On the Silk Road

This month I've been on the road, partly the Silk Road, for work. I visited Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan on my travels, which provided a welcome change from being in the office.

It's been over 20 years since my love affair with, and in, Russia first began. This was my fourth visit and I was still as awe-struck by the world's largest country as ever. Arriving in Moscow was fairly smooth and I managed to navigate the underground system, with my basic Russian reading skills, to reach my hotel. Moscow has the most amazing subway which exudes grandeur, artistic splendor and a host of chandeliers at almost every station. Some of the stations are simply stunning with mosaics, statues and carved pillars leading the way through the warren of tunnels.



I was in Moscow to attend an educational exhibition and have various business meetings. Around these, however, I managed to squeeze in a few hours of sightseeing. I hopped on the subway out to the Vernisazh Market on the edge of the city. Despite its theme park appearance, the sprawling market, with hidden levels, hosts hundreds of art, handicraft, antique and souvenir stalls. I spent a good few hours eyeing up soviet posters, Uzbek pottery, fake DVDs, fur hats, military regalia and matroyska dolls of every kind including one of the entire Obama family, complete with Bo the Portuguese water dog! Red Square also had to be paid homage to and although there was quite a lot of scaffolding, I said a cheery "Dras Vieche" to Lenin, snapped St Basil's and window-shopped in Gum, which is rather more upmarket than when I saw only cabbages and corsets on sale in the fairly empty shops in 1987. Moscow is now a city of consumer excess...I bet Lenin is turning in his wax!

Later in the week, I also flew up to St Petersburg for a whirlwind trip. I didn't get much chance to see beyond the hotel walls but squeezed in a quick walk down Nevsky Prospekt to the newly-restored Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood.



The middle part of my trip was spent in Istanbul, a city I lived in during the very late 90s. It, too, is developing rapidly and the new metro system has improved the traffic enormously but I was really impressed by all the renovation of its spectacular architecture, including the multi-million dollar refurbishment of the beautiful Pera Palace Hotel. Istanbul is the 2010 European Capital of Culture and was heaving with tourists enjoying the mid-September sunshine. I had a lot of meetings here but on my way to and from them caught glimpses of the city at its very best. I particularly enjoyed sampling the food. Turkish food, in my opinion, is one of the best cuisines in the world. I loved the pide (Turkish pizza), manti (Turkish ravioli in yoghurt), baklava, gozleme (Turkish stuffed pancakes), kebabs and dondurma (chewy ice cream). The ice cream sellers are hilarious with their amazing ice cream cone tricks to make both adults and children alike smile. I love travelling by ferry in Istanbul and it's truly one of the lovliest cities to look at from the water. My hotel, the Tunel Residence, was located in Beyoglu and had its own Turkish Hamam so I came away from the city both refreshed and clean!



The final part of my trip involved a visit to a new country for me: Kazakhstan. For those of you, like me, who may be scratching your head wondering where exactly this particular 'stan is, it's north of India and borders with China. I had no idea quite what to expect from Kazakhstan and visited two cities during my time there.

I landed in Almaty, at the base of the Tien Shan mountain range. It's a very green city with lots of trees and is famous for its apples along with being the economic centre of Kazakhstan. Behind the trees, however, Almaty feels very much like a decaying Soviet-style city and is in stark contrast to the other city I visited.

Astana is the new capital. I don't think I've ever visited such a weird city in my life. It's a city that appears to have simply landed in the middle of nowhere. It kind of did actually as the president simply decreed the capital be moved from Almaty to Astana about ten years ago. The best way to describe the place is to imagine those childrens' playmats that have roads and buildings drawn on so that children can drive toy cars on them. Then, think of architects on acid having free reign to create Lego constructions in strange futuristic shapes and plonk them on top. Voila! You have Astana. I can't say I warmed to the place but was very intrigued by the fact that everywhere in Kazakhstan seemed to be run by women. Where were all the men? My only guess, other than they'd been eaten by the women, was that they were in the west of the country working on the oil fields or behind the walls of all the giant government buildings.

I met some lovely people on my trip and was really delighted to meet up with a former Leeds colleague and good friend, Joanne, in Astana. Our paths crossed one evening and we had an enjoyable dinner together at a Georgian restaurant. I resisted the horsemeat platter but thoroughly enjoyed the chance to catch up.

It was with some relief that I finally left Kazakhstan as I had a bit of a nightmare at the airport and it was touch and go for about 30 minutes as to whether they were going to hold me in the country. Fortunately, I managed to persuade the Kazakh authorities that the fact I am British but live in Canada with a passport full of stamps does not make me a spy and that I really shouldn't be banished to the Siberian wastelands as so many before me.

Overall, it was an interesting and productive trip but seeing the CN Tower flashing from my window again is a lovely, familiar sight!