PW_1_2019

Article

Flying visit to Kazakhstan Harvey Whittam , Life member. Thames Valley Branch Some members thought I was very adventurous or just crazy to take on the great Trans-Mongolian railway journey through Russia, Mongolia and China, the day after we finished running the International Youth Gathering.

Angus and Marat shooting in Kazakhstan countryside

L ittle did they know, I had tagged on a couple of days on the way home to see Kazakhstan. Five things ‘sold’ it to me: instead of flying direct from Beijing to England, the flights via Kazakhstan on Air Astana were less than half-price; I had time on my hands; it was a country I had never visited; friends strongly suggested a visit and last but not least, there was no need for a visa. Sadly, I would not have time to visit the historic former capital city of Almaty or some of the incredibly beautiful national parks. To put it in perspective, Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world, and therefore there is a lot to see. I took advice from friends who had been to Kazakhstan, including IPA friends in Russia who then put me in touch with their friend Marat Nurgaliev, who Section Russia had supported through the foundation of our newest of IPA section. A few weeks before arriving in Kazakhstan, I was in St Petersburg taking Olga Birkin, the Section Russia travel secretary, out for dinner. Out of the blue, she passed me her mobile phone to speak to someone. It was Aiden Goundry from West Mercia Branch who was with Marat in Kazakhstan. He filled me in with what a wonderful time he was having in Kazakhstan. I had already had a chat with Mrs Crockard, who had been out there with her husband, Stephen. It all sounded very good. I went ‘off grid’ during the train journey and could not contact Marat by any means from China, so it was a matter of seeing what would happen on arrival in Kazakhstan. I was blown away to see Marat walking towards me in the arrivals hall. He had arranged a lot, starting with a tour of the city with a couple of students who were keen to practice their English. Later in the afternoon we visited the Section’s HQ where we exchanged gifts and discussed how the IPA works between lots of toasts. Fortunately, I had become accustomed to lots of vodka toasts from the long train journey. To my pleasant surprise, Marat arranged to meet us the following day to go hunting in the countryside. This was especially exciting as there didn’t seem to be any easy way to hop on a bus to see the countryside. Foreign tourists are a rarity, although foreign visitors on business are common, so there were no businesses geared up to cater for tourists. Nevertheless, I slept extremely well in a smart international chain hotel. I had made an online booking several months earlier at a B&B rate of under £40 per night. Next morning we set off in a convoy of fully loaded 4x4s. To assist with communication, Marat had thoughtfully invited along a relative who was an excellent translator. She was taking time out from her academic studies and like many youngsters there, she spoke several languages: Kazak, Russian, English and Korean. We arrived in the back of beyond, next to a large river and ate a light salad lunch before our “hunting”. This turned out to mean fishing with a rod. I really enjoyed catching the trout. We became so noisy with the excitement of catching so many fish, that we scared them off. So, off we went to have a blast using semi-automatic shotguns. No animals or birds were injured, just my pride in trying to figure out how to assemble a rather plastic looking Turkish shotgun.

I settled for using a much more solid American shotgun. It was lots of fun, with a very pleasing 100% of targets hit. This was thanks, in part, to Met police firearms training many years ago. Back at a lodge overlooking the river, we ate what we had caught and washed it down with some fine Kazak brandy. Huge thanks to Marat and his IPA friends in Astana for being such good hosts, especially all the unexpected activities.

Harvey, Angus and Section Kazakhstan members wearing hats

Harvey catching fish with Marat

POLICE WORLD Vol 64 No. 1, 2019

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