Cold is an integral part of the adventure in Kazakhstan and the big
question is: how does it feel? We had an unusually long cold spell recently –
see the picture for an idea of this. Keep looking down to find the mercury!
Actually, this is below the freezing point of mercury, and it’s probably
ethanol in there!
You won’t survive long in this temperature – major shock within a few
seconds if you go outdoors without a coat. The reality is that you don’t spend
long outdoors – getting a bus or taxi is all you do outdoors! So the real
problems are delayed buses, and the evil, evil wind.
But what does it feel like? Well
you get very cold, very quickly, and you feel quite scared about how cold you’re
getting. I’m from Britain where if it’s cold you can either grin and bear it,
or wear a coat; well the former is simply not an option here. Cold is not
something you can just put up with, you HAVE to wrap up! Luckily I have a lot
of feathers in my coat, and I’m keeping nice and warm. As they say in Norway, there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.
