Kazhakstan
The journey continued—this time with a backpack.
Kazakhstan was meant to be just a transit country.
But something shifted.
For the first time, I could feel that change was no longer just inside—it was visible.
Long train rides. Flat land.
Heat.
And the quiet sense of stepping into another world.
Sebastian and I had decided to keep going together.
And for the first time on the journey –
we flew.
There wasn’t really another option.
Crossing Russia overland with a transit visa
had become too complicated.
After so many months of stillness and pause,
it felt exciting to move again.
We landed in Atyrau,
in the north of the Caspian Sea –
and were immediately met with blistering heat
and a dry, endless landscape.
Kazakhstan didn’t offer a warm welcome.
It was flat.
Unimaginably flat.
For hundreds of kilometers,
not a single hill in sight.
The first impression was humbling.
After a few days of adjusting and making a plan
to reach Uzbekistan,
we boarded a train to a small town known for being
a transfer hub.
We stayed there one night
and then caught another train
toward the border.
Kazakhstan is huge –
and we only saw a fraction of it.
Mostly from train windows.
It was hot.
It was unfamiliar.
And it gave us a taste
of what was still to come.
🎒 Travel Mode
Backpack
📅 Date From: July 2024
📅 Date To: July 2024
📍 Points of Interest
🏜️ Atyrau – A large city surrounded by endless flatlands and dusty steppe. We only got a brief glimpse of it, but even in that short time, you could feel the vastness and remoteness that defines much of Kazakhstan. A gateway to a different kind of silence.
🗺️ Kazakhstan has much more to offer – especially the eastern regions with their untouched nature and unique cultural heritage.
Our short stay doesn’t do this vast country justice.
It’s definitely worth exploring on a deeper journey.
✍️ Experience Snippet
We had found a place to sleep
in a small town in the Kazakh steppe –
a stopover before catching the train to Uzbekistan.
We walked through the village,
heat pressing down on us like a wall.
Then we saw them –
camels crossing the road.
The first time I had ever seen them
in the wild.
People stared at us
like we were an attraction.
Curious. Intense.
It all felt surreal.
Too much to process,
too little time.
The air was thick,
and my mind was full.
What else was waiting for us
out there?
👉 Want to see the full route?
Check out the route below.
🗺️ Route Legend
🔴 Red – Bicycle
🔵 Blue – Ferry
🟣 Purple – Hitchhiking
🟡 Yellow – Bus / Taxi
🟢 Green – Train
⚫ Black – Airplane
⚪ White – Planned Route
