Aqtobe was icy & freezing – slippery underfoot and with horizontal frozen sleet to make me feel right at home! But the welcome was warm and the people friendly. I walked the 1.5 kms from the station, probably to the bemusement of the locals who hail cabs and share rides with ease, but after 36 hrs in a train, stretching my legs seemed like the right thing to be doing. It became immediately obvious that my foot wear was inadequate, that I had insufficient layers on, and that 12kgs on your back feels like 100kgs when you are trying not to slip on the ice, dodge the puddles and figure out what the traffic will do next.

Four hours later, clean, wearing fresh clothes, relatively dry, new boots (£10 Timberland lookalikes) and food in my tummy, even icy Aqtobe looks attractive. This city is built on oil and tech, so the population is young, the city is relatively recent in structure and there are all the attributes of wealth. Big malls, fancy (but universally icy mud caked) cars, a brand new Macdonalds (opened the day I arrived), coffee shops galore and Soviet style architecture that, whilst not high rise, stretches for miles on each side of wide avenues and busy streets. Near my accommodation is the central mosque, almost opposite the Russian Orthodox Church and this was one of the big shifts after Uzbekistan – the majority of the population is Muslim but it is not so evident on the street.  

I met some lovely young people at the American Corner (US funded educational facilities in Kazakhstan libraries to promote the English language and American whatever) one of whom showed me around her corner of the city. We caught buses, slogged through more sleet, drank coffee and talked about the world. It was a delight. Shopping for supplies was fun too as the food is ‘same same but different’ and some guessing as to content was done. I did not buy the meat as I could not figure out which type it was and the Kazakh love their horse meat.

While -17’C was not my idea of fun weather, I was almost sorry to leave for Almaty after my two day visit. On the map there is much more here to see but the weather and time are against me so, if ever I get the chance, I’ll not say no to a chance to re-visit this remote city