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Changing Routes

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Thursday August 8

We finally arrived at the eastern border of Kazakhstan on Tuesday evening.

Lonely Planet says that Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world. Not including our diversion to Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, it has taken us a solid 10 days, to traverse it, from Atyrau to the west, Almaty to the south, Semey to the east, and the many points in-between.

Most everyone on the team is super thrilled to be leaving Kazakhstan behind having experienced what seems like every worst road this country has had to offer, and a people that have yet to warm to /welcome tourists. It is certainly a part of the world I am sure I would never have otherwise had the chance to see and am glad I was able to.

Kazakhstan declared their independence from Russia in 1991, just over 20 years ago and this country is experiencing rapid and profound change on every level. We have seen huge signs all over the country proclaiming “Kazakhstan 2050”, so something big is on the horizon for them. Courtesy of the huge influx of Western & Chinese money that is pouring in and carving up pieces of their massive oil and gas reserves, they are attempting to build an infrastructure / remake their country in a blink of an eye comparatively to what has taken other countries hundreds of years to do.

In Atyrau, we’d met Tom, a 30 year Chevron employee from Austin, TX who is on a 2 year assignment. (If memory serves, he said the rig he works on cost roughly $20 million to install and wasu outputting something like 20K barrels of oil a day, not a bad return!) He said the Atyrau of today has undergone a complete transformation compared to the back country mud squalor he’d seen 20 years ago on his first visit shortly after the 1991 split from Russia.

I have read there are quite a number of wonderful nature reserves with incredible wildlife (ibex, lynx, antelopes & gazelles, wild boar, and even a handful of snow leopards) and bird populations (eagles, flycatchers, gulls, Himalayan snowcocks (?), and thousand of summering flamingos). These, along with exploring the incredible Altai Mountains, might be a reason to return.

We are taking a rest day in Barnaul, Russia after another all night drive, from Semey and the border crossing. The Kaz passport control guy I had must’ve spent 15 minutes, and left his booth with my passport in hand, before I received my exit stamp (had me a bit nervous there for a few moments) . The Russian border was a piece of cake – even with a thorough dog sniffing – by a cocker spaniel! (The Kaz border had German Shepherds)

Don and Sarah have decided on a revised route to the finish line in Ulan Baataar (UB). We will no longer be traveling through western Mongolia as the roads of Kazakhstan have done Don in, and he has declared he is finished with dirt roads, if he can at all help it. Coupled with the length of time it has taken us to get this far, Pietro and Stefano, the Italians on assignment for Vanity Fair, have flights out of UB on August 20th that they HAVE to make. Sarah wants us to be able to cross the finish line as a team, so we will now head across Siberia to Lake Baykal, then turn south to Mongolia and the finish line.

There are hopes that if we can get to UB in a timely fashion, this may allow for more sightseeing in Mongolia than we would’ve otherwise had the chance for given the roads and the bus. After all, the bus is not being donated at the finish line / staying in Mongolia like the rest of the other Rally vehicles, but is continuing on to Vladivostok for its journey back to the USA. Therefore, the bus CAN NOT be abandoned in Mongolia. If it were to break down, no one on the team wants to have to dismantle and haul the bus out of the country piece by piece.

 

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The Chickens At Play

Saturday August 3

Lake Issy-Kul is the 2nd largest alpine lake in the world, (after Lake Titicaca in Peru) and sits in a basin of the northern Tian Shan Mountains. At roughly 170 KM long and 70 KM wide, the lake is mildly saline, extremely deep, and never freezes. It has been an oasis for centuries.

After making the turn off from Bishkek towards the lake on Friday, the scenery quickly changed from agricultural to the brown rolling hills that are so reminiscent of the coastal range of northern California in the summer. These quickly gave way to more substantive peaks as we drive through a fabulous mountain gorge with a swift moving river running alongside the road. Once through the gorge, the valley opened up and the 7,000 meter high snow capped Tian Shan mountain peaks climbing up into the clouds came into view off in the distance.

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Will and Tommy steered us to the open field they camped in last year up along the north side of the lake. Camp gear was dumped, and some of the guys went and fetched take out – Will’s favorite – Shashleek!! (sp?) The rest of us set up camp, drank beer and watched a local herd moooo-ve their way through our site (one was very interested in will’s tent) while a blazing orange sun set behind the mountains. A great way to end the day !

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I Woke up yesterday morning to sun rays shining out from the clouds. For the first time since Odessa, we have a day off – No driving! Time to play!

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Don, Stefano, Pietro and Tommy walk into town. The rest of us hang out to enjoy the wonderful breeze and cool waters the shoreline on our remote beach has to offer us, until we are run off by the cops that came trolling along. We’re told we can stay if we pay them 2000 som, (roughly $40 US).

