“Aralbai” is as tough and rugged as his surroundings but as the days passed I felt him warm more and more towards me. The Kazakh's are as agile as mountain goats, but I had grown up scrambling over the sea cliffs of my island home. Although I was out of practise I managed for most of the time to keep up with “Aralbai” when we were on foot in the rocks.

On one climb he turned to my guide and interpreter Canat and said that I was the first Westerner that could keep up. I was proud at such a compliment from one of my Kazakh friends but never let on that it was physically killing me to do so.