Kazakhstan

In October 2008 while working on a film in Xinjiang, I had to make a quick visa run and had always wanted to visit Kazakhstan (long before I saw Borat). Unfortunately I only had a few days to spare, so I took the train from Urumqi to Almaty, stayed a few days there, and then took a bus back to Urumqi. I had a good time in Almaty though, meeting up with the director of the Eurasian International Film Festival (who I met earlier in the year at the Jeonju International Film Festival) and through her I was able to meet and chat with two Kazakh directors. On my last day in Almaty I headed to the massive Medeo ice skating rink on the outskirts of town and met some interesting locals along the way. So despite my brief stay, Kazakhstan turned out to be even better than the depictions of it in Borat!