Feb 26 2011

Four Limbs & Four Wheels Survived

Category: Kazakh Driving,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 12:10 am

Today we finally had our new car back at home with us. Losha (Igor’s son (both of whom have been so incredibly helpful, along with Yerbalan, Ira’s Dad’s chauffeur with sorting all the paperwork and logistics out)) drove it from where it was being stored temporarily to our garage. Before I could drive it legally, or either Irina or I would want to drive it, we had to sort the car registration papers, the MOT (required even on brand new cars), the permission for me to drive it (first we needed to get the paperwork created at a legal office, then signed, scribbled on and stamped at the road police HQ), the bare bones insurance that is a legal requirement (basically third party only, same price for an 18 year old driving a Hummer as it would be for a 55 year old lady driving an old Lada!), the proper insurance so our car is actually covered, the winter tyres (and new wheels to put them on, so we only swap the wheels every couple of seasons, rather than removing the tyres as well), my driving licence to be officially translated, a set of remote control keys for our garage and probably something else I’ve forgotten. Anyway, the car is now with us, and this evening I drove it, and on Kazakh roads, and in an automatic, and on the right hand side of the road, for the very first time!
Having warned one friend that I’d potentially be on the same tarmac as him, he told me to forget putting some music on (something else I’d sorted before jumping in the car) for my first foray on to Astana’s roads. Each to their own, but I needed some tunes to stop obsessing over A) I’m driving a car with an automatic gearbox for the first time ever in my life. There is no freaking clutch pedal. How is this obviously possessed car not stalling each time I stop at a junction??? B) Proper icy roads to be driven on (once in a blue moon does this occur back in Britain). The main roads are absolutely fine, but some of the minor roads behind our flat (that provide the simplest access to the main road) are pure ice in areas C) Kazakh drivers are surrounding me!
Anyway, after circling (and figure of eight-ing) a few blocks radius of our home, I decided I had grown accustomed to this almost entirely new experience enough, and jumped onto a main road. A couple of turns later, I was now on the main road outside our flat, and dived into Astana Park’s car park, out the other end, under the bridge over the river Ishim (to effectively pull a subterranean U-turn below the main road I’d been driving on), back up onto the main road, and then home again. No one beeped at me, crashed into me or cut me up, mind you the roads were quite quiet 🙂
No photos from today, but when I saw the car in daylight for the first time yesterday (where it was being stored out of the -20/-30C temperatures), I grabbed a few shots, see below for our lovely little machine, with Anna posing in a couple (she saw the camera come out of a bag, and assumed the shots were to feature her).

4 Responses to “Four Limbs & Four Wheels Survived”

  1. WLB says:

    Hadn’t thought about the right side of the road issue for you.

    As for drivers, you do pick up on their patterns here after some time. Who is going to shift lanes unexpectedly, who is going to jam next to you at the stop lights, who is going to speed up to you and then whip around you on the right without letting you get out of the way. Who is going to cut you off then stop on the side of the road.

    Good luck. Nice looking car.

    • ChrisM says:

      I’ve tried to have a little drive each day, if only to pop to the shops. Next major step is to take Anna to playgroup in the car – a lot longer journey than anything I’ve tried so far. I’ll try and do a dummy run of it, when timing isn’t a problem before Anna next goes.

  2. Janos says:

    Congratulations on your new car. Do you have white or yellow plates? Where is the GAI office for foreigners to register their cars in Astana?

    Thanks,

    Fellow Brit in KZ.

    • ChrisM says:

      Just normal white plates, and not sure on the GAI office – the car is registered in my wife’s name (quite often simpler over here) as she is a local. I just need to remember to take my official permission to drive it with me at all times. As well as a few thousand tenge to make made up offences disappear. I’ve heard the same applies to real ones too 🙂