July 22, 2011

• The Silk Road Overland
  Thursday 21 July 2011
  
  This morning I used the gym at the Chagala Hotel. Excellent gym with all equipment state-of-the-art. However, there was no remote for the plasma TV so I went down quickly to the reception to ask for help.

  Character sketch:

  The receptionist rests her head on her hands and looks at me from below for a few seconds. “But it’s open”, she says. “Yes, the gym is open”, I reply, “but I can’t turn on the TV because there is no remote control.” Silence. I look at her quizzically. More silence. “Maybe I can call maintenance”, she says. Silence. “Should I go back up to the gym?” I ask. Silence. She lifts her walkie talkie and speaks into it. “Should I go upstairs?” I ask again. No reply. She speaks into the walkie talkie again. I quietly walk back to the lift. A maintenance man appears a few minutes later and fixes the problem.

  I have breakfast before changing hotels this morning. The breakfast at Chagala is absolutely excellent: sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans. The chef doesn’t look British but the breakfast does (and tastes it as well).

  After moving to the new hotel, Aktau Hotel, I go to the in-hotel travel agent Kazakhstan Tours to find out what I can about getting transport and guide for some of the Silk Road remains in the area. I now come to understand that there are two main underground mosques people visit in the region: Beket Ata and Shakpak Ata (Beket Ata is a well-known place for pilgrimage, while Shakpak Ata is the oldest site in the region and is nearer to Aktau). I also find out that Caspian Tours has closed because the owner has hanged herself. There’s a brief interlude at this stage as this is news to some in the office and they have to ring their mum. Slightly surreal situation as I’m having tea and munching on biscuits while the travel agent I’m taking to is on the phone with her mum. Apparently I’ve only got two options for an organised tour: Turist or TaGu. The friendly agent I’m talking to offers to ring TaGu. Which site do I want? Well, Shakpak Ata sounds interesting. TaGu would charge USD350 for A/C transport, Russian guide and an English translator for the guide. “I can fly to Istanbul for 350 dollars”, I say and the agents in the office laugh.

  As I won’t pay USD350 for a six-hour tour, this leaves Turist, and the promise of being able to talk to Christina, the English-speaker. After 3.00 PM, I finally get to speak to Christina. “We only have Russian-speaking guides”, she tells me. Turist charges USD300 for a trip to Shakpak Ata with a Russian guide. “There are no English-speaking guides in Aktau”, Christina informs me.

  So, I’m getting nowhere. I give up the idea of having a guide and ask the hotel receptionist to ring and ask how much a regular taxi is. The central taxi company says it’s USD500 if I want a two-hour wait at the site. What?! How can it be more expensive to get a taxi without a guide than get an organised tour? Suggesting to the receptionist that perhaps they have added a zero by mistake gets me nowhere. It’s 500, take it or leave it. I leave it.

  At this stage I start feeling really despondent. I’ve spent a day and a half trying to organise a tour and I’m getting absolutely nowhere. Is this Silk Road project just a big mistake? Also, when I tried to book a train between Almaty and Astana this morning (for Saturday evening), I found out that there is not a single seat available, night train or going by day. Is NOTHING possible in Kazakhstan??

  Later in the evening I ask the receptionist to ring on some of the private taxi ads in the local paper. Eventually, we find a guy who is willing to take me go Shakpak Ata for KZT 15,000 (=USD100). I accept.

  What have I accomplished today? To book a taxi for Shakpak Ata for tomorrow. That’s all. This better be worth it.

  • 10:51 am
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