Sarsenbay Kotyrashov, a 76-year-old Kazakh blacksmith whose long-distance travels have taken him across Asia and Europe, is preparing to cross eight US states on foot in 2027. The planned journey, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, forms part of his ambition to enter Guinness World Records by walking more than 40,000 kilometres after the age of 75. Having learnt blacksmithing early in life, he has continued practising the physically demanding craft.
His first long-distance expedition began in 2022 in his native Ulytau region. Over six months, he covered 8,000 kilometres across Kazakhstan, travelling through the south, east and north before finishing in Aktau on the Caspian Sea. Encouraged to venture abroad for the first time, he later departed from Atyrau, crossed Russia and the Caucasus, and reached Istanbul in Turkey. Another journey began in Oskemen and took him through Russia’s Altai region and Mongolia to Beijing, with a visit to the Great Wall.
In 2026, after securing funding and a Schengen visa, Kotyrashov walked approximately 3,000 kilometres in 53 days. Starting in Belgrade, Serbia, he passed through Hungary, Austria and Germany before reaching Paris, France. His hat and sticker-covered suitcase have become recognisable, prompting people to share photographs and request selfies. Yet the journeys have included severe hardship: he recalls spending three and a half days in the wilderness without food or water. Despite such experiences, he refuses to regard himself as old while his record ambition remains unfinished.
