Almaty, meeting Sara and How
Fredag d. 05. aug. 2017 - 18. aug. 2017 (Update 01. oktober 2017)
Kokpek - Chilik 47 km
Chilik - Aktogai 70 km
Aktogai - Almaty
Almaty
Almaty - Qainar 50 km
Qainar - Shien 56 km
Shien - Restaurant på hovedvejen 74 km
Restaurant på hovedvejen - Korday 75 km
Da vi cyklede afsted fra Kokpek, troede vi at vi skulle cykle over et pas, men vi fik en behagelig overraskelse da vi istedetfor skulle rulle ned igennem Kokpek Gorge med smukke bjerge på begge sider af vejen, hvor gyldne, grønne og gule nuancer farvede naturen. Inden vi havde set os om, var de første 12 kilometer cyklet.
Vi nyder at alt det tørre og støvede bliver skiftet ud med frodige grønne marker og træer. Der kommer også mere liv og vi cykler igennem mage små byer. I en af byerne er der markedsdag og langs med vejen er der boder fyldt med lækre grøntsager og kæmpe vandmeloner. Der brænder små bål rundt omkring, hvor de lokale brænder affald og blade af. Her er liv og gang i dagens gøremål.
Vi nåede til Chilik efter en let dag og fandt frem til et overnatningssted. Foran stedet var der en hyggelig have med flotte roser og andre blomster. Det så hyggeligt ud.
Damen der bestyrer stedet, giver os et stort værelse, hvor der to rum og eget bad. Cyklerne kunne vi tage med ind på værelset uden problem, der var nok plads.
Marianne´s familie havde familie komsammen, så derfor fik vi skypet med en del af hendes familie og så ringede vi sammen med Sara, som er en dansk pige vi kendte fra Danmark. Hun var også undervejs på cykel og befandt sig i nærheden af den Kinesiske grænse. Vi ville se om det kunne lykkes for os af mødes og derefter cykle Pamir Highway sammen.
Da vi skulle have aftensmad gik vi rundt i byen for at finde et stad at spise, det endte med at vi købte noget brød og ost. Fordi vi ikke fandt nogen restaurant. Vi var gået til højre lige efter hotellet, men havde vi gået ligeud cirka 400 meter var vi kommet til 3 spisesteder.
Da vi skulle til at spise vores brød, fandt vi ud af at det var muggent. Vi havde lidt brød fra dagen før, så det blev aftensmaden.
Det var søndag morgen da vi cyklede ud af Chilik og det virkede somom byen sov endnu. I løbet af dagen cyklede vi igenmmen en masse små byer. Alle steder var der massevis af små boder som fristede med lækre grøntsager. Vi købte kartofler, løg, peberfrugter så vi havde til madlavning.
Jeg lå et stykke foran Heidi og da jeg cyklede forbi et sklit der viste af til byen Kazakstan, standsede jeg for at tage et billede. Jeg havde forventet at Heidi ville komme lidt efter, men det gjorde hun ikke????
Jeg kunne se hende 500 m længere nede af vejen og jeg tænkte: Hvad tager hun billeder af??? Men det viste sig at hun var styrtet. Hun var kommet for langt ud til vejkanten, som var meget høj og pludselig kurrede hun hen af kanten og væltede.
Heldigvis var der ingen biler bagved hende. Hun kom hurtigt på benene igen, men var selvfølgelig rystet og hun havde fået en hudafskrabning på albuen. Så jeg fik hende over på den anden side af vejen, hvor der var et bus stoppe sted med et skur. Her lagde hun sig på bænken og hun fik bandage på albuen.
Vi tog os en god pause inden vi fortsatte, for at komme ovenpå igen.
Herefter fortsatte vi indtil middag. Nu ville vi finde et sted i skyggen og holde en lang pause. Vi ville nyde vores friske brød, smøre ost, tomat, yoghurt og juice. Vi fandt et sted lige udenfor en stor æble plantage, her sad vi under nogel store træer. Folk der kørte forbi dyttede og hilste.
