Karaganda to Astana ( Karlag), July 2016

Dag 55. Karanganda til Astana via Dolinka, 295 km

Vi begyndte dagen med et besøg på Karlag Museet i Dolinka. Karlag (Gulag) var en arbejdslejr som fungerede fra 1931 til 1959, den blev startet under Stalin tiden. Karlag var en slags stat i staten, på størrelse med Frankrig. Hvis en person fra en familie – blev dømt som fjende af staten – blev hele familien sendt til lejren. Børnene blev taget fra forældrene og sendt på børnehjem i lejren. Sørgeligt sted, men også interessant.

Karlag Museum

Stalin looking at you - Stalin holder øje med dig

Karlag Museum

Fra Dolinka kørte vi direkte til Astana som er Kasakhstans hovedstad. Astana blev Kasakhstans hovedstad i 1997, og fra at have været en lille steppe by, er det nu blevet en stor moderne by, med mange smarte bygninger, lidt som Dubai. 

Astana

Vi fandt vores hotel, holdt drinks party på Ulrikkas værelse og spiste middag på hotellet. 

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9th July. Karaganda to Astana. Distance 295 km, driving time 4 hour.

Left our very Funky hotel, at 9.30 am, after checking out the Receptionists shoes.

She had the most Funky, 3 coloured stiletto heals, I have seen in my life. She proudly showed them of to me, together with her 2 long legs, so I had to run out of the Hotel, to get Susanne and Ulrikka, to also check them out.

We drove to Dolinka village, which is about 45 km southwest of Karaganda. Just before, we reached Dolinka, we passed the Mittal’s Steel factory.

The Mittal Factory - mittal fabrikken

In Dolinka, was the Karlag head quarters.

This system, of the ‘Karlag’, extended over 1200 sq km. In other words, this is one of Stalins, concentration camps. If they thought, that anybody was against the state, this person and their family was sent here. This place is very depressing, and as we had hired a guide. It soon became, more and more clear, of the vivid conditions and suffering these people went through. The death rates, reached over 30 %, and they documented everything. This depressing tour, took about 1½ hour, as we were guided through, all 3 levels of suffering.

karlag Museum

We then drove to Astana.

We drove through the dirtiest, and muddiest roads we had ever driven on this trip. They were building, a new 6 lane highway.

It rained heavily, and our car soon got totally covered with mud.

Heavy rain - Det regnede

 But it was great fun driving.

We reached Astana, and was surprised by the perfectly paved roads, buildings etc.

So, 2 dirty, muddy cars drove into the Comfort Hotel at about 5.30 pm.

Astana

Had drinks in Ulrikkas room, and later on had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant.