and then the wind direction changes. we draw down our air from the north or north—west and that means it's going to get a bit colder. it does mean there is more sunshine on the way on tuesday, although the sunshine turns a bit hazy in the north—west later on. there'll be a few showers running into north—west scotland, down those north sea coasts as well. but a lot of places are going to have a dry day. the winds for a while touching gale force down those eastern coasts, lighter winds further west. temperatures will be a bit lower on tuesday. we're back down into single figures. it will feel a bit chillier, but at least there'll be more sunshine around. we could start to lose a bit of that sunshine for the middle part of the week. high pressure still never too far away, toppling around it that weather front is going to increase the cloud. but ahead of that, we've got a slice of clearer skies from scotland down towards wales, the midlands, central, southern england where we're likely to find a touch of frost. but the best of the sunshine on wednesday. still a bit more cloud for eastern parts of england. the winds are easing.

out to the west, cloud amount increasing, probably turning wetter later on in the day for northern ireland and western parts of scotland. ahead of that cloud, temperatures are struggling to 5 or 6 celsius. this is bbc news. the headlines: us congressional leaders and white house officials have met in a further attempt to end the budget row which has paralysed parts of the government for the last two weeks. president trump has tweeted that the democrats could stop the shutdown by approving what he called real border security. poland has ordered checks at escape room venues across the country after five teenagers were killed in a fire at one site. the polish president described the fire in the venue in the northern town of koszalin as an appalling tragedy. the victims, all 15—year—old girls, had been celebrating a birthday. attacks organised by criminal gangs in the brazilian city of fortaleza have continued for a fourth day, despite the deployment of hundreds of members of the security forces. buses, banks, and petrol stations have been targeted. it is the first major test for brazil's new president, who took office on tuesday.

now on bbc news, it is time for the travel show. this week, we are in kazakhstan. the view from the top! a vast country in the middle of central asia... full of stunning landscapes and nomadic traditions. you can feel the fish tugging on the net. nature and the great outdoors have always been central to that kazakh people's way of life. birds chirping, fish jumping, sun setting... i get it. and i am here to explore how they are now combining both ancient and modern ways to stay in touch with their wild side. grunts.

it feels good to make the sound, but i don't know what they are saying. woo! this is a lot of fun! i've arrived in kazakhstan‘s biggest city of almaty. once, back when the country was part of the ussr and long before that, it was the capital city.

now things have changed. back in 1991 it was the last soviet republic to declare independence, ten days before the collapse of the union. since then it has been under the president nazarbayev who moved the capital north to the purpose—built city of astana. one thing is clear, this country has undergone a tumultuous period. but through it all nature has continued to play a vital role for the once nomadic people here, and for travellers who visit. you start to get a sense of that at the green bazaar. there has been a market here since before soviet times. this is fermented horse milk, which has been around since the nomadic times and they say it is a cure for tuberculosis. it is a strong taste. the aftertaste is almost like you are smoking a cigar. i don't know why, but that is exactly what it tastes like.

very sharp, though, very intense taste. some russian influences have remained, but some of the old kazakh traditions that had been suppressed under the soviets have once again been bubbling to the surface. like faith in tengriism, calling on nature through shamans, known as baksys. arman, my friend! i wanted to find a baksy, so i'm meeting up with someone who says he can get me an introduction. can you tell me a bit about what exactly a baksy is? ba ksy are spiritual servants who are create by nature to help people. these days in modern culture, do people still go see a baksy? yes, of course, it is part of our life. if official medicine, european medicine doesn't help, people go to baksy. well arman, i can't say

i know what to expect, but i feel ready. arman takes me to a far corner of the city, and an old, unmarked apartment block. we are on our way up to the baksy‘s apartment, she will be waiting for us outside the door. not exactly what i expected. chanting. we have just arrived here in the baksy‘s apartment, we are in the middle of some kind of ceremony. there are two ladies who are getting their souls cleaned, i guess — it's hard to know what's going on. chanting and grunting.

this is extremely intense. can you explain a little bit of what is happening right now? it is cleaning by fire. for the spirit. like an exorcism? yes, yes. each baksy is different, and this one incorporates elements of islam, kazakhstan‘s most followed religion. there is a power in this room i can't describe right now. i have never experienced anything like this. so now it is my turn,

having witnessed the devotion vera had to the process, i feel it wouldn't be right to go through it without the same belief. so we agree on just a blessing for myjourney. but then, unexpectedly, i seem to be getting the full treatment. growling and grunting. it feels good to make the sound, but i don't know what to say. he is coaxing... an experience alone it is very powerful. as the process continues, the baksy calls on the totem animals as they did many years ago here. i may not believe in everything that is happening here, but i do like to open myself to the experience as a traveller. all i can say is,

i know i feel something. although many muslims here frown on these ancient ceremonies, for some kazakhs, they are a direct link to their nomadic past. it's the world's ninth largest country, but kazakhstan is also one of the most sparsely populated. its people were traditionally nomadic, with their lives tied to their environment. today, travellers come to explore its relatively untouched landscapes. i want to find out more of the kazakhstani people's relationship with nature today. so i am heading east to the aral sea, the world's fourth—largest lake, or at least that's what it was. welcome to the dusty streets of zhalanash.

