Train 707 from Almaty to Nur Sultan provided us with a great experience. We hit the bar before we had left the station and were soon in conversation with Askar and Nurbol. Both Kazakhs heading home. Askar owns a shoe shop and I think Nurbol either works for him or is his business partner. Through stilted English on their part and Google Translate on ours we established how old they were, how many children they had, what sports they liked and shared similar details about ourselves. We were soon being befriended by just about every person in the bar including the staff. Dinner in the dining car, (a very tasty horse meat stew with veges) brought us into contact with Alex, who assisted a bit with the menu, and provided a great insight into life in current day Kazakhstan. A great night and one that I will remember for a long time. Particularly the 100ml of Scotch on the rocks that I ended the night with. Probably not really required. After a bumpy, restless night we arrived into Nur Sultan on time, almost 15 hours after we had left Almaty. Up until a couple of months ago this city was known as Astana. But in a captain's call, the new President decided to rename it in honour of the past President. As you do! Nur Sultan has virtually been built from scratch over the last 20 years. Some of the architecture is a bit "left of centre" and definitely gives the place a unique identity. We decided to use the "jump on, jump off" double decker bus service to get a perspective of the city. The 2nd stop was Khan Shatyr, a massive shopping complex inside what looks to be a leaning tent. As well as shops it also houses a huge childrens entertainment centre, a flume ride, a monorail and something called the Sky Beach Club. In effect an indoor beach including sand and palm trees, on the 5th floor. The city seems as if it is trying to be the Central Asian equivalent of Dubai. It's amazing what the proceeds of oil and gas can buy or build. Friday was a day of adventure. We had decided to visit a museum/memorial about 35kms out of the city commemorating the lives of thousands of women and children who were sent to a gulag called Alzhir in the 1930's, 40's and 50's, simply because they were married to men who had "betrayed the Motherland". It was a stark reminder of the cruelty that leaders of a country inflict on their own citizens. The first step was negotiating the city bus system. We were fortunate to met Shrynar, a Chinese dissedent student, living and studying in Kazakhstan. Apparently his parents are in a "re-education" camp in China. He is unable to visit them and is hoping that one day he can move to Canada. It was very interesting to listen to his views and outlook. His language skills were a great asset in purchasing our tickets. So with 19 of us cosily tucked into a minivan we headed off. The museum was quite a soberig experience. Being locked up or no reason at all and having your children taken from you once they turned 3 would have been a harrowing life, to say the least. Now to get back to the city. We waited at the busstop for a while not knowing when the next bus would turn up or if there would be room. A couple of local guys were also there and they flagged down a passing car. This is quite common here. You see people hitching a ride everywhere. So in we piled. Us, 2 total strangers and an unknown driver. What could go wrong! Turned out our driver was a recently graduated engineer, who had landed a job in the US and was acting as an unofficial taxi to make some money. There was a few tense moments as he tried to drive and use Google translate so he could practice his English with us. But in the end he delivered us safely to our hotel for the princely sum of $4. Not bad for a 35km ride. I ended the afternoon with a walk through the Presidential Park, a place that has so much potential but one which has been sadly neglected. And so our time in Kazakhstan is coming to an end. Tomorrow we fly to Armenia. Looking forward to that but we have certainly enjoyed our time in The Stans. Amazing scenery, unbelievably hospitable people, a glimpse into the past Soviet era, the history of the Silk Road. It's an underrated part of the world, but definitely one that deserves exploring.