24 HOURS on Kazakhstan’s OLDEST Night Train…

Comments · 743

• DA

  @damascus6478 · 3 years ago

  The scenery and being shunted over for every train that is nearby reminds me of my Amtrak trip from Chicago to Seattle last February.

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• SE

  @Sergiovsousa · 2 years ago

  There´s always a special cozy charm in those old soviet night trains that one can´t find in more modern ones...

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• AV

  @AverytheCubanAmerican · 3 years ago

  "Apples are a local specialty in Almaty" that's actually where the name Almaty comes from! Aлма/Alma is the Kazakh word for apple, and Almaty means "full of apples"! The wild Malus sieversii is considered the ancestor of the modern domestic apple and it is native to southern Kazakhstan! That aside, I can totally picture Bald & Bankrupt saying "Soviet station, Soviet train, Soviet toilet" while watching this 😂Love how much the Kazakhs embrace their cool culture and how it's reflected on not just their gorgeous flag but also the tiling at Almaty-1 station! And honestly as a history buff, I get this journey on a Soviet train might be torture for some, but for someone like me, I enjoy and respect the charm and it's still an experience at the end of the day

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• NE

  @neurofrank9967 · 3 years ago (edited)

  Only ten minutes late for such a long journey. The whole thing seems to be quite well organized. These old Ammendorf carriages still do their job!

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• LE

  @leedgington · 3 years ago

  On my student language trip to Russia in 1987 we took trains from Helsinki to Moscow, Moscow to Kharkov and again to Kiev, and then back, Kiev to Helsinki.  I'm pretty sure you were in the same carriage  😂.  Nice to see how well they held up! I enjoyed your video

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• RU

  @runoflife87 · 3 years ago

  Well, not the worst experience for sure. If you want real extreme, ride one of Tajik or Uzbek trains to Moscow where most of the occupants are season workers. <br>The new coach you were in is not built but assembled by Tulkar-Talgo using TVZ (Russian coach and EMU manufacturer) parts. Pretty good one even if not very comfortable when it&apos;s hot outside.

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• EX

  @ExodusCore · 3 years ago

  The Soviet era sleeping wagons were superior to their modern day equvalents. I remember traveling in them as a child and they were always so nice and cozy. The ones nowadays lack a soul and aren&apos;t nice at all.

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• VA

  @vaporizewise9064 · 2 years ago (edited)

  A packed bus means traveling like locals, sharing a train compartment means travelling like the locals. Complaining about paying a bribe is exclusive for British who are willing to pay a local monthly salery for a trip like that.

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• BO

  @BobTravellin · 3 years ago

  Ah, Kazakhstan! &nbsp;I had nearly a year working in Almaty 16 years ago - fascinating place that I didn&apos;t make the most of....... I didn&apos;t use public transport at all, though, walked evertywhere after a couple of colleagues had distressing experiences in taxis. &nbsp;Nur-Sultan was called Astana in those days too, I hadn&apos;t realized it had reverted. &nbsp;At that time the country was described as being the size of Western Europe with a population the size of the Netherlands. &nbsp;I also ate horsemeat a few times, including once in a pastie about twice the size of Ginster&apos;s finest - and very tasty it was too! &nbsp;Great video that brought back some bittersweet memories. &nbsp;Thanks.

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• TR

  @TranscendentalAirwaves · 2 years ago

  Those soviet carriages are charming as hell. Aside from the heating issue, they seem built extremely well and have a much warmer cozy feel than anything new.

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• TO

  @Tom-Lahaye · 3 years ago

  I have experience with the Russian built sleepers in Ukraine, it was a TVZ built carriage built somewhere in the 1980s or 90s and that one was already equipped with a vacuum toilet.<br>The beds are very comfy indeed and suited for tall people thanks to the more generous loading gauge on the Russian broad gauge, it means that carriages can be wider as those in Europe and even the US.<br>Having only some sockets in the corridor is a drawback, but as we were on a privately chartered train leaving your charging appliance alone was not a huge issue, but I can imagine that leaving your phone or camera unattended on a public service is not recommendable.

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• JO

  @johnkeepin7527 · 3 years ago

  Reminded me of a long holiday journey I did in 1996, in rolling stock of that type, from Beijing to Brussel Midi, via Ulan Bator, Irkustk, Yekaterinburg, and Moscow. Diesel hauled from Beijing as far as the Trans Siberian route, which was electrified all the way west. The gauge change method between China and Mongolia was quite dramatic, with us being on board while they changed all the bogies inside the workshop from standard to Russian. An awful lot of manual labour to remove each one from the side and insert the other. By way of contrast, the system used between Belarus and Poland was a bit more modern, with long cable laid out so that the whole set could be pulled out in one move, with the others being dropped off at each carriage in a similar fashion.

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