Hi guys, just a quick post from me - I am having a tough time at the moment as I had a nasty infection on one of my teeth and the dentist told me, there's nothing more we can do to save that molar. I have been given some antibiotics but in a few days, they are going to extract it. I swear it's like a slow motion car crash when you know it is gonna hurt when it happens, so I told myself I needed to give myself something nice to look forward to. So I have planned my next massive winter holiday - I am going to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in early January and experience winter there. I have always wanted to visit that part of the world and since Almaty (in Kazakhstan) and Bishkek (in Kyrgyzstan) are about 237 km apart, I intend to fly into one city and out the other with Turkish Airlines (since I have points with them that need spending anyway). I have done a similar journey in Georgia in 2019 where I actually encountered a lot of racism there (yeah I'm Asian and there are no Asian people there at all). But when we get to Kazakhstan, we are right on the border with China and a lot of people in central Asia do look just like me. On top of that, both cities are very Russian speaking as it serves as the lingua franca amongst all the different ethnic groups and I do speak Russian as well. I'm not fluent in it but it has served me well in my previous trips around Russia and the former Soviet republics. I remember being in a restaurant in Georgia where the waitress spoke only Georgian and the menu was in Georgian - she then went to the kitchen and brought out this older lady who spoke Russian and I got to order my dinner in Russian. It was quite the experience and I expect this trip to be similar. I will be exploring two amazing cities, doing some skiing and it will give me a unique experience: this mix of Islamic culture within an ex-Soviet context in Asia right next to China would be something I've not experienced before in places in Ukraine, Georgia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia and Latvia that I have visited previously as those places were very European and this is going to be a lot more Asian. And the more I think about it, the more excited I am. So now, it's not just a project to take my mind off that impending extraction, it is going to be a truly amazing holiday of a lifetime because these countries are relatively cheap so I'm going to go luxury all the way on this trip! That's it from me for now - wish me luck with the dentist this week. Cheers and thanks for reading: spasibo bolshoye and kop raqmat.
Hello, may I know which molar it is? And how are you currently feeling about the infection? Fever, difficulty eating, etc?
ReplyDeleteAs for your Central Asian trip next year, is there anything touristy to do there? I've read of stories of tourists been stared at because they usually don't get tourists pre-Borat days.
Hi there, it's a last molar on the bottom right hand side, not the wisdom tooth as I've had those out years ago but the next one in. At least there won't be any visible gaps as you can't see that when I talk and I was told I won't miss it as I can talk and eat normally without it. The original abscess got real bad but the antibiotics calmed it down, but as the tooth is already loose, there's no point in trying to save it at this stage and it's just easier to get rid of it. This is the second flare up in 2.5 years so it's only gonna happen again in the future if I kept that tooth.
DeleteI always tell Amanda about the 3 pillars of tourism: nature, culture and pleasure. Nature would be doing something like going out to where mother nature is at her best, so there are massive snow capped mountains near Almaty and Bishkek - as I am going in January, it'll be like -20 and totally glistening in the frozen cold. It's the kind of nature at its best which I adore. Then there's culture - I love that unique mix of Islam + ex-Communist Soviet state + central Asian (not European) cultural influences. On this trip, I'd be within 240 km of the Chinese border (not that I intend to go there, we'll need a visa and that's expensive whilst I don't need a visa for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan). So it's not unusual to see Chinese looking people in that part of central Asia but there's a real mix of people who look very Chinese, those who look a bit more Arab/Pakistani and those who are quite white due to the way it was part of the former USSR. Almaty is a real melting pot where you get to see all of those influences whilst Bishkek is a smaller city which is a lot more traditionally Islamic. I think it depends on what you define as 'touristy' - I roll my eyes when I see Singaporean tourists go shopping. I often buy nothing on my trips but spend my money on having amazing experiences, like getting a private driver to take me out to a UNESCO world heritage site at dawn to experience the sunrise there. I'll have photos + videos from that trip but I'll not buy a single thing at the souvenir shop. I have experienced a lot of racial harassment in Africa and the poorest parts of Eastern Europe like Georgia and Albania - this somehow always comes in the form of random idiots coming up to me and screaming JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN and me telling them to fuck off in their local language. It's this fucking annoying thing they do which is "I noticed you're a foreigner and I'm going to shout the country I think you're from" notion. Like come and talk to me like a human being if you wanna, I probably speak your language, duh, but shouting JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN at me is just gonna get me to reply by insulting you in your local language.
Oh I didn't even get to pleasure - I think pleasure can be described as something you do specifically for fun. For example, think Sentosa where there are loads of attractions design to make you spend a LOT of money for a fun day out (Universal Studios and Adventure Cove for example). It's big business and if you're on holiday, you're more likely to be willing to spend big bucks to have a fun day out somewhere like that and why not? For me on this trip, I'd be going skiing in both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan - it is expensive, it is thrilling, it is my favourite outdoor sporting activity and I get to enjoy the beautiful mountains.