if you can believe it, this used to be a bustling fishing village, but if you come over here and look down to the ground, you can see what used to be the bottom of the aral sea. there is not much fishing going on now. it has been called one of the world's biggest environmental disasters. the sea which stretches the border between kazakhstan and uzbekistan was once about the size of ireland. back in the 1960s the immense stretch of water began to dry up. around 90% of it was wiped off the map, and with it the livelihoods of many of the people who lived on the sea's produce. i had heard that here in kazakhstan the sea was actually coming back, and bringing travellers too. so off i go, in search

of the aral sea, across miles of the old seabed. i have arranged to meet a guide in this region. he wanted me to see the full extent of what the sea, which was actually a large lake, once was, thousands of years before it dried up in the 20th century. the view from the top. what caused it to recede so far? the flow of water was diverted to feed the soviet cotton industry.

uzbekistan still remains one of the world's top producers of cotton, but while uzbek side of the sea remains mostly lost, recent interventions have meant the north aral sea in kazakhstan is returning. approaching the shore, one of the biggest draws for travellers has been the eerie sight of shipwrecks scattered across the old sea bed. spiderwebs everywhere. here we are. the aral sea. at one stage, it was the fourth largest manmade lake in the world, and soon it will reclaim that title. i made it. birds chirping, fish jumping, sun setting, i get it. i get it now. it's a beautiful place.

good morning. this is where we spent the night last night. it might look like we're in the desert, but actually, it was very cold this morning. the bedding was just a simple roll—out pillow mat on the ground with some blankets. but this is the fishermen‘s house. we're up early this morning because they're going to take us out to catch some fish. they're quite chipper. myself, i'm working on it. but it should be a good day. my hosts tell me that i'm not the first traveller to stay with them following the sea's return. though not all of them choose the early—morning fishing run. the sun has not yet crested over the horizon of the kazakh steppe. today, we are fishing, and on the fishing team, we have one sleepy,

inexperienced travel show presenter, we have one of our hosts, whom you know already, our fishermen and his father at the back. these are our boats. out there, there's a lot of fish, and our plan is today to catch them and bring them back to shore. 0k. we're maybe 100 metres offshore. we've encountered the first net. so from what i understand, the net was put out last night, right before sunset. and it stays out until sunrise, and they come out and pull it back in, and every day is quite a surprise. but it seems that over the years there are more and more in the nets almost every single day. ok, so, it's my turn to give this a shot, pulling on the net. it's not too hard, actually.

it's interesting, because it is like when you are fishing with a reel, you can feel the fish tugging on the net. you must love it out here. so, we've been pulling the net for about 30 minutes now. the basket‘s almost full.

so, i think we're probably getting near the end. we've caught a lot of fish. and besides the amount, they're big fish. myself, being a traveller, being out with people is always special. here, you can tell that there's a lot ofjoy in the job this morning. it's not my normal life being out here, covered in fish scales on a boat, but for them, you can tell that they absolutely love it, especially when they can bring in a haul like this. i wanted to see how kazakhstan‘s relationship with nature is changing. so, i'm meeting up with a mountain guide back in almaty. she's agreed to take me out to some of the places she likes to explore. we begin at the location of one of the country's most impressive historical sites. wow, they look

almost like paintings. they are petroglyphs. and these cliffs are covered with petroglyphs, right? this isn't the only site. there's many sites. there are many sites. it's about 5,000 carvings here. wow. it was discovered in 1957 by archaeologist maximova. and it's more than 5,000 carvings on the rocks in this area. and this is the central part, which is very significant and very important at that date, because people was speaking from here, and it was served as a pantheon. so, you could clearly hear what they were talking about down in the valley, where the people and crowds were standing and listening. so, here we see the 12 dancing men, which is doing the ritual dance. and here, it's a women which is giving birth to a child. as you walk around the site, it's amazing how many

carvings you see here. this here is the club? yeah. karla tells me it's thought they believed the more animals they carved into the rocks, be more animals they would successfully hunt. it adds to the experience today, being able to come just in touching distance of things so old. i'm used to multiple layers of security, men standing there, making sure that you don't breath on art like this. but being able to see every little chip out of the stone really makes it special. but what karla really wanted to show me was how some people are mixing old kazakhstan with the new, sandboarding on kazakhstan‘s most famous singing sand dune. famous because under the right conditions,

