We had planned a three-week stay in Kazakhstan but after two, despite having an enlightening journey across a surreal land of nomads and steppes — and kurgans and petroglyphs — we went to Air Astana to change our flights. We were to take a grueling trip to Aqtau along the Caspian Sea but the prospect of taking long flights, driving across more steppes and suffering further mutton-induced constipation-diarrhea wild swings wasn't very appealing. And we were dead tired.
Us after two days of non-stop trek across the steppes.
Nour's apartment is in a house built by ex-Japanese war prisoners. We were surprised to learn about the Japanese POWs in Kazakhstan (we knew about the German diaspora). Apparently thousands of Japanese war prisoners were mobilized to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan by the Soviet Union to work as forced labor (mainly on construction projects). In Almaty they lived in barracks behind Panfilov Street and built major structures such as the airport, Turksib House and the Academy of Sciences. 
Nour's apartment is in this house built by former Japanese war prisoners who settled in Almaty.
This one's for Alison. She was so visibly annoyed for failing to scale the sand dune — and doubly upset when Dima and Alisha sped ahead without us — that I doctored an image and put her on the apex, towering over the two insignificant men, to become the goddess of the singing sands.
The map shows our trip to Shimkent, Arys, Otrar and Turkistan (red line) and to the national park (blue line). Don't be fooled by the seemingly short distances: Kazakhstan is bigger than Western Europe! We were going to Aqtau by the Caspian Sea but felt it would be too exhausting (requires a three-hour flight). Note Kazakhstan's neighbors: Russia (north), China (west), Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan (south, buffered by Central Asian states). I would be very paranoid!
We also stopped at a unique mosque constructed to look like a Chinese temple. It's quite kitsch and has questionable craftsmanship. I made the mistake of using the mosque's toilet (a deep hole in the ground) and you don't want to know. Gauhar said it would be a challenge to draw visitors to these places because the journey is too difficult, we haven't seen many impressive structures and there's the toilet situation. "I caaaaaan't," she moaned. "I really caaaaan't." 
Ceiling of the mosque's interior.
We went to a canyon using an extremely bumpy road and were too exhausted to enjoy its breathtaking beauty. Alisha said "we will faint" when we see this stunning canyon. We pretended to enjoy the views, pointing here and there, mouths gaping, as Dima and Alisha watched us from a distance. Alison told them later: "it's so lovely, thank you so much, it's all so lovely."
A large man (bottom left) lumbering up the gorge.
