All Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian
By Nitin Gairola
Kazakhstan, outside its big cities of Almaty, Astana and a few others, is actually really empty. It is the 9th largest country in the world after India (7th) and Argentina (8th) but in terms of population it houses only 20 million people compared to India’s 1,400 million plus and Argentina’s 47 million plus. So as you can imagine we are talking about untouched pristine nature – endless grasslands (similar to Mongolia), stunning deserts formations (near Western China) and deep & dark coniferous forests that make you believe you have lost your way and entered Russia. If you love nature as I do, this country really has it all, especially its south-eastern corner outside the charming city of Almaty. This is the area Richa and I just came back from and I will try to provide you a glimpse of what we saw.
Basically this part of Kazakhstan is a bit confusing. At times you feel you have entered the plains of Mongolia, with wild horses and nomads dotting the land. Also at times you feel like you have entered frontier China. The western part of this behemoth is actually full of Uyghurs who are majorly Muslims (not Buddhist) and their features are very Mongolian or Russian but definitely not Chinese. I had a very brief but interesting chat with Jimmy who was the owner of a frontier tea stall. He turned out to be a fan of Bollywood and of (you guessed it) Shah Rukh Khan. It seems that SRK is known all over the world and in some of the vaguest places. I have met his fans in Morocco, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zanzibar and all over the Middle East and now Central Asia. In fact barring South and Central America (i.e. the Spanish speaking world), he seems to be loved all over the planet.
In our brief stay in Kazakhstan we ended up seeing the stunning Charyn Canyon and its desert formations and the (so-called) Black Canyon. We also did some ‘off-roading’ in a very, very rickety Soviet bus that took us to an area from where you could take horses or trek to reach some pristine turquoise coloured lakes. One of the lakes had part-submerged trees that were jutting out of the water and it lent the lake a very strange appearance indeed. The other lake was semi-frozen and a third one had amazing snow covered mountains and forests around it.
Besides these barren canyons, forests and lakes we also took the time out to see a snow covered peak and ski mountain (Shymbulak) on the outskirts of Almaty. It was surrounded by alpine forests that were brushed with fresh snow on the day we were there. We took a ski lift to reach the top (the main cable car was closed for repairs) and the ski lift was such a fun ride. Almaty itself is a very charming city. As far as a big city with all creature comforts goes, this had to be one of the most picturesque. The ‘late autumn-early winter’ shoulder season that we went in (November) made it lovelier still. All the pale greens, yellows, reds and browns were in full display, some barely hanging onto the trees and some on the ground.
We also met some lovely people during our short stay in Kazakhstan (after which we left for Tajikistan). A lot of the people we met were in fact Indians and this gave me a good insight into the changing destinations of young Indians. While the Thailand’s, Singapore’s and Dubai’s are still the top draws by a ‘country mile’, more and more youngsters are now visiting the slightly ‘different destinations’. Kazakhstan has good air connectivity from India, is exotic & beautiful and to top it all, it is a lot cheaper than most European countries and Singapore for that matter. And did I tell you that Indians don’t even need a visa to visit this vast land? This is what has made Kazakhstan a popular choice for our next generation. From this new generation we crossed paths with a delightful Indian couple based out of Dubai (Shamil & Noorain), a Radio Mirchi R.J. and a big traveller from Leh (Sonam Spalzes), a Bengali working in Delhi (Subrajit), another Indian couple who asked if I had a travel blog (I really need to make one) and an Instagrammer who specializes in mountain & snow trekking (Viplove Rohilla).
I was really happy to connect with these young guns for a change since most often I meet older Indians in my travels and I do enjoy their company a lot. This is because a lot of my destinations have safaris (deserts or jungles) or have a science or history angle to them and very little of nightlife. In that way I guess I have always been older than my years (although I am no spring chicken now either) and I really do enjoy interacting with older folk. But on this trip I realized that a lot of youngsters want to see wild nature too and not just party away in big cities. The Indian traveller is evolving and I am so pleased to see it happen. I also felt a bit like a travel veteran as some couldn’t believe I was all of 44 years of age. They were pretty shocked to hear about my 125 plus country count but somehow I never got around to telling them about my real travel passion which is the natural world and to set world travel records (since it can sound like I am boasting and I wanted to avoid sounding like that).
The funny part was that we met some of them on the tour to the canyons and had nice interactions too but somehow forgot to exchange numbers. But as fate would have it, we bumped into as many as 4 of them the next day (including the Dubai couple) and finally got our snaps together and numbers exchanged. A bit of Indian cosmic connection around the world I suppose. But yes, we would have indeed liked to know them better just as we would have liked to know Kazakhstan better. However if there is one thing I have learnt from travel it is what Billy Joel once sang – ‘Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, and it’s time to say goodbye again….’ I wish I didn’t have to leave any place or any person but I guess we have to let go of everything eventually. Perhaps world travel helps to put this harsh fact of life into perspective. Or perhaps nothing can.
Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and has travelled the natural world more than almost any Indian ever. He has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, and holds National Geographic conservation certifications. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and in his early days, used to be a published poet as well. More than anything else, he loves his Himalayan home. Reach him at: www.facebook.com/MostTravelledIndian/ ; www.instagram.com/MostTravelled_Indian/
