Table of Contents:
Orienteering in Kazakhstan
The 2004 Asia Pacific Orienteering
Championships
An interview with myself, by Adrian Zissos (May 2004)
It had to be one of the toughest trips I�d ever taken.
And that was just getting there.
But then it got better. Much better.
Hong Kong
team, winners of APOC Relay
How did you
get there? Where, in fact, was APOC 2004??
It was in
Kazakhstan in a city named Ust-Kamenegorsk, fun to pronounce (try it) but a bit
scary to go to. Look on a map (but a recent map � it was not on Soviet maps
we were told as it was a top-secret place. Perhaps something to do with the
atomic bomb test site just a few hundred kilometers away? Or the
now-abandoned factories littering the country-side that manufactured
potentially suspicious and secret things) and if your map is recent enough it
will be close to the Chinese border, north of the old capital Almaty (which
is magnificently situated at the edge of the Altai Mountains but maybe
subject to earthquakes (which might be why there is a new capital city)). To
get to Ust-Kamenegorsk (pronounce it just �oost� we are told � the fun of the
full name wears off rapidly) from Almaty you must take your chances with the
local airlines - the ones with circa 1955 planes (original curtains covering
the window, original chair backs flopping forward, seats lifting up so you
can store stuff underneath; same old propellers). It was as if we were in a
flying museum (or a museum that flies). I comforted myself using inductive
reasoning � if this plane hadn�t crashed in fifty years then very likely it
wouldn�t crash today either. An Antonov plane someone in the know said, which
once the fear abates is pretty damn cool. Which is pretty much the way with everything
in Kazakhstan.
Is it safe
to go to Kazakhstan?
It seems
instinctively to be not the safest place in the world to visit, the common
impression (which I held before the trip) being that it is in a region of
political and religious turmoil, sanctioned corruption, and generally an
unfriendly place, but the APOC website provided some comforting words
�The Republic of Kazakhstan is
a sovereign state that successfully exists for 10 years. During all this
time, there has been no case of the so-called �Hot spot�. The nearest hot
spots are placed from Kazakhstan frontier (Afghanistan) over 1000km. Apart,
from the center of APOC � over 2500km apart.�
Or maybe not so
comforting. And travel web sites have many warnings about kidnappings and
scam artists. And health websites warn of tick-borne encephalitis and rabies.
We were very nervous about going; but when we got there we didn�t notice any
such things. We were never kidnapped, saw hardly any ticks, and felt safe
walking alone (even in the evenings, which are quite dark because although
there are plenty of street lights there is no electricity going to them). And
of course we were careful eaters and drinkers of only bottled water. There
was a brief appearance of travelers� diarrhea but it was attacked with
Imodium and quickly vanquished. As we�d hoped the toughest thing about going
to Kazakhstan in the end was saying goodbye (see below).
Name three
surprising things about Kazakhstan
1.
It is the 9th largest country (area-wise) on the
planet
2.
It has vast natural resources, especially oil and minerals
and I�m sure this will eventually bring prosperity and a strong middle class.
3.
It is exactly on the other side of the world � right next to
China & Mongolia
And where
did you stay?
We were told
three star hotels abound, but were skeptical. Why would they abound, what
reason is there for a hotel in Ust? None really it turns out, since there�s
almost no tourists. Our room was appalling though basically clean with fresh
wallpaper on the seventh floor. Some rooms had phones but they were just a
nuisance, mysterious late night callers asking �Do you like to come to eighth
floor for eating and striptease?� We did have a TV but didn�t bother to plug
it in since, well it seemed pointless. One day our interpreters plugged it in
and we channel-surfed. I was overjoyed by the appearance of ESPN and live
coverage of the Stanley Cup hockey finals (Calgary Flames scored within
seconds and I alarmed the interpreter by shouting and jumping �like a crazy
person�). Plumbing was basic: a toilet that kept running, basin, kind of half
tub half shower thing; pipes were a mix of rubber hose and copper tube and
two-cent taps. No end of hot water to astonish us (though patience is
required, and more patience the further down the hallway that your room is).
What were
the other tourism facilities like?
Non-existent.
Particularly staggering was the absence of post cards. Never before have I
experienced such a complete absence � we had to search for days to find any.
And when we found them the photos were of hydroelectric dams, bars of gold
bullion, smoke stacks, and bridges.
How did you
communicate?
This is like
Russia with its not English alphabet. And its not English speaking people.
But we received a big surprise, a truly wonderful surprise. We were met at
Ust airport by students from the local University�s English classes who were
volunteering to be our interpreters. We have two with our group of eight
almost all of the time, from first thing each day to bedtime. They make sure
we are having everything we wish and that we are always on time and always in
the right place. Over the two weeks everyone falls in love � they with us and
our strange Western ways (�why is it we won�t walk in two�s side by side when
we are told?�) and us with them and their goodness, kindness, warmth, humour,
and slightly not quite right English. When it is over this is what will have
the longest and deepest impact. Rivers of tears flowed at the airport when we
left.
