Grand Hotel Victory-Aktau

... journey all over again as I ride south across the steppe to Almaty. The countryside begins to undulate and there are small hills dotted around. The sun shines but there is a bitter northeast wind. I need to readjust to life on the road. Fuel stations are frequent though accommodation is not, so I make an early stop after 160 miles and catch up with writing, photographs and sleep.

... go off the tourism track and visit Dolinka, a very small part of the Gulag where more than 800,000 inmates were put to work from 1929. We saw some gruesome history - a museum, derelict prisons and a burial ground. I know Dolinka doesn't sound like a great place to visit but it was interesting to see where Alexander Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned and to feel the cold, but not as cold as it must have been for those poor ...

... we finally got our tickets & began boarding about 7pm, we all got cabins, sharing with 4, me & debbie, monica & david. They were ok, they had beds in them & thats as much positive i can say! There was 1 toilet between 50 people & it was minging! Lots of people had dodgy bellies so it was a delight! Finally left port about 9.30pm, few drinks in ...

... Die Bereitstellung von persönlichen Kraftfahrern für einzelne Mitarbeiter. Falls uns also in Zukunft mal die Arbeit ausgehen sollte, mit spannenden Diskussionen über die genannten Themen lässt sich auch ein Tag füllen, ganz sachlich natürlich, und immer im besten Interesse des Unternehmens. Der Humor hier in Kasachstan ist mitunter etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig. Witze sehen unter anderem so ...

... Iqaluit was a place where I had some tumultuous experiences. I met some great people there, and am still in contact with some. However, at the end of my first year there, I needed to move on. At Christmas (2001), Mom made a comment that my brother and I should quit our jobs and go sailing with Dad, which was enough of an offer for me to leave Iqaluit. 2002 Tried my hand at subbing in Calgary without an Alberta teachers license. So I substitute taught at a few ...

... comensaven a enfilar encorbatats cap als bigotis tofuts. Ens esperen cares amples i ulls estirats; a primer cop d ull una interessant ellaboracio genetica russo-mongola que destilla una bellesa forta; llavis molsuts, nassos petits, pomuls marcats i aquest petit tras, definitiu, de quan els dos arcs que dibuixen l ull es pleguen gracils, a l interior, per baixar un momentet parallels al nas. A la ciutat no li passa el mateix; Aktau es un bon ...

... di buran e seguire assolutamente i loro consigli (forse l'unico caso in cui la polizia kazaka e' affidabile e va ascoltata), altrimenti si puo' rimanere bloccati nel mezzo della tempesta, sepolti sotto metri di neve. Nella Photo Gallery alcuni scatti del buran che si e' abbattuto su Astana in questi giorni.