was being played in Kazakhstan!).

Uralsk Visit

During the middle weekend of my trip I visited Uralsk which is roughly a 2h 30 drive away across some rather bumpy roads. There were a few birthdays at the Uralsk office, so they decided to throw a bit of a birthday bash, which was pretty good timing for me! I stayed in the Pushkin Hotel and although it was for only a single night, it seemed like reasonably nice hotel. We had an evening meal in a private section of the restaurant and although the food wasn’t spectacular by any means, it was a great evening and a good opportunity for me to meet the rest of the team in Kazakhstan.

On the Sunday I had the opportunity to have a wonder around the town and get some photographs. As Kazakhstan is quite a religious country, there some amazing looking Russian Orthadox churches and mosques with some amazing colours.

Just off the main street of Uralsk (and down Revolutionary Road) is a park situated on the river by the Uralsk football stadium. I have to be honest and say I was really suprised by how nice the park was. There were lots of rides for children, places to eat and drink and the place was just bustling with people. The river is obviously a major attraction in the summer and there were even people with speedboats racing down the river.

Food & Drink

So, how about the food and drink in Kazakhstan? Well… I’ll start with the drink. The two most popular drinks out there are vodka (of course!) and beer. Vodka is plentiful and cheap; they tend to drink it straight out here, with no mixers apart from maybe a tiny bit of water.  Baltika is the most popular beer out there and costs around £1 – £1.50 per pint. In Russia & Kazakhstan they have 10 different grades – 1 being alcohol free right up to 10 which is the strongest – I’ve tended to mainly drink no. 7 as it seems to have the most flavour, but 3 and 5 are quite nice too.

Much of the food I experienced was very much aimed at expats and so as such wasn’t what I’d call traditional local food – things like pizza, pasta and chicken are extremely popular which was a shame. However I always like to try new things where ever possible so here are a few of the foods I did manage to sample while I was out there:

Pierogi – these were by far and away my favourite snack out here, despite being quite simple; little filled breads! There are many different varieties; some would be filled with vegetables such as potatoes, onions or leeks; others would have a meat filling, and some would have no filling at all but would tend to be slightly sweeter (somewhat similar to a doughnut). The lunch buffet would tend to have a different filling each day – which, when there is so little to do, is about as exciting as it gets!!!

Solyanka - this is a spicy meat soup that is a tomato base, with finely chopped cubes of ham, beef and cucumber. It’s quite a salty soup and it usually has a slice of lemon and a handful of olives served in the soup.

Blini – these are savory pancakes that I ate quite regularly at the buffet. Whilst the fillings do seem to differ, the majority seem to have ham and cream cheese in, with of course the obligatory sprinkling of dill (dill is served with ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING out here).

Plov – this is more of a Russian dish traditionally, but is regularly on the menu’s out here in Aksai. The dish is predominantly a rice dish, with chunks of beef or lamb served over the top.

Shashlik – by far and away my favourite meal was shashlik (kebabs) that are usually cooked on the BBQ. At the Western bar, all the shashlik are cooked in a hut outside, and I’ve been told that the same person cooks them rain or shine (and incidently 40C OR -40C!!!!)

And finally…. Is the myth about eating horse meat true? Well, in a word, yes!

Beshbarmak - Unfortunately I never got around to trying this, mainly because I didn’t see it on a single menu!! I spoke to a few locals about it and they said that it is quite rare to see it on a menu as it is tradtionally served in in the home as part of a family banquet or celebration. That meant I had to settle for a selection of cold meats (one of which was called qazy) which were quite nice, but if I’m honest, not the tastiest thing I’ve ever tasted! Still, at least I tried it!

Be sure to visit back regularly over the next few months as I’ll be giving you updates on my wedding and of course jetting off on my honeymoon to Thailand and Malaysisa, so am sure to come back with some fabulous recipe ideas!

So until then, paka! (see you later in Kazakh).