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Across Kazakhstan by rail

theguardian.com

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Re: Across Kazakhstan by rail

#71

Post by Cthulhu_ »

jakub_g wrote: post #36

Semi-related: I've been to Uzbekistan before pandemic with friends. It was very fun. Country is modernizing fast but has some remnants of the old era, which make a fun mix. Very nice people; at the same time, the controls on rail stations are airport-like, with x-raying people and the baggage, triple checking the tickets etc (but it seems mostly pro-forma). What was surprising is that they have very modern high-speed…

> What was surprising is that they have very modern high-speed trains, and super new train stations (most of them built just a few years ago).

Is this from the country being fairly rich and having money to invest, or is this part of China's massive infrastructure project?

Re: Across Kazakhstan by rail

#72

Post by lmm »

soared wrote: post #63
lmm wrote: post #6

I spent a few days on the train in Kazakhstan in 2012 - went Moscow-Shymkent-Almaty-Urumqi (on my way from London to Osaka). It was striking looking out across the steppe and seeing a line of telephone poles, and then a completely empty landscape all the way to the horizon. The baths in Almaty were wonderful too. Edit: the kind of scene I'm talking about: https://www.amazon.co.jp/photos/share/8PiwLfaaWMNCyULYDTAvy1..…

The descriptions in this thread and your photo are interesting because you don’t need to travel all the way to Kazakhstan/etc like most commenters. In Wyoming/Colorado/Idaho/Montana you can drive for tens of hours and see the exact same thing!

Wyoming/Colorado/Idaho/Montana are further away than Kazakhstan, and very difficult to get to without flying.

Re: Across Kazakhstan by rail

#73

Post by tecleandor »

malermeister wrote: post #32
Ansil849 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried watching a couple, and the guy just comes off as an insufferable douchebag. Acting like a twat and mugging for the camera. edit: having watched a couple more videos, this just reinforces my theory that the most popular youtube channels are also the most mediocre. This guy's formula is basically 'travel to $random_CIS_country; check-in to a hotel; go on a short walking tour within a few blocks of the hotel whi…

I think your impression is right - there's some indications that guy might be at the very least have questionable morals, or might even be a straight up sexual predator - https://old.reddit.com/r/BaldAndBaldrDossier/comments/judnlm... tl;dr internet sleuths have connected him to a since deleted account on a "pick up artist" forum where that person has bragged about going to Eastern Europe to find desperate women to h…

Auch. That's quite ugly stuff.

Re: Across Kazakhstan by rail

#75

Post by thealienthing »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #71
jakub_g wrote: post #36

Semi-related: I've been to Uzbekistan before pandemic with friends. It was very fun. Country is modernizing fast but has some remnants of the old era, which make a fun mix. Very nice people; at the same time, the controls on rail stations are airport-like, with x-raying people and the baggage, triple checking the tickets etc (but it seems mostly pro-forma). What was surprising is that they have very modern high-speed…

> What was surprising is that they have very modern high-speed trains, and super new train stations (most of them built just a few years ago). Is this from the country being fairly rich and having money to invest, or is this part of China's massive infrastructure project?

Several of the Stan’s such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are quite wealthy due to a high amount of natural resources such as oil and coal. Kazakhstan’s main city capital Astana is incredible. It looks like a small Shanghai or Dubai and it’s all largely because of their wealth from oil.

Re: Across Kazakhstan by rail

#76

Post by dncornholio »

themodelplumber wrote: post #13
ilaksh wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a subscriber. Really interesting videos. I heard he used to work for MI6. Not sure if that is just a rumor to try to get more subscribers or what. But there are some more Youtubers who seem to travel around to hotspots. I am a little suspicious they work for the CIA or something. Seems like the perfect cover. It may be some of them just get paid not to actually spy but just to verify that westerners can travel an…

That's interesting about bald, it's a neat channel. I used to be one of a group of people who other people thought were spies. I was living abroad at the time. At first this aspect was extremely irritating. Some locals would point at me and say "spy". But the more I thought about it, the more I met people like me who I thought would make terrific spies, and the more I met local friends who I thought I could probably…

Aren't spies a bit of a thing of the past? The times that we need to be physically present for information are long, long past no? What has a spy acting as a tourist to gain?