DeleteSorry typo: loads of attractions *DESIGNED* to
DeleteThank you for being so candid. I had a previous tooth abscess so I know how it could be like. And I have a tiny jaw so all of my 3rd molar some of my premolars have already been extracted (under GA one time). And the dentist is right, you won't miss your 2nd molar. There is an option to get a dental implant but since it was not suggested it is probably not required.
DeleteAs for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, I know they have beautiful natural sights. And being ex-Soviet, lots of brutalist architecture (if you are into it like Benjamin bald). I don't particularly equate touristy spots as only shopping centres, that is probably more a general SG viewpoint. To draw some parallels, there are no foreigners (gaijin) establishments in JP and they are a tourist friendly country. In China many hotels don't allow foreigner to book rooms. I'm wondering if Central Asian countries would be equally segregated or not?
Anyway enjoy your trip, sounds really fun!
Yes both countries are in the Tien Shan mountain range, not as high as the Himalayas but still I'll be going up to 3100 meters in on Mt Shimbulak in January, so whilst I'll never climb Mt Everest, that's the same kind of breathtakingly beautiful mountain scenery I'll be looking forward to. I'll get the ski lift up and then ski down the mountain. I watched a Youtube video of people climbing mountains in Japan recently and it just looked like such freaking hard work. I think that one of the reasons why people like to travel is because they wanna see and experience something very different from what they are used to - thus seeing brutalist Soviet architecture is part of that experience. As for being tourist friendly, it is nothing like China at all - hell no. The problem with China is that they have such a massive local market that many businesses can thrive on 100% Chinese clients alone without ever serving a single tourist - thus no need to be on social media platforms, no need to accept bookings from abroad, no need to speak English, no need to accept payments on non-China platforms, they won't even make any effort at all. However, in these smaller central Asian countries, they are very practical - you wanna make money, you *MUST* deal with tourists from other countries as their local markets are really tiny compared to China. The population of Kyrgyzstan is 6.7 million, that's smaller than even a tier 2 city in China. If they don't accept business from foreigners, they are fucked. They need the money to survive as there's no welfare state to speak of and thus they turn to capitalism to make money - which means being tourist friendly. The hotels in China get away with being lazy as they can depend 100% on local Chinese business, the hotels in Kyrgyzstan simply don't have that luxury, they are pretty much dependent on foreigners!
DeleteThere is a lot of inter-Soviet states tourism, so someone from Kazakhstan could go on holiday in Turkmenistan whilst someone in Uzbekistan could go to Azerbaijan on holiday etc. The fact is being ex-USSR, Russian is still very much the lingua franca used amongst them. As my Kyrgyz friend once told me, she was educated in Kyrgyz language in primary and second school but once she got to university, all the books in the library were all in Russian so further education had to be done in Russian. It's easy to replace the textbooks in primary and secondary school, but for the vast volumes of research materials needed for your university, it had to be Russian or English - thus she learnt both languages for her degree. The only problem I foresee for tourists there is if you don't speak Russian, then you cannot communicate with the locals. So you get a choice of two languages: the local language Kazakh or Kyrgyz followed by Russian but little or no English. Luckily, I do speak Russian reasonably well. I remember when I was in Georgia, I was surprisingly apt at communicating in Russian as I only knew a few words of Georgian (and it's a bizarre language isolate with no relatives) and so few people spoke any English.
Oh and you can do everything from Uber to Airbnb in Kazakhstan, that's how Western it is, unlike China. You have to realize that China is a communist state, the rules are different, but in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan they are not communist - thus all these Western commercial platforms are operating there. Oh and I remember how when I was in Lithuania, my local AirBNB host spoke only Lithuanian and Russian but not a word of English - most people would freak out at that but I totally loved that experience. Just as well I do speak Russian. It is a useful language for traveling around the ex-USSR states.
DeleteCan't wait for you to share your adventures with us next year. Hope you hit all three pillars with your trip to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Have never been to Central Asia myself. Probably would take the easy way out and visit Azerbaijan for Formula One among other things. And a smooth operation for your dental woes.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I have just come back from the dentist and it was better than I thought, sure it hurt like hell when she injected me several times to numb the area for the extraction but once she got that over and done with, the extraction itself was straight forward and it was all over in seconds. The mouth is obviously sore now and there's a gaping hole where that tooth used to be, but that will heal over just like the way my gums did after my wisdom teeth extraction. Now the worse is over, I look back and think that period of dreading going to the dentist is far worse than whatever happened at the dental clinic, at least I have a dentist who works fast and she is efficient, I trust her.
