Kazakhstan and Shikoku, an unknown similarity??

Kazakhstan, the ninth largest country in the world, is one of the most modernized country in Central Asia. Sharing the border with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, the asian country is built on a multiple-cultural back ground. Their independence came right before the fall of Soviet Union, and with its two capitals, old capital Almaty in south and new Astana in north, the great parts of the country still remains untouched with Mongolia-like steppe and Altai mountain range that divides from Kyrgyzstan.

As embarrassing as it is, I knew nothing of this region except it might be a part of Middle East. Many travelers we met on the way has expressed the warm hospitality of people, but I was still unaware of their ethnical and religious background. We arrived Almaty, a capital that remained in power until 14, 15 years ago when it was relocated to Astana. At 22:00, the city was already dark and quiet, and nothing resembled its urbanized city. We rolled into a motel, not cheap coming from China, and began exploring the city the next day.

 

 

 

 

Since the country is located north of Central Asia, there are many Russian descents living in Almaty. Color of hair and skin tones come in various shades, with some facial features even extends out to Mongolian, Turkic, and interracial. Differences of racial groups were much visible in Urumqi, China, with appearance and location clearly separated from one another, but in Almaty, it seems more subtle, and in a way almost too bland to find traits of an important role it had once played on what is later known as Silk Road.

 

 

 

Rumors were right nonetheless; people are openly friendly. Ordering meal or finding a right bus stop, they are capable of patiently assisting us. Some travelers were even invited into home for food and a bed. This type of hospitality reminded me of Shikoku region in Japan. About three years ago I visited Tokushima, a prefecture in Shikoku Island. We were welcomed by an unforgettable hospitality, and later learned that this kind of giving spirit comes from hosting travelers on Ohenro-Junrei, a walking tour of visiting 88 temples, over 1,200km throughout the 4th largest island in a course of 50 days.

 

 

With this in mind, I soon assumed that people's kindness may have come from hosting travelers on a long journey from west and east. There is no way of proving this with such small knowledge I have about the culture, nonetheless, such selfless deeds which were not seen in any other places visited so far became one of the memorable encounters.

Are we that local?

There is a question often asked when traveling; where are you from? As we spend most of days outdoor, I am thoroughly tanned, disguising my identity as a thin, pale Japanese man. while in Mongolia, locals more than often came to me with their native tongue, and when I shake my head as I point at myself and say "Japon", they continue to speak in Mongolian as if to say I am lying. I tilt my head with an uncomprehending expression, they would then say "ahh, yakuza"... No one really believes where I am from here in China either, and popular assumption is often Korean and Mongolian. The most unusual was when I was called a Himalayan in Iceland.

Sahe is usually mistaken by Chinese locals that she is one of them, or Tiwanese. However, this misunderstanding is usually followed by "because your Chinese is excellent", so it's a good thing, unlike mine. In a town of Shan Shan we went to get a room in a motel turned out to be not available for a foreigner, the clerk told Sahe they have a room available but asked who the man standing next to her is. I guess I don't pass as one of them.

A danish is not called danish here.

Over thirty hours of involuntarily rocking and swaying on a 36,000 ton ferry, we arrive Hirshals port located at the northern tip of Denmark. Awkwardly with our backpack strapped to our bodies we reach for the passpot in the pocket hoping to get it stamped for once, but following the sign "nothing to declare" lead us to an immediate exit. Again, trying to get a proof of  visiting a new country was not successful, and will likely to remain that way until we leave Europe.

The first impression of the country, viewed from the train window, is that the land is very flat with what appears to be farm fields, compared to previously visited countries. With a few train transfers we arrive Århus, the second largest city after København. The claimed center of the Danish culture, Århus is located in the middle of Jutland, the peninsula connected to Germany. After spending the afternoon walking around and visiting a museum, we got back on the train and headed to the capital city three hours away. The image I have of Danish people, hard-working and being precise can be seen in places such as how streets are kept clean, trains run on time, bricks on buildings stacked up to perfection, and color of the cityscape well-schemed. As all education and public welfare are paid for by the government, it seem to me that the country appears to be very supportive of it's people, however, a local resident told us that people who does not take advantage of these possibilities are often viewed as failures of the society. I can certainly see similarities in between Danmark and Japan with such behavior of intolerance to those that are considered below average.