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We choose to break camp than pay the money they are asking us for to stay – which sounds to us more like a bribe than it being illegal to camp.  Don takes us into town to an amazing restaurant he’d found with the guys then we head up the coast to find a new beach/camp site.

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Sarita has A TON of filming she needs to get done and The Adventurists have been hounding her and Sarah for footage. First up, Caroline and Pietro, who’ve bee sparring on the bus, have matched up for a space hop contest! Both put on the must have fashion item of the season, dixie chickens hats! With goggles, and Pietro, wearing Don’s traditional Mongolian warrior wrestling outfit, the 2 of them line up at the starting line – Ready, set, GO! Pietro grabs his space hop (NOT hopping) and runs for the finish line. CHEATER! Caroline yells Foul (or FOWL – in this case). In the rematch, Pietro complies with the rules this time, but Caroline hits a cow pie in her hop and Pietro is the winner – He must do a victory run into the water, and caroline owes him a hot breakfast and coffee delivered to his tent in the morning.

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Pietro, Stefano, Don, and I enjoy a loose game of soccer with the space hop while Sarita continues some filming with Sarah and Caroline on bits for the Adventurists speech.

Cocktail hour arrives, and the beach has some new visitors.
There is a young boy, about 8, on his donkey riding through the beach, who garners our attention, as well as a couple of herdsman who come to say hello.

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2 cars drive up to the beachfront with a huge family of maybe 15-20. A myriad of kids piles out, instantly running for the water while the adults set up grilling. They look like a wonderful group. We all had the urge to photograph them but did not want to appear intrusive on this family gathering. Stefano, in his wonderfully disarming way, goes to them to ask permission. Not only does he get the photos he (we all) wanted, in the process they offer him some of their food! This is the way a real professional photographer works We are in awe. A short while later, Sarah pulls out some of the plastic inflatable world globes we’ve brought along. As I approach the group this little girl, maybe all of 3 years old, spies me coming and her eyes get HUUUGE and she makes a beeline waddle right for me with her arms stretched wide open. She is intent on getting to me first and securing her prize!

The adults watch curiously, but then are very welcoming. I don’t know how much they understood, but I pointed on the globe where Chicago is, and where the bus has travelled. More kids emerge from the beach, and Sarah is blowing up more globes for me to hand out as each kid eagerly wants one of their own. From our vantage point by the bus, It was wonderful watching the kids and adults now playing a myriad of ball sports with the globes, interacting with each other, and running around. What joy they had.

Just before dusk sets in, one of the women comes over and motions if they can all come over and have a photo with us in front of the bus. Many handshakes and smiles were exchanged and many photos snapped. It was a heartwarming moment, 2 groups on the beach, from very different customs and languages, but clearly a bond forged. They were warm wonderful people and these are the moments that have come to make this trip so special for me. They left shortly thereafter, and we settled in with setting up our tents for the night.

The next morning’s view:

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Sarita has some more filming adventures for us.
Sarah, Caroline, and I make our sand angels on the beach, and then the entire group is under Sarita’s choreographic direction as we perform our mustache and beards section for The Adventurists speech. Just a few dance moves, but it is funny trying to get the 9 of us “together”!

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Kyrgystan has been a wonderful respite, but we now head back to Kazakhstan for the night, and then off to Russia and Mongolia for the next part of our Journey. One likely without any internet, but certainly one full of wonderous adventures which I’ll write about and share when I can, so please hang in there!

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On The Road Again…

Thursday August 1

After our few too many hours of rest in Kyzylorda yesterday morning, we had a very long way to go to reach the Kyrgyzstan border. We’ve had enough of the desert and have our hearts set on reaching the beautiful Lake Issyk-Kul up in the Tian Shan Mountains.

The fabulous 4 lane paved roads we’d finally found reverted back to the 2 lane remedial dirt, and the further south we headed the more crowded they became. We passed families splashing around in the rivers, construction workers hard at it in the stifling heat, and cattle patrolling the newly paved but unopened roads.

By sunset, the dirt rising up from the road had mixed with the low level fog that had settled in the farm fields, and the sun had that orangey gold glow as it set in the distance behind us.

We passed through the outskirts of Shymkent around 10:30pm. There was a pervasive and overwhelming smell of burning plastic mixed in with the dirt. The streets were full of more cars and people than we’d seen in quite some time. We rolled right past the car dealerships, billboards, mosques, and roadside cafes to continue on to the serenity we craved.

