Argentinians did not believe in -30° frost in Astana – Allan Luciano
In an interview with Kazinform correspondent, the young Argentinian shared his impressions of Kazakhstan and the details of his life full of adventures.
“-31°C? You kidding, it’s impossible!”
Nobody fostered in me love of traveling, it just happened. While at university, I studied communication and journalism. As you know, summer in our region begins in December and lasts through February. When summer vacations started, I bought a ticket to Buenos Aires and then decided to have a three-month tour across Europe. I was in Spain, France and Italy. When I was booking return tickets, I thought whether I needed to go back to Argentine or if I wanted to continue my travel. There remained so many unexplored countries, unstudied cultures and things! It seemed that if I return to Argentine, I won’t feel satisfied over the tour. At that time something crazy happened in my head. I rushed to Polish Gdansk, then to Kaliningrad – a small Russia in the center or Europe. Through couch-surfing I was suggested traveling to Vladivostok by train. I remember that feeling, when I saw a large map of Russia – I thought if it was possible. I was said that it would take about a week to reach to Vladivostok. Why not, said I. I was eager to know how a man can live in a train. From Kaliningrad I headed to Moscow where I took a train and began my “train life”. This trip changed my world outlook. I felt that I had a real trip, a real adventure. From Vladivostok I came back to Moscow, then moved to Saint Petersburg, Murmansk and then to Norway by train
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After my 35,000km long trip across Russian territory, I didn’t want to stop. Moreover, if I wanted to be a journalist, I had to know what the world looks like … how you feel when you find yourself in Astana in winter … how people in Kazakhstan live.
Now I can say how beautiful Astana is in winter when outside temperature is -31°, because I felt it myself.
I sent a screenshot to my friends in Argentine and they didn’t believe me! “You kidding, it’s impossible!” they replied. I told them just to google it.
Indeed, when your begin studying the world, you become dependent on this process and it is very hard to stop. Especially when you are from a small south-Argentinian region like Patagonia with the population of 2,000 people only. It became difficult for me to return there from my big trip.
Kazakhstan became the 43rd country in my travel list. I never planned it and I am not going to stop.
After Kazakhstan I am planning to go to Novosibirsk, then to Bangkok through Vladivostok, and then to Perth in Australia.
Astana vs. Almaty
Almaty was the first city in Kazakhstan I arrived in. I came to Astana by train from Almaty. Winter is very cold here, that is why I am not planning to stay here for a long. When I came to Almaty after Russia, I remembered a plenty of post-Soviet cities. The same Khrushchev-era houses I saw in Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Bulgaria. It is amazing, that you meet absolutely identical cities located in thousands of kilometers from each other. When I climbed the mountains, I was stunned with a picturesque view and a beautiful landscape.
Astana is a modern city, unlike other post- Soviet cities. In Astana, you remember such big cities as Washington, DC in the U.S., Canberra in Australia. This is a very beautiful city with amazing architecture.
Of course, I heard that Astana is the world’s second coldest capital after Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. But, indeed, the weather is too cold here! Why did you choose it as the capital of the country?!
My purse hated me in some cities
I worked a little in Italy as a teacher of Spanish language for children. With the money I earned, I could cover my week-long stay there. I worked in cafes and hostels in England, Kuala-Lumpur, Australia and other countries to continue my trip. Reykjavik in Iceland turned out to be the most expensive city, it is unlikely that I will return there. One more expensive city in Monaco, but it is not far from France and Italy, and probably I will visit it again
But when you come to such cities your purse does hate you.
Astana is not very expensive. I paid €5 per night in hostels, €1-2 for food – that is quite cheap. Even the trains by which I traveled for almost 19 hours cost only €60. This is a very good price. In our country, I would have paid much more for such a trip.
Nevertheless, I was surprised over the price differences in Almaty and Astana.
It’s a big but small world
I can’t say exactly how many friends I have around the world. I find a new friend in each new country. I was several times in Kaliningrad, Moscow, London, because I feel comfortable there and I would like to meet my friends again. But it is amazing that no matter how big the world is sometimes you feel that it is small. While in Bangkok I can meet friends from Amsterdam, so I can’t believe if all this is real!
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