Nur-Sultan - "Dubai of the Steppe"

I might be repeating myself, but still. Tom and I are not really city people. Yet, we find ourselves travelling through Nur-Sultan, previously Astana renamed this spring in order to honour the resigning president.
Reason being: fellow travellers had repeated horrible road conditions on the eastern road through Kazakhstan and our by now dear friends from Australia, the Kudlik family, are here as well.
Once we've made it through the traffic and into the yard of the hostel where we will park and sleep in Hans (Nomads 4x4, a perfect place for Overlanders), the city gains in popularity already. We quickly chat with other overlanders, take a shower (always welcome while travelling in a car) and head out to meet the Kudliks for dinner.
Astana is quite modern and has some astonishing architecture to offer. We only see a small part of it, but as we walk through the city by night, everything is lit up and looks all the more impressive. Dinner is fabulous, too, and we really enjoy catching up with our friends.
And even though we leave early on the next day to sort a car issue in a Toyota garage, I'm glad we stopped here in this very different part of Kazakhstan.Læs mere