the dune makes a humming sound, almost like an organ. wow. it's huge. you can see the little dust devils twisting up the sides. it almost looks alive. the skin of the dune sweeping back and forth like a snake. and i heard it almost is. over the past 150 years, it it's moved 3 metres. slowly, but it is moving. it really is incredible. i don't know how we're going to snowboard down it! along for the ride was karla's friend and 0lympic snowboard trainer leanna. the dune stretches for 3km and reaches height of 150 metres, and let me tell you,

while it might look placid from a distance, it is a different story once you're up there. it's a little bit windy today, but we're on the singing sands. and i guess that's always how it is here. for myself, i've gone snowboarding before. what are some differences with sandboarding ? 0k. lean back, yeah? that being said, it was comforting knowing that i would be going slower than on snow. and also, the cool thing about a sand dune is there's no trees! so, i mean, i guess it's safer, right? there is no doubt this is the definition of an extreme sport. there i am, strapped in. i think i'm ready. this way, yeah?

like this? 0oh — and then the board comes... ohh! whoa... this is a lot of fun, though i promise you that you get sand in a lot of places you do not want sand. one of those places is your mouth. i've got...i've got a bit of a crunch in my teeth right now. but woo! it is a rush. karla's about to come down. she's standing up. she looks excited but a little bit nervous. you've got it, karla, yeah!

but before long...we‘re starting to get the hang of it. this is a lot of work. what's incredible, though, is when you come down, as the sand starts to avalanche, you can feel it shaking and reverberating underneath the board. it's very cool. it sings as you come down. we've got our final round from the very, very top, if i can...if i can make it. let's stay here and take a break for a sec. yeah!

and with that, my trip to kazakhstan is at an end. and what a ride it was. hello there. sunshine was in short supply on saturday and it will be again on sunday. now, we've still got high pressure in charge of our weather, but it's essentially filled in with cloud. coming into the high pressure, a weakening weather front, it has been bringing a bit of rain and drizzle, but that's petering out. but the weather front gets as far south as northern england and then starts to move northwards again. for north—west england, perhaps southern scotland, later, northern ireland, it could be a bit damp and drizzly. still, a lot of cloud to the south of that mind you. if you want the sunshine, you need to be across the northern half of scotland, where temperatures are back down to 7 degrees. but elsewhere, it should be

a milder sort of day, really, i think, despite all that cloud. that high pressure is going to start to get squeezed on monday as a deep low pressure rushes towards our shores, really picking up the winds and packing a punch in northern scotland later on in the day, with severe gales developing. and we've got a bit of rain around too. it's mainly for scotland and northern ireland as that band of rain moves southwards again, it tends to peter out. we get some sunny spells following for northern ireland, later, northern england and southern scotland. but it's the strength of the wind that's the main story of the weather. stronger winds for all of us. much windier as you head further north. northern scotland seeing gusts of 70 miles an hour or more. at least it should be a milder day on monday. temperatures widely in double figures. it stays very windy overnight, mind you. the storm, the area of low pressure, sweeps away into scandinavia and then the wind direction changes. we draw down our air from the north or north—west and that means it's going to get a bit colder. but it does mean there's more sunshine on the way on tuesday, although the sunshine turns a bit hazy in the north—west later on.

there'll be a few showers running into north—east scotland, down those north sea coasts as well. but a lot of places are going to have a dry day. the winds for a while touching gale force down those eastern coasts, lighter winds further west. but temperatures will be a bit lower on tuesday. we're back down into single figures. it will feel a bit chillier, but at least there'll be more sunshine around. now, we could start to lose a bit of that sunshine for the middle part of the week. high pressure still never too far away, toppling around it that weather front is going to increase the cloud. but ahead of that, we've got a slice of clearer skies from scotland down towards wales, the midlands, central, southern england where we're likely to find a touch of frost. but the best of the sunshine on wednesday. still a bit more cloud for some eastern parts of england. the winds are easing. out to the west, cloud amount increasing, probably turning wetter later on in the day for northern ireland and western parts of scotland. ahead of that cloud, temperatures are only struggling to 5 or 6 celsius. hello, you're watching bbc

news, i'm reged ahmad. officials from the white house and congress have met, in a further attempt to end the budget row that's led to a partial shutdown of the us government. the meeting broke up after two hours with no sign of a breakthrough — although they have agreed to talk again on sunday. president trump says he's willing to see the impasse continue until funding for his mexico border wall is approved. kim gittleson has the latest. two hours elapsed from when white house officials entered congress to speak with democrats to when they left. that time was either productive, in the words of vice president mike pence, or an empty exercise,