Danaibek Saidenov, a shepherd, rides on top of a hill near the village of Ashibulak, some 80 km (50 miles) east of Almaty November 15, 2008. From a lone shepherd in the great silence of the empty steppes to the champagne-sipping socialites of the big cities, no-one in Kazakhstan can escape a looming shadow. The land-locked ex-Soviet state five times the size of France is suffering badly, after years of unlimited access to cheap credit funded economic expansion. Picture taken November 15, 2008. To match feature FINANCIAL/KAZAKHSTAN REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (KAZAKHSTAN)