Day 46

Kazakhstan has run out of change. Bizarre and highly frustrating. Take a bus it will cost 60 tenge (19p). A taxi 800 tenge (£2.59). A cheeseburger meal 1100 tenge (£3.56). A loaf of bread 50 tenge (16p). 3 day shopping bill 8,500 tenge (£27.51). Denominations usually given by the cash machine 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 tenge notes. And in every place you go to buy something, they all ask for exact change. Plus most places do not accept credit or debit cards. It wouldn’t be so bad, except it feels like a recent thing and I cannot find an explanation for it. In knowing the reason, I can better face the cashier who will invariably ask me for the impossible.

So today I had a hand signed credit note from the burger stall, which I redeemed 7 minutes later for a children’s meal. I had to scrape around to find enough change to make up the cost of the meal. I thought for a moment that the cashier was going to try and say that the credit note didn’t count. Perhaps she sensed the long face and tears welling.

Had a fantastic weekend with the family. Nicely relaxing, for the most part. The battle against the weather and the frustration of having to gear up all the children in advance and timing it with the unknowns of taxi arrivals and bus departures in order to venture outdoors will be handed over to Ali for the rest of the week.

Ray