Re: Across Kazakhstan by rail

#77

Post by Symbiote »

BoxOfRain wrote: post #43
chadcmulligan wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trains are very comfortable to travel in as well imho. Better than planes, because no airport hassles and the seats are better, and you can move around if the baby next to you is crying; better than buses because a smoother ride; and better than driving yourself because you can relax and read a book.

>Trains are very comfortable to travel in as well imho. Depends on the train, for example the British government had a "temporary" solution in the 1980s of putting train wheels on Leyland buses and using them as substitutes for proper trains in the poorer parts of the country. These were about as fast and comfortable as they sound and were only taken out of service for good this year. Honestly British rail travel in…

> British rail travel in general is about as comfortable as pulling teeth with rusty pliers

A reminder to foreigners that this should be read assuming typical British self-deprecation.

Trains/carriages (so seats, noise etc) in Britain are usually of lower quality than their closest competitors in nearby countries (France, Germany, Netherlands, etc), and outside south east England they're also more expensive. However, they are generally more frequent, and the system as a whole is the safest in the world.

With London being so large, there are some commuter/suburban rail routes that cover significant distances, like Bedford to Brighton. I wouldn't choose to travel that route for the sake of the journey, but Høje Taastrup to København H on the commuter train is also less comfortable than on a regional or intercity train.

Re: Across Kazakhstan by rail

#78

Post by avmich »

anticodon wrote: post #64
maeln wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well, if you'd really talk to people, you'd find out that significant percent of population still mourns the Soviet Union and they have all the reasons to. It really depends where and who you ask. You probably not going to find any sympathy for the USSR in central Europe. But it is true that in Russia and central Asia, you still find people, those who were mostly kids/teenager during the "golden-age" of the USSR, w…

You will find people that mourns Soviet Union in all parts of the former USSR and among all age groups. Just like the opposite opinion. But percent of people mourning USSR would be quite big. This has nothing to do with western stereotypes about dreadly life in USSR (mostly invalid propaganda) or various dictators (can you, without checking Wikipedia/Google, name the president of Kazakhstan, and say if it is a author…

> One goal was to destroy a global economic competitor.

I don't know what you mean here, but USA was trying to prevent USSR from collapsing.

Re: Across Kazakhstan by rail

#79

Post by Ansil849 »

jcims wrote: post #67
Ansil849 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried watching a couple, and the guy just comes off as an insufferable douchebag. Acting like a twat and mugging for the camera. edit: having watched a couple more videos, this just reinforces my theory that the most popular youtube channels are also the most mediocre. This guy's formula is basically 'travel to $random_CIS_country; check-in to a hotel; go on a short walking tour within a few blocks of the hotel whi…

There's another solo youtube traveler with nearly the same vibe. In both cases I think part of the issue is that they are too connected to the camera and not to the people around them, so they just seem disinterested. It bums me out because I'm looking at doing quite a bit of solo traveling in the next few years and would like to capture some of it for my family and friends, but if I come across anyway like this it's…

I do a fair amount of travelling (both solo and group) myself, and I just very rarely take videos. I stick with photos.

Re: Across Kazakhstan by rail

#80

Post by Ansil849 »

lottin wrote: post #51
malermeister wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your impression is right - there's some indications that guy might be at the very least have questionable morals, or might even be a straight up sexual predator - https://old.reddit.com/r/BaldAndBaldrDossier/comments/judnlm... tl;dr internet sleuths have connected him to a since deleted account on a "pick up artist" forum where that person has bragged about going to Eastern Europe to find desperate women to h…

They're basically saying that he's a terrible person because he... has sex with women.

> They're basically saying that he's a terrible person because he... has sex with women.

That is not at all what the comments appear to be saying. Instead, the comments are saying things like:

> Hmm here he talks about taking a girl to bed with Rohypnol.

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