I woke around midnight to a wonderful cool crisp breeze wafting through the bus as we drove through some low rolling smokey hills. A golden orange crescent moon was on the rise to my right, and the Big Dipper brightly shined down on my left. Roadside apple stands, swaged with loosely strung bare bulbs across their tops, dotted the landscape. Each stand seemed to have either a young boy or an old woman sitting not too far away, waiting for someone to stop on this quiet stretch of road so late at night. I savored the moment as long as I could before drifting back off to sleep.

Early the next morning I woke to Stefano’s camera shutter snapping away. I imagined all the cool photos he was taking, but I could not crack my eyes open long enough to look, much less grab my camera for some of my own.

We arrived at the Kazakhstan border around 10:30am. No shakedown or drug sniffing dogs this time, thankfully, just your average confusion as they were unorganized and non-communicative.

Aaaah…Kyrgyzstan!
I say hello to the official behind the window as I hand him my passport. He looks right at me and asks me how I am (WOW – English!!) When I say “wonderful” he looks at me with surprise and delight, leans back in his chair and flashes me a huge grin and a hearty belly laugh! (Now THAT is a welcome!)

While we wait for the bus to be cleared, the belly laughing guard has come outside to meet us all and Pietro is showing him how to tie some knots. Meanwhile, one of the customs agents has come over to us girls and is doing his best to flirt with us, telling us all how bee-oo-ti-ful & charming we are! He wants to know which ones of us are not married and sarah does her best to make a love connection for him, to no avail. (I later read in the guidebook that kidnapping of fair maidens for brides is still common here – Yikes!!)

The guards are all busy signing the bus, and are extremely jealous when we tell them we are heading to Issyk-Kul, (an 8 hour drive away) as they want to come with us! After I’ve changed money and checked out the lunch options at the myriad of tents outside the official border control area, I head back to the bus to find that our flirty customs agent is on board. Sarah say’s he’s left his post, via car, to come have photos with us! No photos outside as he is still “on duty”! Before leaving, he asks for a photo with just me, and then gives me his phone number and puts his hand to his head with the sign for me to call him – yeah, will do, right away! We are just across the border, but are already in love with this country – this has definitely been our best & most entertaining border crossing experience yet.

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Abandoned Ships & Cosmonauts!

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Tuesday July 30

With our Immigration Card ordeal over with, we are off in search of the Aralsk harbor and the lost Aral Sea.

Years of Russian irrigation starved the Aral Sea of much needed water. It has been nearly 40 years since the sea receded, strangling a fishing town of its livelihood and a harbor for its ships.  There is apparently now a huge International surge underway to try and revitalize and restore this part of the Aral Sea back to it’s former glory via a series of dams, dykes and channels.   Currently the “sea” sits about 23km offshore from the town of Aralsk and there is hope that in a few years the sea may return.  In the meantime, there are a handful of boats in “dry dock” that stand as a memorial to the once former bustling harbor / fishing town.  There is a more formal “Ships Graveyard” further up & around the western coastline, but we do not have the time to schedule this guided day trip.  Being a sailor, it is hard to see such an empty harbor devoid of life, fortunately, we also have fun with some of the local kids and the “other” current inhabitants of the harbor.

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Our journey south away from the blistering 50 deg celsius (120 degF?) heat toward hopefully cooler mountain weather (still a day or two away) continues.

Next up – a quick drive through the town of Baykonur, and views across the valley to the more famous Baykonur Cosmodrome. (This is a great link to a NY Times Article on the town and the Cosmodrome’s history!)

This nearly 7K square kilometer area is the site of the Russian manned space program, and where the Soviet’s space race & Yuri Gagarin’s famous launch as the world’s first human into space occurred in 1961.

Post the Soviet breakup / Kazakhstan’s independence, the Russians now have to lease this site and the town from Kazakhstan (scheduled til 2050).  NASA is also now paying to use this site to launch our astronauts into space to the ISS, since our manned space program is no longer funded for US  based launches.

For a NASA/space buff like me, getting a tour of this place would be an amazing life experience.  Unfortunately, despite it’s near desolate remote location,  I have read that they are INCREDIBLY hard to come by, are very expensive, and require months of advance preparation/paperwork / approval from the Russian Space Agency.  So we settle for the views along the road of the satellite arrays and a drive through the part of the town that lies outside the gates.  We considered trying Sarah’s, “But we’ve driven all this way in an American school bus. We’re from America.  You have to see our bus, you have to let us in…” but decided this may not, in fact,  work on these guards.

The part of town we can drive through is as dilapidated as so much of the rest of the countryside we have seen.  However, like the rest of the Kaz people we have met in this part of the country, they are very friendly and wave enthusiastically back at us as we pass them.

