Sarsenbay Kotyrashov had never left Kazakhstan until 2023, when he crossed the border into Russia at age 73 carrying a battered suitcase and wearing his signature leather hat. Three years later, the blacksmith from the industrial Ulytau region has nearly 30,000 Instagram followers, a nickname (Ulytauman), and a growing list of continents to tick off on foot.

His working life reads like a manual trades catalogue: herder from age nine, then carpenter, joiner, stonemason, lathe operator and metalworker, before landing a role restoring Bronze Age buildings at the 150,000-hectare Ulytau National Reserve Museum, where foreign tourists sparked the idea that he could see the world too. After losing his wife of 40 years during the pandemic, he built a hand-cart and started walking.

His 2022 trek across Kazakhstan lasted 181 days and roughly 8,000km, with the cart carrying about 60kg of gear. Local governments organised press conferences and lodging, and he met up to 500 people a day while promoting the Qymyzmuryndyk festival celebrating kumis, fermented mare's milk. In 2023 he walked from Atyrau through Russia and the Caucasus into Türkiye, where he slept in mosques; in Chechnya and Georgia, strangers took him into their homes. A 2024 route ran through Mongolia and China to Beijing and the Great Wall — the first trip where he needed paid hotels, now covered by sponsors and a trip coordinator.

Europe, in 2026, taught him new rules. Walking on highways is largely illegal there, and his suitcase gave out 150km short of Paris. Undeterred, he abandoned it and made his April 24 appointment at the UNESCO World Heritage Center, where he presented a handmade iron bell and discussed his documentation of Kazakh artisanal traditions with the country's permanent UNESCO representative.

Next up: the United States. In 2027 Kotyrashov plans to walk coast to coast from Florida to California, and he is already studying American highway law after the European surprise. He has been blacksmithing again to fund the gear — six months of walking burned through seven pairs of shoes — and he is chasing a Guinness record for most miles walked by anyone over 75.

Why should travellers care? Partly because his story is a masterclass in slow travel: as he puts it, walking lets you notice the nature, animals and people you'd miss from a bus window. Partly because it shines a light on Ulytau, a little-known region of central Kazakhstan with steppe, mountains and ancient mausoleums that deserves a spot on any Central Asia itinerary. And partly because it's a reminder that it is never too late — his words — to travel. His biggest discovery, he says, was the kindness of ordinary people along the road, from Belgrade to Beijing.

Story via ExplorersWeb.