Imens vi sad der var der to unge fyre i en bil, som kørte ind til plantagen. De hilste og vinkede. 10 minutter senre kom de ud igen og nu kom de hen til os med 6 æbler. De ville høre hvor vi var fra og hvor vi var på vej hen. Herefter ønskede de os god tur og kørte videre til deres næste gøremål.
Vi kunne virkelig godt lide Kazakstan og dens befolkning. Vi følte os meget velkommen.
Efter pausen ville vi cykle indtil vi fandt et passende sted vi kunne campere. Vi købte 7,5 liter vand så vi havde til at lave mad af. Da vi holdt udenfor butikken, var der en mand som kom hen til os med en masse tomater, agurker og en lille melon. Vi var et stort smil, hvis det blev ved på denne måde kunne vi snart ikke cykle mere.
Vi fandt et sted at campere. Efter vi havde spurgt en bondemand om vi måtte slå vores "Palatka" (telt) op.
Manden var ved at flytte hans ko til et bedre sted med mere græs. Han sagde vo kunne bare slå teltet op hvor vi havde lyst.
Nu lå vi i et område med højt gyldent græs og udsigt til bjerge med sne og vi havde masse af mad, så livet på landevejen var dejligt.
På turen ind til Almaty, kunne vi godt mærke at trafikken tog til og vi skulle være meget opmærksomme på trafikken. Da vi var i udkanten af byen, satte vi vores GPS til at guide os til det hostel vi havde udvalgt os.
Via maps.me kom igennem små gade, hvor der ikke var så meget trafik og det var dejligt.
Vi fandt frem til stedet, med lidt problemer. På kortet var der to steder med det samme navn og undenfor stedet, som vi fandt til sidst, var der ikke et skilt med Almaty Backpackers.
Men vi kom frem i godt behold og nu skulle vi bare slappe af i mange dage, for at se om vi kunne mødes med Sara her i Almaty.
Almaty Backpackers blev en god base. Her boede en masse dejlige mennesker og stedet var meget afslappende.
Vi skulle bruge tiden på at få skiftet kasette, kæde og bremser på vores cykler. Det der i første omgang egentlig bare skulle tage en dags tid, endte med at blive en del bøvl. Da vi skulle hente cyklerne, viste det sig at mekanikeren var kommet til at ødelægge Marianne´s forbremse. Så hun kunne først få cyklen dagen efter og så havde de glemt at skifte en ene af Heidi´s bremser.
Da alt endelig var iorden og vi var på vej tilbage med cyklerne. Gik Heidi´s bagaksel istykker. LIgesom det skete udenfor Dunedin i New Zealand. Pedalerne på cyklen køre bare rundt og kæden sæter sig fast.
Det blev starten på tre meget hektiske timer. VI gik tilbage til butikken som allerede havde hjulpet os. Først ser det ud til at de kan hjælpe os. Hele hjulet skal skiftets ud med et nyt, da det hjul Heidi har på cyklen har 40 eger og her har de kun 36 eller 32 eger. Der er helt fint med os, bare de kan lave det.
Men nej, efter at mekanikeren har ringet rundt til en masse butikker, må han medddele os at de ikke har de reservedele vi skal bruge. Han sender os til en butik 1 kilometer længere oppe af vejen.
De kunne heller ikke hjælpe os, men de ved at cykelbutikken Elite Sport helt sikkert kan. Elite sport lå 4 kilometer derfra og de lukkede om 1 time.
Nu løb vi afsted for at nå til butikken inden de lukkede. 30 minutter senere stod vi foran butikken og det viste sig de var lige ved at lukke. Til vores held, var der en fyr som talte engelsk og han forstod vores problem. Han mente helt sikkert at han kunne løse problemet. Han skulle bare beholde cyklen i to dage.
Vi tror faktisk, at hvis der var nogen der havde set os løbe op og ned af gaden, så ville de tro vi løb rundt og stjal cykler eller også har de tænkt: der må være et eller andet i vejen med de to piger.
Dagene i Almaty gik med ren afslapning. Vi stod sent op og sad lang tid og hyggede over morgenmaden.