And thank goodness
they were with us. English in Kazakhstan is rarer than nice looking
orienteering suits at O-Ringen. And what English there is is tortured. Try to
figure out this piece of befuddlement we encountered when trying to obtain a
travel visa:
��In connection with some complicated external
conditions under the order of Government of Republic of Kazakhstan the
addition on registration of the visa for entrance to Kazakhstan is brought
in. Some countries including your country should receive the visa, but under
the simplified circuit: Agrees of the documents, sent by you,
we make out to you visa support, and number of visa support we send to you.�
What did you
eat?
Breakfast was
provided by the hotel and varied from awful to inedible. A typical offering
was rice with wieners (hot dogs). Instead of eating this we picked up some
baking from the nearby corner grocery to tide us over. Lunch was at the event
site and was fabulous. Each day we cheered the erection of The Big Yellow
Tent in which we could buy soups, goulashes, salads, and cakes, occasionally
supplemented by local delicacies of cheese and breads and noodles. Dinner was
back in Ust. There were few restaurants (people are generally too poor to eat
out much) and we took turns eating at the pizza place or the pancake house or
the Chinese restaurant or (for a special and expensive treat) at the
Kazakhstan traditional food restaurant. All of these restaurants had one
thing in common � no English menu, at least not until we made some with our
interpreters. Because there were so few restaurants and so many foreign
orienteers the serious competition each day was to be first to dinner, before
your favorite restaurant was full of other orienteers. The price of eating
out was incredible � dinner with drinks cost only $40 for the entire group of
us ten. Some orienteers still objected to splitting the bill evenly since
some had beers and some hadn�t (etc etc) but they were overruled when we
pointed out it was only a matter of pennies, and that anyway juice is probably
more expensive than beer.
So, how many
took part in APOC 2004?.
About 400
people. A disappointment no doubt for the organizers (who I think
underestimated the �fear factor�, and even had they not would probably have
been unable to convince us (see �how will we communicate� above) that we
should not be afraid of the difficulties). More than half were Russians and
Kazaks and maybe just under half were from other places especially Australia
(30), Hong Kong (30), Japan (20). Canada and USA had a poor showing, with
three only from each country.
And how was
the orienteering?
It was
absolutely fabulous. A splendid opening ceremonies with a cast of hundreds of
young dancers, followed by a full schedule of events (including five (!)
World Ranking Events) starting with Park O in Ust, then three days in
glorious open terrain with rock detail and views. Then two APOC races in more
wonderful detail terrain, and finally the APOC relay close to Ust in kind of
easy but hilly terrain. The course setting was grand and the electronic
timing flawless; in fact the individual splits printout we all got at the
finish line we especially cool, not only giving our time for each leg but
also our tpk for each leg. The maps were accurate and the terrain outstanding
� fast, fun, open areas with patches of rock and contour detail and overall
great runability.
How did the
Canadians perform?
Adrian Zissos
ran in M45 and was unable to make a clean run, having at least one
frustrating error in each race, managing a best result of 3rd place
in the APOC Middle distance race by the skin of his teeth � 1 second ahead of
4th place and eight seconds ahead of 6th. Charlotte
MacNaughton limped on a badly injured foot and scored quite a lot of World
Ranking Points in the Women�s Elite, her top result being 7th
place on the one cold rainy day. Alex Kerr started the week quite well
winning the Sprint and tying for first in the Kazakhstan Cup, but his brain
went walkabout in the two APOC races and the less said about his performance
in those the better.
Logistics?
There was good
(the yellow tent with cheap and plentiful food and drink each day) and bad
(only two toilets and them just a box around a hole dug in the ground). The
bus rides from town were something else. Each day we traveled 100km over potholed
roads in dilapidated buses that required three hours for the one-way journey
and continually amazed us by not breaking down. The biggest problem was that
the busses required so long to get to the events that we had to leave at 6 am
each morning. Somehow this wasn�t as bad as it sounds. The bus was a social
adventure, and especially social when traveling with the local kids who had
endless curiosity about everything from the West.
Please, sum
up your experience.
It was a hard trip
certainly. But we adjusted to the conditions quickly and once we got past the
lousy toilets and the difficulty of ordering food (and of finding any
restaurants at all for that matter (and of the boredom of eating at the same
place every third night)) we realized we were having the most fantastic
orienteering trip we ever did. It was an extraordinary adventure and I hope
I�ve shared some of the fabulous good times, friendships, orienteering,
eye-popping scenes and wonderful memories.
When are the
next Asia-Pacific Championships?
APOC 2006 will
be in Hong Kong at Christmas and is certain to be another excellent
orienteering trip with extraordinary cultural experiences and great
orienteering. Information will appear on the Hong Kong website (www.oahk.org.hk).
APOC 2008 (APOC
is held every two years) has not yet been awarded. I encourage orienteering
clubs in North America to consider hosting it. Contact the APOC Secretariat
for more information (David Hogg, [email protected]).
