Kazakh Steppe
written by wil6ka
on April 27th, 2008
(3 votes)
The largest country of Central Asia is Kasakhstan. But that doesn’t mean that it is densely populated. The opposite is the case. The former Soviet Republic is rich of oil-resources but otherwise the nature is very poor. The harsh and high temperatures make it a not very fruitful soil. But besides the steppe of wild grass the soviet leadership tried to implement monocultures such as wheat or cotton in a very big style. So eventually the people, who formerly lived as nomads and had huge herds of sheep and cattle, became a nation of peasants and filled the largest chamber of wheat in the union.
The Kazakh steppe and its fields of grain are very beautiful in its light green and with its sun-bleached plants. It almost looks like an ocean of grass and wheat waving to one and the other side. What makes it so picturesque are the thousands of peasants cutting the grain and bringing in the harvest. A very true picture of hard labor. The workers are protected by the sun with large scarves and traditional hats. They use tools, which ought to be outdated for decades, but they don’t have others.
Most impressively the Kazakh steppe is not limited on the territory of its own state but is extended on the territory of the neighboring countries of Tadschikistan and Uzbekistan. A good example for the region, which was never separated in borders and peoples for all the centuries. Only the Russians tried to catalogue them, which had their pros and cons. If you want to discover the beauty of the Kazakh steppe you should do a tour de Central Asia. Staring in Kazakhstan and ending in Kirgistan. Car would be your favorite measure of transport, as you are able to stop here and then and you surely would be the fastest.
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