8th to 20th of November, 2022.
Couchsurfing in Kazakhstan: Almaty.
Since the first moment I saw and talked with Andrey, I liked him as a friend. He has this Brazilian vibe coming out of him. Is that because he is learning Portuguese, playing and dancing Forró? It could be.
Andrey offered to host me because he thought it would be nice to have someone in his apartment to practice Portuguese. He started his classes only a few months ago but he already can speak a lot. He has been dancing Forró for longer, and he even play Zabumba.
He shares a nice apartment with another Russian guy, Danil. They are from Novosibirsk, in Siberia, but are leaving here in Almaty since September. Another CS couple is here too, being hosted by Danil. They are travelling with their bikes.
Unfortunately, I am dead. I mean, the first night is not that bad, and I manage to talk a bit with everybody, we eat together, and also when Andrey comes back, we chat for a while. But the next days I don’t dare go anywhere or do anything. I cannot even use my computer because my eyes cannot focus on anything. Damn fucking cold!
I am drinking lots of lemon and ginger tea, and of course water, but it seems not to be helping. When I start to feel a bit of fever, Andrey offers me some medicine from Danil, nothing serious, just some paracetamol for the fever, some syrup for the coughing and lungs, and another pills for the nose. They help, for sure, but it takes so long for me to finally feel better…
I decide to stay one extra day than I was supposed to. Andrey is fine with that. I have almost no appetite at all and force myself to eat something like eggs and some salad, strong on garlic and onions. I don’t know what else could I possibly do to get better!
It is nice to chat with Andrey about his plans of going to Brazil around New Year’s. We even have a group video chat, with his Russian friends living in Brazil and some other friends too. It is so nice and we have fun!
I decide to cancel my third CS host. I know I will just not have the energy to move again and to interact with more people. For the time I have been here with Andrey, I barely talked with Danil or the couple. It is not only because I am weak and tired all the time, but also because I don’t want for them to get sick too.
When I was just starting to feel better, I have the stupid idea of walking almost 15 Km trying to look for second-hand boots. I not only didn’t find them, as also I got super bad again. Stupid!
I am afraid I will die on my way to my next CS host. It is about one hour walking. But what to do?
I don’t die but I feel really bad that night. Maksim came all the way from the mountains, where he is staying and taking a snowboard course, so he can become an instructor. It is a big thing, an important and well recognized company, so he is really serious about it. He came so he could do some shopping for food and to meet me. I am sure I am not the best of the companies today, but he is so sweet and kind, that we have a good time anyway. He cooks dinner, show me around his apartment, and tell me I can stay as long as I need.
Next morning, before he leaves for the mountains, he makes me breakfast. Do you know what he makes? V for Vendetta’s egg toast. Wow!
I keep trying to improve my health but it is not easy. Every day I have strong headaches, and I have to lie down for a while so I can feel better. I cannot go exploring Almaty, the mountains, or do any of my work either, because it seems like my head will explode.
After a few days, when I finally manage to stare at the computer, I have to come up with a final plan for my travels. Here is the result:
Azerbaijan has its land borders closed. You can fly in but not cross by land. So that’s is the end of my plan of going to Iran. Although it is not for the worst. Iran’s Visa it coasts 85€, plus you must acquire their own Travel Insurance. You can do it at the airport, on arrival, it coasts 14€, but I have no idea if it is possible when you cross by land. Online it gets way more expensive: 32€ for 30 days. Now, from Iran I could take a ferry to UAE, which it coasts a fortune for such short travel: 90€. Yeah, don’t ask me! Once in UAE, I would like to go to Oman, of course, and for there I need also a Visa, which coasts 50 USD. And let’s not forget about getting out of the Middle East, going back to Asia. How the hell would I do that?
Because of all of this, my best choices were two: Either flying to UAE, and paying about 150€, or flying to India, and paying almost 250€. Now, both options sucks in terms of flying and using almost all my last resources, but at least on going to India, I can keep travelling by hitchhiking from there. I decide to go for that. On what supposed to be my last night in Almaty, on the 15th, Maksim comes back again from the mountains and I ask him if I can use his card to buy the tickets online.
Due to the fact I will not go back to Kazakhstan, I can stay until my last available day, which is 20th. Which is great so I can recover a bit better of my cold. Some symptoms are still killing me. I have to call my host in Kyrgyzstan and let him know about that. But because Maksim is not here, I cannot borrow his phone. Really? Not a problem! I go downstairs and decide to ask in some shops for a phone, after explaining my story, of course. In the first place I ask, a pharmacy, they help me already and I manage to call them.
This is the reason why I could not meet Aisel and her family again. I could not call her and arrange a meeting. One thing is calling to tell someone that my dates of arrival have changed, another is trying to make an appointment. But I regret a lot not have trying harder, because they were so lovely to me and I feel like I should have seen them again, even though I was still feeling pretty bad.
I have to exchange my Pounds and my NOKs to pay Maksim. For him, it is better if he gets U.S.A. Dollars. I have to walk quite a lot to get to the National Bank of Kazakhstan, which it seems to be the only place accepting NOKs in Almaty. It is not. But now I understand why did I have to walk all the way there.
Once I am in the building, one man tells me this is not the building where they do the currency exchange. This is just an administrative building. Oh, great! But he is nice in calling someone to come and explain to me. Symbat is a very polite, kind and educated man. He sits down and talk to me, explaining everything. But he also wants to help. He makes a few phone calls and find out I can exchange everything, directly to U.S.A Dollars, in most of the Currency Exchanges. Then, he finds one nearby and offer to drive me there. Amazing!
In the Currency Exchange is when I find out that my Pounds were taken out of circulation. That’s right! I was supposed to have only 260€ with me, but now I actually have even less: 110€. Isn’t that “quick-you-in-the-crotch-spit-on-your-neck, fantastic?” I am so glad Symbat was there with me, otherwise I wouldn’t know / understand what to do.
We drive back to the bank, he offers me a coffee from this nice man with his van, just in front the bank, and the coffee is delicious. A little treat to my just falling apart life.
On my last night, this time for real, Maksim finish his course and comes back. He passed all the exams so now he is an official snowboard instructor! I prepared some borscht for us but he is going out for a party with his colleges and teachers from the course.
Next morning we have borscht for breakfast and he is so happy and surprised by the fact that I prepared borscht. Maksim is a very sweet and kind man, and I am so happy that he offered to host me so we could meet each other.
I take two buses to get out of Almaty and start hitchhiking towards Bishkek.
10 Years Around the World 