Surviving 25 HOURS on the WORST Train in Central Asia (Bishkek to Astana)

[@SuperalbsTravels]

Yay, another simon channel video - seems like you had a lovely journey on this train too! 😁

[@doc7austin]

it seems simon went bishkek-astana - and you the other way around ?

[@Simon-Andersen]

That is correct, we both took it on seperate occasions

[@NoMoreOilMoneyForMordor]

don't go to ruSSia you will end up in Ukraine

[@Charlizzie]

Superalbs went to this train but in reverse. Oh wait, you three with Nonstop went together. Noice! 7:08 These upholstery must be replaced.

[@Simon-Andersen]

Yes he did! We travelled in the stans around the same time but not always on the same trains, this is a case of the latter

[@johnmehaffey9953]

Has to be one of the worst situations being ill in amongst other travellers no real privacy and craving for a quiet place to sleep and recover, well done for finishing your post for the rest of us to evaluate whether to risk this rail travel

[@casperudemark7496]

I have been in many of these night trains in Russia in the 1990s and 2000s. I think the compartment cars (soft class) are fine and spacious. Of course, aircondition would be a good thing in summer. It is impressive how they can distinguish between the letters Щ and Ш. Imagine communicating on radio: "This is train number four hundred five shcha" ..."Roger, do you mean four hundred five sha or four hundred five shcha?"

[@gefitrop3496]

True, that's kinda crazy, although I imagine it would also be complicated to hear the difference between a рь and р or ть was and т

[@liliya_aseeva]

the letter щ gives a more 'sharp' sound as if you insert 'j' in there. ш sh is more soft, rounded sound. I think 'sh' and 'sch' represent the difference very well.

[@liliya_aseeva]

@@gefitrop3496exactly, щ is yotated just like the '-ь' variants you provided here. Nice sensing of the language!

[@sm6allegro]

2:33 still better than screw couplers 😛

[@NickTZ605]

Hello,I'm actually living in Kyrgyzstan xD I have never been traveling by train...so I'm gonna watch your vid 😅

[@doc7austin]

Did you guys try out the summer-only Bishkek - Balykchy train to lake Issyk-Kul ?

[@Simon-Andersen]

Nonstop and Albs did, or I at least got tickets for them :-)

[@jgodfrey546]

Glad you survived

[@howardcobb4656]

😂😂 I did enjoy the video a lot more than you enjoyed the train. One train I’ll pass on.

[@lukestevens8735]

Back in '06 I went Astana to Almaty on a coach very similar to this. I too had horrible stomach trouble. By the end of the journey I was in a worse condition than you were :( I know I got to my hotel but I think someone put me in taxi from the station to the hotel as I have no memory of the journey... But please keep making these journeys!

[@Simon-Andersen]

That also sounds horrible! Glad it ended well

[@kaparoveldar2628]

Surreal seeing my country on KZbin randomly

[@koqpyky]

You're lucky! There were the soap with paper in the bathroom, that's unbelievable

[@Simon-Andersen]

I know right! Quite rare in that part of the world!

[@tonysrailwayadventure2729]

great video I've subscribe to your channel

[@marcinklimas2670]

Loco class is 2TE10V, or 2TE10W in latin.

[@Filip7370]

Also on Bishkek 1 the locomotive is regular TE33A, nor TEP...

[@marcinklimas2670]

@@Filip7370 Class 33 in Poland is named Kazakh.

[@Simon-Andersen]

Whoops! Unfortunately cyrrilic and locomotive naming schemes there are not my strong point

[@jaco066a]

Nice video, looks interesting Where did you buy the tickets for the train? Can't seem to find an official webpage for buying tickets, only 3rd party sites?

[@Simon-Andersen]

You can purchase tickets on the Kazakh Railways website here bilet.railways.kz/?_locale=us . The train departs from Bishkek on Sundays (current schedule). Make sure to use place names in Cyrillic for BIshkek to show up

[@jaco066a]

Ahh, it was the Cyrillic part that made it work, thank you 😊

[@gacekwilkooki]

Why the worst? Train seems to be clean and well maintained despite of his age. And train station in Bishkek was very beatifull and clean as well. I think your opinion has been changed by the heat, the crowds on the train and the food poisoning. Kyrgyzstan is a very underdeveloped country. I expected something much worse. Nevertheless, thank you for the valuable report! Greetings from Poland!

[@Simon-Andersen]

It was the worst train i took on my trip across the stans, it was just worse in every aspect. No dining car, no aircon, which on other trains that dont have it at least have windows large enough for proper ventilation you can stick your head out, while being one of the most expensive trains i took there at the same time, this combined with personal factors like the heat and food poisoning made it not great. So while there might be something even worse out there, i'd stay clear. Also if you haven't seen superalbs video on the train in the other direction, its a good watch he also had a intresting experience for sure! kzbin.info/www/bejne/i569d6F3htydo9k Greetings from Denmark! :-)

[@OneTwo-pc5ys]

What's the website to book train tickets?

[@Simon-Andersen]

bilet.railways.kz/

[@MarwiX_CZ]

Is that the one Superalbs Travels filmed?

[@SuperalbsTravels]

Yes, but in the other direction.

[@YokoYokoOneTwo]

Believe me, we hate our trains and stations as much as you hated them. I once travelled 2 days from Almaty to Oral using a train a bit better than this one, we had AC and toilets weren't as disgusting but the overall experience was not a good one. We just have to deal with it unfortunately. I've seen the trains from Japan and Switzerland, yeah... we aren't getting those in the near future if at all.

[@YokoYokoOneTwo]

And also I absolutely hate the fact that our country is located in deserts, scenery just sucks

[@mattbarton2029]

I went on what looks like the same train last week from Bishkek to Shymkent. Had an awful experience! Only 12 hours but NO food, NO water and no breaks with stops where we were not let out of the train. Is this normal?

[@Simon-Andersen]

The train should make some stops for 10-15 min even with delays that give you time to do a bit of shopping

[@TobyMarston-s9e]

Wasn’t someone forced to pay a bribe on one of these?

[@Simon-Andersen]

It was my friend superalbs! I didn't book all the seats in my compartment, so they couldn't try and get a bribe of me for the same reason as they did with him at least xd

[@KGAnims]

Yet i live in Bishkek😂😂😢

[@NickTZ605]

Same brother 😅

[@samtrak1204]

I'll pass.

[@murrayeldred3563]

Built by German POW after WW2.

[@jambo140]

You might have paid 50 euros, and this trip is worth the money. Your sarcasm is completely inappropriate here.

[@Simon-Andersen]

@@jambo140 what sarcasm? Did you even watch the video, as mentioned at the end a ticket is about 80 euros for a bed in a shared cabin like mine and you can fly it in 6 hours instead for 100 euro. This train is crap and definitely not worth the money considering the alternative prices of the flights.

[@NickTZ605]

​@@Simon-AndersenYou should consider the average pay rate in our country... Not anyone can afford spending 100 euros for flight or even 80 euros for a train people usually travel in mini buses or just ordinary buses it's cheaper as you can imagine. But anyway thank you for vid

[@chrisoconnor9521]

Absolute charlatan who clearly didn't prepare and acting super entitled.

[@johndornoff]

Obviously you have no idea what a charlatan is, and I do not see him acting entitled but giving a realistic opinion of the train.

[@Simon-Andersen]

I felt I was being as reasonable as I possibly could. Taken plenty of trains around the stans and this one was the most expensive and the worst product 🤷

[@doc7austin]

in my eyes - you are exaggerating.