Text 7 Travelling

People on our planet can't live without travelling now. Tourism has become a highly developed business. There are express trains, cars and jet-air liners all of that provide you with comfort and security.

What choice to make? It's up to you to decide. There is a great variety of choice available for you.

Those who live in the country like going to a big city, visiting museums and art galleries, looking at shop windows and dining at exotic restaurants. City-dwellers usually like acquired holiday by the sea or in the mountains.

Most travellers carry a camera with them and take pictures of everything that interests them - the sights of a city, old churches, castles, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, forests, trees, flowers and plants, animals and birds.

If you travel for pleasure you would like all means to enjoy picturesque areas you are passing through, you would like to see the places of interest in the cities, towns and countries. Travelling gives us a good opportunity to see wonderful monuments, cultural and historical places, to learn a lot about the history of the country you visit, about the world around us, to meet people of different nationalities, to learn a lot about their traditions, customs, culture. In other words, you will broaden your mind.

There are a lot of means of travelling: by sea, by plane, by car, on foot. Tastes differ. That is why it is up to you to decide which means of travelling you would prefer. All means of travelling have their advantages and disadvantages. And people choose one according to their plans.

No wonder that one of the latest means of travelling is travelling by plane. It combines both comfort and speed and you will reach the place of destination very quickly.

When the plane is landing or taking off you have an opportunity to enjoy the wonderful scenery and landscapes. While travelling by plane you fly past various villages and cities at the sight of which realize how majestic and tremendous our planet is. No doubt, travelling by air is the most convenient and comfortable means of travelling.

With a train you have speed, comfort and pleasure combined. From the comfortable seat of a railway carriage you have a splendid view of the whole countryside. If you are hungry, you can have a meal in the dining-car; and if a journey is a long one you can have a wonderful bed in a sleeper.

Travelling by ship is also very popular now. It is very pleasant to feel the deck of the ship under the feet, to see the rise and fall of the waves, to feel the fresh sea wind blowing in the face and hear the cry of the seagulls.

Many people like to travel by car. It is interesting too, because you can see many sights in a short time, you can stop when and where you like, you do not have to buy tickets or carry your suitcases.

A very popular means of travelling is hiking. It is travelling on foot. Walking tours are very interesting. Hitch-hiking is a very popular method of travelling among young people. But it is not as popular in our country as abroad.

Text 8

National identity.

The Kazakhs are an extremely hospitable people. If you come to a Kazakh home unexpected you will be received as if you had been invited. Since early childhood principles of respect of guests and older people as well as peacefulness and tolerance are instilled in every Kazakh and these are the national features of Kazakh culture and tradition. This is why Kazakhstan never had any national or religious conflicts in its history. Traditionally every guest is offered national Kazakh cuisine at the dastarkhan (the low table) in a yurt.

In the Kazakh society, there is an unofficial law voiced in ancient times. It says “Meet a guest as a God's messenger”.

The yurt is one of the most sensible movable house. It is a comfortable and practical home, ideally suited to the local conditions and way of life – one of the greatest inventions of Eurasian nomads.

It is easily taken apart (it is said that a Kazakh woman can do it in half an hour) and carried on horses and camels. The yurt consists of three main elements: an extensible trellis base (the kerege), a dome made of poles (the uyk) and a round top (the shanyrak).

In ancient times Turks were reputed as the most skillful felt-makers. Nowadays the Kazakhs use felt to cover the yurt and for its internal decoration, as well as to make carpets, dresses and shoes. The Kazakhs live in surrounded with ornaments. They richly decorate their yurts with wall carpets and multi-colored embroideries.

The Kazakhs love the art of words and their akyns (poets), who improvise at public competitions (aitys) accompanied by national stringed musical instruments: the dombra or the kobyz.

National games: these are usually performed on horse-back and are an opportunity to witness the Kazakh's outstanding riding skills. Kazakshakures (Kazakh wrestling), baiga (horse racing over 25, 50 or 100 km), kokpar (a sort of polo game played with a dead goat), kyz-kuu (catch the girl) and altybakan (six-pole swing).