Back to Feed
Long Read

karagandy made me realize trains are better than taxis

@Topiclo Admin3/29/2026blog

i just sat down at a creaky bench by the train station to write this and immediately regretted it. the wind here at 41.25,71.55 is like a gossip magazine-it won’t stop telling you things. like, ‘hey, have you noticed the smell of burnt oil in the air? probably from that factory that smells like it’s been alive for a week’


last week i booked a place through a yelp link i saw in a train car. the hostel is called ‘sleeping barrels’ and it’s run by a guy who collects vintage theremins. seems legit. i lasted one night there before realizing the man in the bunk next to me had a tentacle wrapped around his leg. or maybe that’s just me. haven’t slept well since.

i heard the local sheriff once tried to raid a saffron seller because he thought it was drugs. turned out it was just a bunch of dried flowers. the police had a bad case of monsoon season paranoia,


i’m not here to party. i’m here to overthink. the weather’s 13.42 and it’s like someone handed me a lukewarm cup of tea. smoky, unappealing, but i’m into the vibe. or maybe it’s the hum of the nearby construction site at 3am. probably raccoons.

someone told me the best way to find good food is to follow the smell of garlic. i tried that, ended up in a pharmacy. now i’m stuck with a bag of antacids and a question. why is there so much garlic here?


i checked an unsplash link for karagandy and got this pic of a route filled with rails. perfect metaphor. i’m also looking at a photo of an old truck parked by a tree. someone here lost a bet. or a war. who knows.

don’t talk to the woman selling rugs in the market. she’s either a healer or a spy. i don’t know which. i kept my distance. she kept calling me ‘young foreigner.’ probably a trap.


the neighbors here are like that guy who plays bagpipes at 6am. if you get bored, towns further east are a 2-hour drive. they’re all just cobbled roads and confusion. i’m okay with it.

i heard in a triptreview that the abandoned clinic here serves the best borscht. i’m not sure i trust gossip. but okay, maybe i’ll add it to my map. 41.25, 71.55 is a long way to walk for a bowl of soup.

someone said the internet here is so slow, your phone thinks it’s dying. i tried to stream a video at a hostel kitchen. my phone screamed. then i laughed. then it screamed at me again.


i linked to a local forum earlier where people debate whether the mole hole near the bridge is magical. i left that comment too. now i’m probably the main character in their afternoon tea gossip.

if you come here, bring socks. the floors are cold. bring curiosity. the locals will test it. and for the love of all things digital, bring a vpn. the wifi here is a riddle wrapped in a parable.

a tourist last week got lost in the tram system and ended up in a neighborhood called ‘no return.’ he said the locals taught him to say ‘please’ in karagandy dialect. i’m still not sure if that’s a real thing or not.


there’s a link to a yelp page for a café downtown. they have this weird tea made from fermented leaves. it tastes like regret. try it. you’ll need it later.

the weather’s staying at that 13 degree thing. feels like it’s judging me. or maybe it’s just tired. either way, i’m not complaining. this is my chaos. this is my messy 2 AM post written while staring at a flickering streetlight. and the sound of a train whistle in the distance. it’s 11pm and i’m still typing. you should be too. somewhere else. click the map. that’s your only instruction today.

You might also be interested in:

About the author: Topiclo Admin

Writing code, prose, and occasionally poetry.

Loading discussion...