And now a word from our Interpreters�
Language practice
and something else
by Zhamilya� Aimanbetova, Kazakhstan, Ust-Kamenogorsk
 �������������������
The twenty-first. I was the twenty-first interpreter for
Asian-Pacific Orienteering Championship. The first time I heard about this
opportunity to practice my English that I study at school was when the list
of translators was already complete. Twenty students of the university had
already been selected by the organizers. But I rang the event centre and one
more name appeared in the list. The first question I asked after I was told
that I�m in the list was �What kind of a sport is orienteering?� I knew
nothing about orienteering. But after some days communicating with athletes I
learnt all the terms I needed and didn�t.
�
Interpreting, guiding and doing everything to help the
foreigners feel as good as possible that was my job. Actually, sometimes the
pause between telling �Good night!� in the evening and telling �Hello!� in
the morning was only about five hours. That was the time we could sleep.
I think it is a kind of advantage that I�m not a
specialist in sports because I could communicate with people valuing not
their sport achievements, but only cultural and personal characteristics.
Each of approximately 300 participants had it.
I was responsible for the Japanese team but they came
later than the competition started, so, Canadians � Charlotte, Adrian and
Alex were �under my ward� for that time. The first day we had a three-hour
bus trip to the competition place and that was something absolutely amazing
for me. Can you imagine 30 people in one bus who speak English, but each of
them speaks his own English? I�ve heard German, Canadian, Chinese, Japanese
and British accents in the bus I traveled on. So many cultures together made
usual trip be undeliberate cultural exchange.
The youngest participant of APOC was nine and the oldest
was about eighty. Such a huge difference between our and foreign people of
retirement age! Almost all of those, who are over fifty-five here in
Kazakhstan spend their time knitting, watching soap operas, raising
grandchildren or at best playing chess on the veranda of their country house.
They don�t do any sports at all. In spite of such a big age distinction (the
interpreters weren�t older than 23) we didn�t have any problems in directing
our teams.
Speaking about the Japanese I was responsible for, there
was a special system of communicating any news or changes. Actually, there
were three different teams from Japan on the APOC. One of them had its own
Russian-Japanese translator brought from capital. The problem in my team was
that I didn�t speak any Japanese and they didn�t speak any English. There was
only one lady Naoko who spoke a bit English in the whole delegation. The organizers
gave me info in Russian I translated it into English and finally she
translated it into Japanese as she understood it with her English. After some
practice we managed to understand each other and I�ve even learnt some
phrases in Japanese. Another surprise for me was the team members� attitude
toward me. I�m only 18 and all of my eight athletes were over 60. But every
time I did something like help in making order in a restaurant all of these
old ladies and old men started thanking me by bowing. What is more, they
called me Zhamilyasan adding san to
my name. It was very pleasant for me � I was only san among 21
interpreters.
One more advantage of being an interpreter is that you
have a chance of communicating with all the participants. You have plenty of
time for it when your athletes are running. I�ve got acquainted with so many
married couples who met doing orienteering together. So, orienteering is not
only sport for life as its motto announces, but also sport for starting
family, I think. There was a couple from Switzerland Sven and Careen who were
traveling around the world living in tents. Basically, I saw a lot of
participants who are very close to nature. They�re doing skiing, working with
animals and environmental issues. After watching the races the athletes did,
I made up a conclusion that Orienteering�
is first training your mind and after that it�s training your feet.
All the time I�ve spent with athletes was a real
experience in uniting cultures of the USA, England, Russia, Japan, Kazakhstan,
Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, the
Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand together. It was like a model of the
world. Ideal model.
When the competition was finished all the volunteer interpreters
were unanimous in the fact that the long hours and some difficulties we had
were absolutely compensated for by communicating with interesting people who
all of the participants were. There was one phrase I heard from one athlete
towards translators in the airport. It made me forget the fatigue and
inconveniences we had during APOC. It made me be proud of my membership in
one more team we had on the championship � the interpreter team. So, the
phrase was short: �You were Kazakhstan for us, guys!�� For the reply I want to say that all the
athletes were incarnation of their country for us. Now when I hear Australia
I don�t think of kangaroo; I remember thirty athletes from Canberra,
Melbourne and Sydney. And Manchester for me is connected not only with
�Manchester United� anymore, but with couple who has been doing orienteering
for many years.� And Canada is not
just maple leaf for me now.
All of APOC athletes made me desire to visit at least 16
countries in the world to enjoy the culture they have.
And finally some photos�
Our bathroom in
Ust-Kamenegorsk
�
Opening Ceremonies
APOC Middle Distance terrain
Busses at the rest stop
Local delicacies inside the Big Yellow Tent
Our interpreters Aizhana and Sulta
From Randy Hall (U.S.A.) with
loads of maps �.. http://www.mapsurfer.com/articles/kz04.html
And there's also some APOC stuff
on page 7 of the June 2004 newsletter linked from this Aussie page ..
Western & Hills Orienteers
Home Page: http://westernhills.nsw.orienteering.asn.au/
And the official website, for as
long as it stays up is http://www.lik.kz/apoc/DefaultEng.htm
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