Next day we were fortunate to borrow over-sized bikes from a local guy we met (well, it's like a couple of hobbits borrowing swords from men), and wandered around. It is amazing how, we are from two of the busiest, stressful cities in the world; Tokyo and New York, and yet feel overwhelmed by people, bikers, and cars all moving rapidly in all directions because we have been away from it for four weeks. We were amazed about how the city is built around bicycles, with not only special bike lanes and stop lights, but also with passing lanes and rules. Paying attention to traffic and pedaling giant bikes we were exhausted by the time we got to the center, but certainly was a nice way to experience and view the city.

Patriotism and Pride

Earth covered in ashes from the
recent eruption

While out on a Sunday brunch with Oscar and family the day before our departure from their warm home, he turns to me with a grin on his face and said, "Yoshi, you should go tell those non-colored people that Japan has better fish, safer neighborhood, and people there live longer". 

Being here for two weeks taught me that Icelanders are very fond of their country and culture, and are not afraid to express their love openly. Above three things are just a few of the many that they are proud of, and one elder even said to me that the weather in Iceland is the best, despite unpredictable forecast, daily gusty wind, and cold, pitch black winter. It is hard to comprehend such patriotism, especially when you come from a country still debating about whether the national flag and anthem should or should not be in public schools. 

Tip of icebergs floating in a river
of 600ft in depth

This love towards their own nation, may be the reason why they take care to preserve the environment as close to its natural form. You rarely see fences or guardrails on roads, and never witness a power-shovel cutting into a mountain or filling a land. Roads are simply paved along the coast line according to the shape of nature, not according to our convenience. In parks and sightseeing spots, off-limit area is often marked with a single rope held with a foot-high wooden pegs. Even toddlers are able to jump over them, but according to local people the safety is, "up to each and everyone of us in order to preserve the natural view of how it is suppose to be". 

When Grimsvötn erupted on the day we arrived, people told us how lucky we are rather than worried about others who's planes were cancelled. This certainly was a surprise. Last year when the rest of European aviation network was in chaos Icelanders sat back and said, "it will stop some day". Icelanders live side-by-side and take care of nature, as nature takes care of them. I hope this uncorrupted atmosphere stay the same and to be passed onto the generations to come.

Quality of Service; JPN vs. USA

Our flight out of Japan was arranged through an established travel agency, "H",  but booking one-way tickets were harder than expected. First, none of Japanese airlines allowed one-way tickets nor to purchase round-trip and waste return tix without penalty. There was one American airline, "D" that provided one-way tix and another, "A" who would let us waste the return ticket. Our agent at H had done a great deal of research to find the most inexpensive ticket, and we ended up selecting the airline A due to its cost, not realizing this was a mistake. 

In the morning of the departure, I checked the flight status at home which is something I never do, only to find the status of our flight listed as Cancelled. Not knowing what that meant, I had called the A customer service, but the person answered, "what would you like to do instead?" without giving me options, nor an apology, nor explanation of cancellation. Frustrating. It is frustrating to get such unprofessional response from the second largest airline in the world with over 4,000 flights daily. The option within the same day was a Chicago connecting, so we decided on taking the morning flight on the next day which was a code-share flight with the Japanese airline, "J". We made no further big deal about it, but they made us feel like it was our fault the flight was canceled.

Since we had so many luggage, over-sized, over-weight, and outnumbered, we decided to arrive the airport early for the morning flight. We left before 7:00 with 2 backpacks, 3 suitcases, 1 duffel bag, and 3 hand-carry bags. Total weight was over 120kg (250lbs), and so we were ready to pay a large amount of charges, but J had a team of people working for us to make the charge as minimal as possible, and we ended up paying close to nothing. 

As we went to concourse and grabbed our breakfast hot dog, neatly wrapped in a paper, I thought to myself that these are the quality of service we are going to miss about Japan.

2 and a half more hours, and we are off.