Horse riding and eating horse four ways - Wales fans do Kazakhstan

The Football Association of Wales say more than 1,100 members of the Red Wall will be travelling to Astana

Some have been horse riding, others have been eating horse "four ways".

Even for the most seasoned Wales Away veterans, Kazakhstan has been a destination with a difference.

When the draw was made for 2026 World Cup qualifying in Europe, there was a collective sigh from Welsh supporters when it dawned on them that this campaign would include an 11th match with Belgium in 13 years.

But at least there was a first trip to Kazakhstan – new opposition and a 7,000-mile round trip, the furthest Wales men would ever have travelled for a qualifier.

"Weve been waiting a long time to come here," Gwilym Boore, who has been following Wales for three decades, says in the Astana sunshine.

"Some people are doing other provisions of this, but our trip is on to Almaty, which is meant to be a different beast to Astana, and then were going on to Uzbekistan, were going to Tashkent.

"Were hoping to see the final of the Central Asian Republic tournament thats going on at the moment, and then were going to Bukara, Kiva, and Samaran. Weve got some travelling ahead of us. Im not sure if weve finalised how were get to these places yet. It might be trains, it might be flights and it might well be automobiles."

Boore is one of more than 1,000 Wales fans who have made the long journey to Astana.

Kazakhstan is a huge country, the worlds ninth largest by land area and spanning two continents.

Astana is an unusual place, a shiny – somewhat soulless – concrete metropolis purpose built in 1997 as the new capital city of the country.

This might be the furthest Wales men have ever travelled for a qualifying match, but that distance only appears to have enhanced the appeal of this trip for the Red Wall.

"Its just been absolutely amazing," says Amanda Jones. "Coming from mid Wales, we stayed overnight in Bristol, very early flight to Istanbul, four hours in Istanbul, and then we arrived in the very small hours of Monday morning.

"The people have been so welcoming. Its been lovely from the minute we arrived. With the bucket hats, theres been a real interest, people have stopped to chat and the locals have welcomed us to the city.

"This is what being part of the Red Wall is. Its meeting up with everyone, its coming to places that you would never, ever dream about coming to and to support the boys as well. Its great."

Wales supporters - dubbed the Red Wall - are famous for their red, yellow and green bucket hats

Getting here by plane is arduous enough – try doing it by train and bus.

That is what another supporter, John McAllister, has been doing over the past five weeks.

"Ive been through around 12 countries. I passed through Western Europe, all the way across to the Balkans, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and then across Bulgaria and into Turkey," he says.

"I thought Kazakhstan, its as far and as exotic as we can get for a qualification game here in Wales. I thought that itd be a really good excuse to do something a little bit mental.

"And obviously Race Across the World is such a big show now. Id be lying if I said something like that hadnt given me a little idea."

McAllister has clearly enjoyed his time in Kazakhstan, even if the food does not compare favourably to the other countries he has visited along the way.

"The food everywhere Ive been has been absolutely unbelievable," he says. "Turkish food is incredible. Same goes for Georgia. The breads, the cheeses is like heaven if youre into food.

"And I dont want to be mean but I had quite a horsey dinner in Kazakhstan. The only way I can describe it is kind of horse four ways.

"There was some that was sliced up, some in chunks, some in bacon. And then there was what I can only describe as a horse lollipop. Yeah, its as bad as youre imagining. I dont think Ill be eating that one again."

Wales squad for the game has been hit by a number of high-profile absentees

Horse lollipops are unlikely to feature on the menu for Craig Bellamy and his players this week.

Neither will the sightseeing in Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries that the Red Wall have been enjoying in recent days – such is the life of an international footballer.

As is the case for almost all their foreign assignments, other than a pre-match stroll on matchday, all Wales players and staff will see of this country is a hotel, a stadium and an airport.

For them, this is business. With their hopes of qualifying automatically for the 2026 World Cup in the balance, all Wales are focusing on is victory on Thursday.

They can leave the tourism to their legion of loyal supporters who are fortunately more than happy to oblige.

"Its pretty impressive that weve taken the numbers that were taking," says McAllister.

"I think it says a lot about us as a supportive football nation. We get behind our team, we travel really well. And I would say that everywhere that we travel to receives us really happily as well.

"We dont go around causing trouble or anything. So I think locals are very keen for us to visit and have a good time basically."

The warm welcome from the locals in Astana is a recurring theme among the travelling Welsh supporters in the Kazakh capital city.

"We went horseback riding in the national park three hours away," says Dave Fornell. "It was a great day."

There are different ways of enjoying horses in Kazakhstan, different ways of experiencing Wales away trips.