Sunday July 28 –

After arriving in Atyrau at the fabulous Marriott Renaissance friday evening around 10pm – showers were priority #1. Then a re-group at the hotel sports bar for beer and food (in that order). Thankfully, they had an outdoor patio to save us from the ear shattering music inside for the 3 people on the dance floor. The lure of the incredibly comfy beds with multiple pillows had Don exclaiming we would NOT be getting an early start! (YAYE!)

After sleeping in, and catching up on the internet, we headed off into the Kazakhstan desert for Aktobe around 3:30pm

First off, a road detour and a massive traffic jam trying to get out of town on a saturday afternoon. At least we were entertained by the truckers and cars honking and waving at us – including an iced tea truck and one of many “oreonachos” semi’s we would see across the desert . A quick stop for gas had the entire staff with sharpies in hand signing the bus and slapping on a new sticker.

The first 100km or so were paved before unceremoniously quickly devolving into bits of what once might have been some sort of “road” material now sandwiched between the craters and sinkholes. We essentially came to a screeching halt and began our 20km crawl. A quick note to the City of Chicago Dep’t of Transportation – I will NEVER mock you again!!

Getting to see ALL the fabulous sites Kazakhstan has to offer, Night #1 of desert camping began around 8:30pm, setting up camp on the side of the road, next to a local landfill. At least we were treated to a gorgeous sun setting in the distance. Noodles & pasta (courtesy of jet boil) and some jimmy bufffet music, were enjoyed under an a amazing star filled sky.

Today started at 8:30am on the road near MM 429

Yesterday we’d passed/met a frenchman who was bicycling from france to siberia. What an epic endeavor!. He is one of the happiest guys I’ve ever met – he was very much at peace – happy, smiling, waving, just trucking along on his bike, stopping to chat with whoever he meets on the road. Our morale was certainly set for the day when about an hour into our day today, we passed him – again – and had a hard time staying ahead of him!. Beaten by a bicyclist, how humiliating…. he just waved and grinned at us as we went by!

It was a very long day of trying to stay off the hideously cratered main road. We quickly got a clue watching the locals and the semi’s, that the “road” of choice was one of the numerous adjacent dirt roads. It is slightly faster, and smoother, and had us wishing that the bus had the massive tires and suspensions of the multitude of Kamaz trucks that passed us by, quickly disappearing off into the distance out of sight!

 

Taking photographs out the bus window has become a new art form. I’ve discovered that having even horizon lines are clearly overrated as the bus constantly dips and sways as it rambles along the washboards. I’m going to be quite busy with the “straightening” tool when I get home.

Sarah has renamed kazakhstan “godforsakenstahn”. It may be desolate here in western Kaz, but it is also beautiful in its own way. There are hawks, camels, goats, sheep, cattle, and the occasional herdsman checking on them. There are passenger and freight trains routinely rolling along the tracks that parallel our path. The Dust devils are magnificent to watch as they roll across the landscape, but of course there is a thick layer of dust/sand on EVERYTHING!

There is occasionally a river and some greenery and maybe a tree here or there, and small towns dot the landscape, one of which had a fairly modern petrol station out in the middle of nowhere, where we stocked up on diesel and water. Around 7pm, we were passed by another rally car – Team “Flying Lederhosen” – the car supposedly confiscated at the Ukrainian border! They had quite a story about that, which I will save for a later post

Average speed for the day = a blistering 20km/hour.
12 hours of driving took us from MM 429 to MM 610 – we are only about halfway to Aktobe. The 500 km days may be over, and night #2 of desert camping ensues.