Der var så mange forskellige rejsende på stedet, så der var altid noget at snakke med. To vi specielt snakkede meget med, var Peter og Ann fra Holland. Han var kunstner og arbejde deltid i en bager forretning. Det passede godt til ham, for han elskede kage. Ann arbejde med design af tøj. De var så livlige og vi fik nogle gode snakke sammen.
En aften var der 19 gæster ialt og der blev lavet barbecue med god mad og kolde øl. Alle havde forskellige historeier at fortælle og vi var alle fra forskellige steder i verden. Utroligt hyggeligt og mindeværdigt.
Da vi havde været i Almaty i 5 dage, dukkede Sara op. Nu fik vi fulgt op på hver vores rejser og senere på dagen gik vi i det store supermarked, som lå tæt på. Her gik vi rundt i lang tid og bare kiggede på alle de forskellige fødevarer vi kunne købe. Der var ost, lækkert brød, alle mulige salater og sidst men ikke mindst var der konditorkager i lange baner og alle så så lækre ud, at det blev svært at vælge. Ingen af os kunne huske hvornår vi sidst havde været i et så dejligt supermarked, med det store udvalg af varer.
Nu havde vi den 15. august og det var tid til at cykle videre. Vi havde ialt haft 8 dage i Almaty og havde nydt hver og en af dem, hvis vi ser bort fra den dag vi løb rundt for at ordne cyklerne.
Faktisk er det næsten altid sådan, at efter nogle dage med pause skal vi lige ind i rytmen igen med at pakke og gøre os klar og idag var ingen undtagelse. Vi ville have været afsted klokken 9, men klokken blev 9:30.
Nu gik turen igennem den travle by, hvor vi cyklede tre på stribe. Vi havde kun cyklet 8 kilometer inden vi blev vinket ind til siden af to mænd. Det var en mand der hed Mansur og hans onkel. De ville inviterer os på kaffe, kage. Det lød for godt til at sige nej til, så vi satte os ind på en cafe´ sammen med dem.
Her købte de 2 stykker kage til hver af os, chokolade, vand og kaffe. De ville høre om vores tur og ville høre om de kunne hjælpe på nogen måde. Selv hvis vi havde problemer med vores cykler kunne de hjælpe. De ejede et værksted lige ved siden af cafe´en. Efter 30 minutter sagde de farvel og ønskede os god rejse. Mansur gav os hans telefon nummer og sagde vi skulle bare ringe hvis vi fik problemer. Atter engang var vi helt målløse.
Vi gjorde klar til at cykle videre, men damerne som arbejdede i cafe´en ville også lige have billeder af os inden vi cyklede afsted. Så det klarede vi også.
Vi kunne godt mærke vi skulle igang igen efter pausedagene, så vi cyklede roligt ud af byen. Jo, længere vi kom ud af byen, jo mindre blev trafikken.
Da vi havde cyklet 36 kilometer, holdt vi en pause ved en lille kiosk. Imens vi sad der, fik Marianne øje på en anden cyklist der kom i samme retning som os.
Pludselig råbte Sara: Hey How. Det viste sig at det var en fyr fra Malaysia, som også var på vej mod Europa,. Sara havde cyklet sammen med ham før hun kom til Almaty. Han skulle i samme retning som os, så nu
blev 3 til 4.
Vi besluttede os for at cykle lidt længere og så finde et sted at campere. How havde set at der skulle være en sø 15 kilometer længere fremme, så det blev vores mål.
Søen fandt vi aldrig, men vi fandt et smukt sted ved en stor mark og med udsigt op på bløde bakker i smukke efterårs farver. Et perfekt sted at slå lejr.
Næste dag fulgte vi en vej der gik parallelt med hovedvejen og bestemte os for at følge den. Her var næsten ingen trafik og vejkvaliteten var god. Vi nød det gode vejr og standsede op til flere gange for at tage billeder.
Da vi skulle holde frokost pause, spurgte vi nogen der var ved at bygge et hus om vi måtte sætte os i ly af et stort træ der var lige ved siden af hvor de arbejdede. Ingen problem sæt i jer bare der.
