Kazakhstan

Of all the Central Asian states, it is in Kazakhstan that Russia’s influence looms largest. So strong is the connection that the capital was moved from Almaty to Astana in order to ensure that the Northern Russified region did not secede. Despite this, Almaty remains the most cosmopolitan city in Central Asia and itself retains a significant Russian influence (the Orthodox Holy Ascension Cathedral is said to be the largest wooden building in the world).

Although Kazakhstan is bordered to the South and East by mountains, the country is overwhelmingly steppe. I travelled to Kazakhstan to see Kokpar, a fierce nomadic horseback game often described as ‘rugby on horseback’ using the carcase of a dead goat, soaked in cold water overnight to toughen it up. Most often seen in South Kazakhstan, this area was also once a branch of the Silk Road as the various market towns and Islamic mausoleums along the route testify. The largest of these is the magnificent (yet unfinished) Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkestan, still visited by pilgrims from all over Central Asia. When we visited a group of pilgrims from Siberia were staying in our hotel and our sleep was broken by a dozen of them playing the ‘Jew’s Harp’.

We had arrived during the celebrations of Nowruz, the traditional Persian New Year, traditionally a time for Kokpar but also now celebrated in a ‘North Korea’-esque pageant with children wearing fantastic costumes and performing organised dances in the town square.

In contrast to this area, we also visited the Mangystau region in the far West. On the shores of the Caspian Sea, this area is now a centre of Kazakhstan’s oil and gas industry (brave attempts to establish tourism here notwithstanding). The capital, Aktau, is a grim, Soviet, place but in the surrounding semi-desert are a fascinating collection of ancient tombs and shrines dating back to the area’s origins as a home for nomadic people, and set in a landscape of other-worldly cliffs and escarpments.

These photographs were taken in March 2013.