DeleteOh and I almost forgot to talk about central Asia - yeah it is a part of the world that people often neglect when it comes to tourism. They would either go for popular destinations in Asia like Thailand and Hong Kong or they would go to touristy places like Dubai and Turkey but just ignore a lot of central Asia. There are still some places in central Asia which are off limits - Afghanistan is very unsafe, you can visit Pakistan and Iran but they're not tourist friendly (but those who do go get rewarded with quite an experience if they're willing to put up with the inconveniences of traveling in such places). Mind you, Iran has arrested so many British nationals for 'spying' (it's all complete bullshit - it's just retaliation for the sanctions) that I don't feel safe going to Iran on a British passport but that's the only one I have. Getting a visa for Pakistan is a pain and expensive. Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are not tourist friendly at all, you've gotta book your flights + tour etc then apply for the tourist visa and even at that stage they may just say no for no reason if they don't like your face. However, on the other end of the scale, there's Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan where most tourists don't require a visa for 30/60 days and they have open borders - "just come and have a good time, you can have a wonderful holiday here." I can't go to Russian central Asia given there's a war now with Ukraine (again, British nationals are not safe in Russia) and it's a pain to get a visa for China for me. Urgh, I remember waltzing into China on my Singapore passport then having to get an expensive visa on my last trip there. So yes, there are only 3 countries in central Asia which are very tourist friendly and I'm doing 2 of them on this trip. I also wanna do Armenia and Azerbaijan at some stage (having done Georgia already).
DeleteDo I include Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia as part of Europe or are they in central Asia? They are on the other side of the Caspian sea, so they're in Europe and not Asia?!
Delete@LIFT, during COVID when the 15 days on-arrival visa was suspended, Singaporeans had to queue 4-5 hours from 4am just to be able to apply for a visa to China (they open at 9am). I recently went to apply and obtained a Chinese visa just so I could stay past 15 days. Since the on-arrival visa has resumed and all visa applications have switched to appointment basis only, the queues are more sane now. But I guess UK citizens probably won't want to deal with the hassle.
DeleteIf I had a good enough reason to go to China like to attend a business meeting or a conference, then I'll go but I can't imagine wishing to go to China on holiday. I did take my husband to Shanghai about 16 years ago and I hated every moment of it. Everything from dealing with PRCs to the public transport system to the hot weather to the stress of how he was completely dependent on me and if I fucked up, then it's my fault etc. I swore never to return, then some years later, his company was invited to go to a conference in Shenzhen by the Shenzhen local government so it was an all expenses paid trip (including flights) and I had a far more positive experience that time (apart from the terrible weather, again, too bloody hot for me) and after that I'm like, that's the only way I'll go do China - if they roll out the red carpet for me. I suppose Almaty isn't that far from Urumqi but I'd rather spend more time in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan given that I really have no desire to go to China again unless it is the kind of trip like the one I did in Shenzhen when I was so well taken care of.
DeleteOh on that trip, all I had to do was mention that I like bubble tea (who doesn't) and the boss man would get one of the younger interns to run to the nearest bubble tea place and get me whatever bubble tea I wanted. My hubby mentioned ice cream and it was literally, "what flavour would you like? Okay, give us five minutes." Boom. That's why I had such a good time in Shenzhen and didn't enjoy Shanghai.
DeleteSo glad you came out from your dental operation unscathed. I've had a similar experience. Truly, the most painful part is at the start with the anesthetic injection right through the gums. Speaking of having a dentist who you can trust, that is indeed valuable. Akin to building rapport and relationships with service staff, from property and insurance agents, sales representative, to even hairdresser, should come at no surprise how much we can gain from having an amicable relationship with them. I've once encountered a horrible dentist, senior one no less, sometimes it might not be about seniority but simply caring enough.
DeleteI do want to visit more countries in Central Asia, but I'm just a salaryman with mortgage. Holidays are mostly spent enjoying nature, admiring architecture, eating good food, and taking it easy with the sights. Perhaps getting private tours would help me ease into the new country and setting. I do have a friend in Georgia. He will defriend me if he know I visited Azerbaijan but yet not make any effort to cross the border over to Georgia.
DeleteGeorgia was a fascinating country to explore, Tbilisi was a fascinating experience but one needs to get out into the countryside and see a bit more of the country, given that you need to experience the mountains of Georgia and see a totally different side of life there in the countryside. They do have a decent rail network but most people travel around by buses.
DeleteI have not done a post about it yet but I've booked my trip to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for mid-Feb given that a window opened up and I rushed in and booked it. It only leaves me 2 weeks to learn basic Kazakh and Kyrgyz as well as revise my Russian before I go there.
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