England fans on Kazakh adventure

Chris Mason
BBC News, Kazakhstan

The Palace of the Republic in Kazakhstan

Three and a half thousand miles from home. Just a few hundred miles from China.

But, as far as football's world governing body FIFA is concerned, this is still Europe.

So England find themselves in the same World Cup qualifying group as Kazakhstan, a country that is as challenging to spell as it is to find on a map.

The team - and the fans - are on a 7,000 mile round trip in search of the three points a win over their hosts would provide.

Around 1,500 England fans have made the journey here to Almaty, a leafy city a short distance from the impressive snow-capped Zailiysky Alatau mountains.

Glitzy global brands and even glitzier sports cars are everywhere. But so are reminders that for most people in this country - the ninth largest in the world - life is pretty tough. Average annual salaries here are just one eighth of those in the UK.

As fans arrived, wound their watches on five hours to take account of the time difference, and began sightseeing, tales of the journey dominated.

We were all like kids in a sweet shop. People were leaping around and ringing each other, texting each other, all of us really wanted to come here Martin Issacs

Arriving by plane, at three o'clock in the morning, was standard. Others, who are yet to arrive, took a week off work to travel by train.

They're not here yet - and even when they cross the Kazakh border there will still be some distance to go.

Kazakhstan is sufficiently big you could fit the UK landmass in here ten times over - and be left with land to spare.

"It's fantastic," fan Martin Issacs told me. "As soon as the draw was made Kazakhstan away was the trip we were all interested in."

Mr Issacs, 44, from Edinburgh, runs 'North of the Border England fans,' a network of England supporters living in Scotland.

"We were all like kids in a sweet shop. People were leaping around and ringing each other, texting each other, all of us really wanted to come here," he says.

Around a dozen fans have congregated at one of Almaty's principal tourist attractions - the Kok Tobe cable car. Climbing steeply from the imposing Palace of the Republic below, the ten minute ride offers a great view across the city and beyond.

One of Almaty's tourist attractions - the Kok Tobe cable car

Clutching maps and guidebooks, it's not escaped many just what the national delicacy is here.

The Kazakh national dish is known as 'besbarmak.' It is often chunks of long-boiled horse meat and onions, served in a huge bowl with pasta.

"We were looking for some horse on the menu at lunchtime, but there was nothing on the menu," Scott Holmes, 24, from Wapping in east London says, sounding remarkably disappointed.

"We have to try some before we leave. We had kebabs earlier - but if we can get a horse kebab that'd be very nice," he adds wryly, his 'Mr Grumpy' T shirt at odds with his vivacious personality.

But on a neighbouring table, it becomes clear he's been beaten to it in the culinary stakes.

"It was delicious," says John Brister, 45, from Leeds, with a hint of sarcasm.

"I think it might just have been a horse I lost twenty quid on on Saturday actually. In fact come to think of it, let's hope so!"

Amidst the banter and adventure associated with a trip like this - talk about fixtures, formations and form is taking second place. Or at least it is for now.

All the fans here expect England's sixth game in World Cup Qualifying Group Six to be a sixth victory, taking Fabio Capello's team one step closer to next summer's tournament in South Africa.

The journey there, should England make it, will feel like hopping over the Channel compared with this odyssey into Central Asia.