The ferry to Kazakhstan turned out to be a failure. On Friday, I got fed up and just bought a place ticket to Aktau, Kazakhstan for only $30 more than the ferry. I'm ok with it for two reasons: first, I didn't really miss much - it was just water and I've been on a boat before; Second, I just didn't feel comfortable giving such a shady company so much of my money. And I just thought of a third reason - now I know what a third world airport is like. I suppose Baku's isn't exactly a third world airport, but you could see the differences. For one, there were two security checkpoints before I even got to the ticket counter but none of the guards really seemed to care.
So now I'm in Aktau - Kazakhstan's main/only Caspian port. It's a strange city, in a cute, quirky kind of way. It didn't really exist until the 1970s when the Soviets decided to build a port here. Since then, it's basically survived off of Caspian drilling projects and oil. For this reason, there are a lot of ex-pats here. My host works in the oil business and is Kazakh, but from the middle of the country - over 1000 miles away. (Since Aktau is so young, there really aren't any "locals" here). He carries the title of the biggest Liverpool Football Club supporter in Kazakhstan and has a love affair with London. Besides not looking like an ex-pat, he sure shares a lot of similarities with them!
As I waited outside the Aktau aiport terminal late Saturday night, constantly harrased by taxi drivers (one actually changed the time on his cell phone in an attempt to convince me that I'd missed my ride and so should pay him to take me to a hotel) I was extremely grateful when he yelled my name across the parking lot. He's been a great guide the whole time through and I'd definitely be in a fix here in western Kazakhstan without him.
For example, my next plan of action was to hop on a train and ride it 48 hours across the steppes to Shymkent, on the border with Uzbekistan. Well, that's not going to happen. After talking to a few travel agencies, he determined that there are no available train tickets out of Aktau until August 10th. That's two weeks from now. My choices were either to hang out in Aktau for two weeks, or break my oath again and fly. Aktau really isn't a bad place -it's actually got a really nice beach just outside of town - but I think I'd be missing more by staying here so long than flying the 1200 miles of Kazakh steppe to Shymkent and having more time to explore the rest of Kazakhstan. It's a tough decision and I don't like it, but I already bought the plane ticket. I fly out first thing Thursday morning.
This is one of those scenarios that I honesty did not anticipate. I faced a similar dilemma in Istanbul, where train tickets east were sold out for the next two weeks, but there I had the alternative of taking a bus. Aktau is much more isolated from the rest of the world than Istanbul. There are no roads that connect Aktau with the rest of Kazakhstan, which also make it the most expensive city in the country. MAYBE if I had a 4x4 jeep and 100 gallons of fuel I could make it across the steppe, but I'm afraid I'm just not ready for that level of adventure. Perhaps I could rent a camel instead?
P.S. Sorry I haven't loaded any pictures recently. I am taking them, I promise, but I just haven't found a computer recently that has the ability to do so.
So now I'm in Aktau - Kazakhstan's main/only Caspian port. It's a strange city, in a cute, quirky kind of way. It didn't really exist until the 1970s when the Soviets decided to build a port here. Since then, it's basically survived off of Caspian drilling projects and oil. For this reason, there are a lot of ex-pats here. My host works in the oil business and is Kazakh, but from the middle of the country - over 1000 miles away. (Since Aktau is so young, there really aren't any "locals" here). He carries the title of the biggest Liverpool Football Club supporter in Kazakhstan and has a love affair with London. Besides not looking like an ex-pat, he sure shares a lot of similarities with them!
As I waited outside the Aktau aiport terminal late Saturday night, constantly harrased by taxi drivers (one actually changed the time on his cell phone in an attempt to convince me that I'd missed my ride and so should pay him to take me to a hotel) I was extremely grateful when he yelled my name across the parking lot. He's been a great guide the whole time through and I'd definitely be in a fix here in western Kazakhstan without him.
For example, my next plan of action was to hop on a train and ride it 48 hours across the steppes to Shymkent, on the border with Uzbekistan. Well, that's not going to happen. After talking to a few travel agencies, he determined that there are no available train tickets out of Aktau until August 10th. That's two weeks from now. My choices were either to hang out in Aktau for two weeks, or break my oath again and fly. Aktau really isn't a bad place -it's actually got a really nice beach just outside of town - but I think I'd be missing more by staying here so long than flying the 1200 miles of Kazakh steppe to Shymkent and having more time to explore the rest of Kazakhstan. It's a tough decision and I don't like it, but I already bought the plane ticket. I fly out first thing Thursday morning.
This is one of those scenarios that I honesty did not anticipate. I faced a similar dilemma in Istanbul, where train tickets east were sold out for the next two weeks, but there I had the alternative of taking a bus. Aktau is much more isolated from the rest of the world than Istanbul. There are no roads that connect Aktau with the rest of Kazakhstan, which also make it the most expensive city in the country. MAYBE if I had a 4x4 jeep and 100 gallons of fuel I could make it across the steppe, but I'm afraid I'm just not ready for that level of adventure. Perhaps I could rent a camel instead?
P.S. Sorry I haven't loaded any pictures recently. I am taking them, I promise, but I just haven't found a computer recently that has the ability to do so.
It's okay that you booked a flight. You're are still a man. Can't wait to see pics!
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