KAZAKHSTAN, MY LOVE ...

by Oksana Parfeniuk (Ukraine)

I didn't expect to find Kazakhstan

“How did you get there, or Why not Zimbabwe?” I have heard questions even in such formulations. For some unknown reason, Central Asia is considered a terribly exotic destination for Ukrainians, although a couple of decades ago we were part of the same federation. But what a sin to conceal, I had neither looked in that direction before. Everything happened approximately as in the movie "Inception". A tiny idea infected my mind by a friend of mine, who hinted at a possible trip to Uzbekistan. His choice at first surprised me, too, but I took an interest in the country, looked at the photos and realized that I wanted to meet it. The trip as a result did not take place, but the idea has already taken root in the subconscious. Then Daniyar, originally from Kyrgyzstan, appeared in our office. He strengthened my interest in Central Asia by talking about his country and sharing photos. At the same time, I remembered how my mother and I loved reading the stories of the Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov. Then I had the opportunity to get to know the representatives of this beautiful culture even closer, after that I finally switched from thinking to action. Aktau, Caspian sea and deserts The Internet will not provide impressive information about Aktau. Just a city on the Caspian Sea, in the area of oil production, one of the warmest in Kazakhstan. But I felt so much in it that for me it remained the dearest one. I arrived there at about 2am. In summer, the time difference between Ukraine and Aktau is 2 hours, in Astana and Almaty - 3 hours. From 1963 to 1991, the city was called Shevchenko, in honor of - who would you think! - our Taras Grigoryevich, who had been there in exile. Somewhere here there is a museum dedicated to him, but I did not have time to get there. Despite the 30-degree heat, the sea turned out to be terribly cold. Some people even swam there, but I did not dare - the water was just broking my legs. There is an extremely low humidity as for a seashore - 25-30%. This sea is not a resort: there are ports, industrial zones, godforsaken places. Although recreation and entertainment are available. The city has a huge international seaport - the only one in Kazakhstan. One of the hot Aktau days, I went in its direction, but they did not allow to let me in. But I had seen how hard the locals are resting on the beach: with large families, on real carpets, with barbecue and hissing pans. In the other side of the city, I came across a local sports and yacht club. Near them the sea was filled with numerous boats. Nature set up rocky shores and scattered stones on which fishermen had frozen in places. After a walk under the scorching midday sun, I sat down there too - to relax and observe the measured local life. During my city walks, I saw very few passers-by. There is a very cheap gas and, respectively, taxis, so people hardly walk on foot. Among Aktau's decorations are dynamic sculptures, fountains, a residential building with a lighthouse on the roof. But the most interesting was, of course, outside of Aktau. As I said, taxis are fantastically cheap here: they offered me a tariff of 2000 tenge (about $5) per hour (I suspect, it was overpriced for tourists). So ride out of town - easy! 50 kilometers from the city is the Karagiye Depression - a giant bowl among the desert expanses, the lowest point in Asia. The absolute minimum is 132 meters below sea level. Desert landscapes - bewitching and beautiful. The horizons here are distant, like in the sea, which creates a feeling of boundlessness and own littleness. Moreover, the panoramas here are much more colorful and diverse than the sea: there are tiny canyons, and miniature mountain ranges, and hollows with water. The land here was created by God clearly in the hours of his design inspiration: beautiful folds, soft waves and craquelure. Who contemptuously says that Kazakhstan is only deserts, simply does not understand anything in them.