Kazakhstan and Almaty

After leaving Russia in the dead of night, we awoke the following morning in our train bunks to a land shrouded in thick frost; every possible static object was covered in the delicate crystals and alongside the carpet of snow was quite beautiful. The scene didn't change throughout the entire 700-mile run from Novosibirsk to Almaty.

We encountered our first problem with filming in Kazakhstan, with guards at every station and even on the train trying to prevent us from filming and taking photographs.

We arrived in Almaty to a very foggy day and were met by Nour, a contact made through a Kazakhstan organisation in London. The culture of the country dictates a high level of hospitality, and we were shepherded through the enduring fog from good restaurant to fancy coffee shop. Thank you Nour for looking after us so well!

This beautiful wooden church was the only building left standing in the entire city after the 1911 earthquake. Thankfully we were spared the fortnightly tremors which this quite Western city experiences.













Well-fed and tired out, it was good to be back on the train heading north to Aktogai before branching off east towards China.

The Chinese train was the most modern since leaving Europe, although the lack of restaurant car and the 10-hour wait at the border (without access to the toilets!) were frustrating.

The snowy landscape gradually gave way to grassy plains and eventually frozen lakes and snow-dusted mountains as we neared Urumqi.

The train and border guards' fascination with our array of electronic devices hinted at the remoteness of our current location.