Steppe in Style: adventures in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Moving house in Astana — again!

In May I received the unwelcome news that my landlord was kicking me out. Not because I was a bad tenant or didn’t pay the rent, simply because the value of the flat had gone up and he wanted to sell it. Kazakh rentals don’t have any of the procedures that British ones do. There…
Spring comes to Astana

The extreme cold of the winter months skewed Astana residents’ perceptions of the weather. When temperatures crept above -15C then above -10C during the day, it felt like spring had arrived. Parents stood outside their buildings letting their babies — so bundled up in clothes and snowsuits that their arms and legs stuck out at…
How to get fresh food in Astana

I knew it was really spring when fresh vegetables appeared in the shops and a small market was set up near my flat one weekend. Getting fresh food in Astana was really a challenge. I’d been prepared for the food situation to be difficult after spending a week in Astana in winter 2010, when I found…
2,000 people shifted 3mn cubic metres of snow from Astana this winter

One really impressive thing about Astana is the snow removal, known as “sneg oborka” in Kazakhstan. After a snowfall, the snowploughs – a fleet of seven big orange ones – comes out. The drive in formation down the wide streets, each with its plough slightly angled towards the curb so the central one pushes its…
Where to find old Astana

Astana is more than just a modern city; people have lived in the area since ancient times, and its oldest buildings date back to the mid 19th century. It’s hard to remember this when walking around with the city’s spectacular (and sometimes kooky) modern architecture towering above, but every now and then among the iconic…
The temperature in Astana suddenly dropped to -28°C

I knew Astana is one of the three coldest capitals in the world, alongside Ulanbataar and Ottawa, but the Astana winter took me by surprise. After the howling winds of the autumn and the first flurries of snow, one clear sunny morning in mid-November I was in a taxi when the driver mentioned the temperature…
Personal grooming in Central Asia (if it’s hairy, wax it)

In the years I’ve spent in Central Asia, I’ve noticed that women invest huge amounts of time and money in personal grooming. Waxing, manicures, pedicures, eyebrow and eyelash dying are all part of the regular routine of grooming in Central Asia, along with professional hair styling and makeup for big events. I’m talking about normal…
Hanging out at the malls in Astana

As the weather got steadily colder in September and October, my friends and I would often go to the Khan Shatyr shopping mall to hang out at the weekends, drinking coffee and egging each other to buy things. When I was a teenager growing up in suburban Surrey, I’d also spent my Saturday afternoons at…
A prison camp the size of France

Karaganda used to be a byword for remoteness when Kazakhstan was part of the USSR, a kind of Soviet Timbuctoo. There was a joke that went: “Gdye?” (“where” in Russian) “Karagandye!” (“in Karaganda” – meaning, I don’t know where) Not far from Karaganda is Dolinka, the headquarters of the Kazakhstan gulag — named Karlag —…
Zhanaozen after the massacre

The fatal shootings of 17 men in and around the oil town of Zhanaozen in December 2011 shook Kazakhstan to its core. The Zhanaozen tragedy, as it became known, followed a six-month strike by workers at the huge Uzen oilfield. The struggle between workers demanding higher pay and better conditions on one side and the…

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