DIY Friday: Visit Kazakhstan!
Remember last year’s hit movie Borat?
For today’s DIY project, we’re going to flip the plot of the film. Instead of Borat visiting America to understand the country better, we’re going to visit Kazakhstan (virtually, of course), to get a better understanding of the homeplace of the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
We’re not alone in our travels:
Five star it is not: few creature comforts await the tourists who trickle to the birthplace of modern space flight for launches such as this week’s Soyuz blast-off.
But for some that is all part of the mystique.
Dotted with camels and the paraphernalia of half a century of space travel, the Baikonur cosmodrome on the arid plains of Kazakhstan has already been used to launch space tourists to the International Space Station (ISS) for as much as 30 million dollars (21 million euros) per person.
Now this once top secret installation is expecting its own tourist boom.
Ahead of a rocket launch on Wednesday, a group of visiting Britons, all male and laden with camera gear, appreciated the sight of soldiers with automatic weapons, full combat gear and visors guarding the astronauts’ send-off.
It added to the atmosphere, they said.
"We actually like that," said one middle-aged tourist from the English town of Hyde, referring to the soldiers.
We blogged about that security earlier this week. You can "tour" a map of Baikonur here, or check out the other tourist attractions through this travel bureau. If you want to get a better understanding of what it’s like to travel in Kazakhstan, check out this video of a visit to an iron mining camp:
A visit to Kazakhstan isn’t all space and mining facilities, however. Kazakhstan is actually rich in history and natural wonders, from the Silk Road to the Land of Seven Rivers. Check out this list to continue your DIY travels….