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Hey…Immigration Man…

Tuesday July 30

So, despite mailing my passport off to the UK months ago for the 30 day Kazakhstan Visa, and being given the twice over at the border control,  if you plan to  stay in Kaz for longer than 5 days, you must ALSO find yourself an immigration officer, in country, to stamp the immigration card you are given at the border.  Blow off being “registered”, and you are potentially subjecting yourself to huge fines, and/or imprisonment!  (numerous rally stories are swirling around about this unfortunate reality.)  So, one would think this would be an easy process, eh?  Maybe even one they are used to performing for foreigners?  Ah….more fun and games for Team Dixie Chickens!

The Marriott in Atyrau assured us this would be a piece of cake  – except the local immigration office is closed on weekends.  They would be happy to do it on Monday, if we chose to “extend” our reservations!  As we headed off into the desert on Saturday afternoon, we figured we’d take another stab at it when we arrived in Aktobe.

After finally meeting with some REAL pavement on Monday morning,  the bus tootled right along at speeds we hadn’t seen in days, and we very happily arrived in Aktobe around 3pm, (48 hours after leaving Atyrau – YIKES!)) Shortly after another of the “random” roadside police checks (which were non-existent while we were in the middle of nowhere for 2 days), we pass what we think is a police station, (later reflection has us thinking it was actually a jail).  We try our best asking for help with the immigration cards, as we’re sure there is an office in town SOMEWHERE.  We are excited when we’re told to follow a guy in his car who will help take us there.  After 15 minutes, it is clear we’ve been escorted out of town, and we are heading south.  DOH!!

2 hours down the road, we reach the next town and decide to try again.  We drive into the town square, befriend someone with much better english who helps us find an “escort” to the police station (as this worked so well for us earlier) where we encounter more joy with the Kaz language barrier.

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(their dad drove us to the police station, they loved the crayons!)

We are initially told NO, go away.  Pietro, our fine hunky italian journalist, unleashes his best charms on the young cute official.  Soon, 3 different police officers emerge, much scurrying back and forth behind closed doors, with Sarah’s  passport in hand, and an hour later we are still told NO.   Apparently,  we need to go to the next town down the road. (Hmmm…a trend..?)

Supposedly, there is an Immigration office in Aralsk.  Fortunately, this is in our direction of travel, however, it  is quite a number of hours away and tomorrow will mark our Day 5 in-country!  Thanks to the LOVELY road conditions we’d encountered over the weekend, the unfortunate reality sinks in that we, in fact, will not make it to Kyrgyzstan before the end of the day tomorrow.  We’ll need to pull another all nighter on the road, to make up time for the previous road conditions, and  arrive in Aralsk at the crack of dawn to deal with the inevitability of completing this “registration” process.

Arriving in Aralsk at “o dark 30”, we appease Sarah’s axe murderer worries and park the bus just outside of town for an hour or two till daybreak arrives.   We head into town around 8am, in search of the now near “mythical” immigration man.  We pass a police officer on our way, who hops right on into the bus and shows us the way.  The office does not open til 10am, but as we’ve apparently crossed ANOTHER time zone sometime in the past day, (having a hard time keeping track now), this actually works in our favor.
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Ahead of schedule, at 9:45am we are waved inside.  We are asked to submit 2 copies of each of our passport photo page, visa, and immigration cards.  Hmmm…  well, a not so quick trip to the local copier next door – a small “window” conveniently carved out of  the concrete wall that we pass our documents through … and 400 Tenge later (a meager US $2.50)…  the 9 of us are back in business.  Sarah, Tommy and I are seated back into the immigration office.   The kid (MAYBE, 19/20 yrs old?) who is left in charge to watch us while the officer takes our passports to another room picks up an item from behind the desk and pointing at it, says “Souvenir”.  Really?  The KID  is trying to milk us?  Sarah forks over a page of stickers emblazoned with the South Carolina logo – the Palmetto Tree.  I think the kid is even less impressed with this than the Dixie Chickens beer koozie we offered up to appease the border guard when we first entered Kazakhstan. The kid then asks about US dollars or Russian Rubles.  We all deny having any foreign, non-Tenge, money.

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Eventually our officer comes back and we each have to fill out yet another form.   Tommy is told he looks just like Osama, then he looks at me and asks if I am Tommy’s  mom – SERIOUSLY?!   Will is asked if he’s Snowden!  This gets more entertaining by the minute – at least the guy seems to have a sense of humor!  We rotate through, 3 at a time, and eventually, and only because we think their lunch hour had arrived,  our immigration cards are finally stamped and our hours of rigamarole are over, and we are legally on our way!

I  read later that night on the Rally Facebook page that another team of 9 posted that they were  in/out in 5 minutes with their quick stamp of approval..at the office in… Aktobe!  AAAARGH!