Vi havde selv brød, pålæg og grøntsager til at spise, men inden vi havde set os om, kom en af håndværkerne med en stor skål fyldt med en kyllinge pastaret. Det skulle vi have. Vi var alle overrasket over sådan en gestus og vidste næsten ikke hvad vi skulle sige.
Efter frokosten fortsatte vi indtil klokken var 17:00, vi var lige kommet på den anden side af en lille landsby og her fandt vi et passende sted for natten. Vi kunne ligge rundt om et træ og havde udsigt til de bølgende bløde bakker i grønne og brune nuancer, så det var en fryd for krop og sjæl.
Faktisk havde How fødselsdag, man han fortalte os det først senere. Men et ønske fik han opfyldt, da en mad kom ridende på en hest og How fik lov til at sidde på hesten.
En anden skæg ting der skete den aften var. Vi havde set både køer og en masse får, men da Sara sagde at nu står der to dromedarer, troede vi ikke på hende. Men det var altså rigtigt. Hvor de kom fra ved vi ikke.
Endnu en smuk dag, hvor vi nød der næsten ingen trafik var på vejen. Efter godt 45 kilometer skulle vi dreje af for at cykle imod hovedvejen. I det fjerne kunne vi se at skyerne begyndte at trække sig sammen. Vi blev enige om at cykle også selvom vi begyndte at høre torden og skyerne blev mere og mere sorte.
Det lykkedes for os at holde uvejret bag os og igen i dag skulle vi have os en overraskelse. Da vi cyklede på et stykke hvor vejen var ved at blive repareret, kom en lille lastbil kørende imod os. Det viste sig at være en isbil og tænk sig den holdt ind til siden, for at manden i bilen kunne forære os 4 Kazakhstan vanilie is. Vi takkede, men nu måtte vi virkelig også grine. En isbil ude midt i ingenting og så at de ville give os is.....det kunne da ikke blive ved på denne måde????
Inden længe var vi kommet på god asfalt igen og nu kunne vi rulle nedaf en stejl vej, som førte os ud til hovedvejen.
Vores mål blev en restaurant 10 kilometer længere fremme og vores cykel tempo blev sat betydeligt op, for nu så det virkeligt ud til at uvejret kunne bryde løs hvert øjeblik. Vi nåede lige nøjaktigt restauranten, hvor det begyndte at regne.
Cyklerne kunne stå i læ og vi kunne sidde indenfor og nyde lidt varmt at drikke. Vejret så ikke ud til at blive meget bedre, så vi spurgte i restauranten om vi kunne slå vores telte op senere. Med det blev det ikke til, da vi kunne sove indenfor i restauranten. Lettere kunne det ikke blive og aftensmaden købte vi i restauranten.
Der skulle ikke meget til at overtale os.
Da vi vågnede næste morgen var uvejret blevet afløst af sol og klar blå himmel. Nu var vi kun 80 kilometer fra Kyrgistans grænse. Så vi cyklede afsted med grænsebyen Korday som dagens mål. Først skulle vi cykle 7 kilometer opad for at komme over et højdedrag, derefter blev det sjovt, rigtig sjovt. Vi skulle suse nedaf de næste 20 kilometer og hastigheden lå på et sted mellem 30 og 40 kmh.
Resten af vejen ind til Korday var vejen lettere kuperet. Da vi nåede byen, fandt vi et godt supermarked og derefter cyklede vi ned af en sidevej for at finde frem til dagens lejrplads. Det var kun lige i udkanten af byen, men ingen mennesker tog notits af os. Kun en mand med en hest kom hen og hilste på os da vi havde fundet os tilrette.
Nu havde vi haft 22 dejlige dage i Kazakhstan og indtil nu blev det et af vores ynglingslande på rejsen. Faktisk havde vi snakket om at komme tilbage engang ved lejlighed. Næste dag skulle vi krydse grænsen til Kyrgistan, et land vi allerede kendte lidt til, da vi besøgte landet i 2015.
English
Friday, May 05th. 2017 - Aug 18th. 2017 (Update 01 October 2017)
Kokpek - Chilik 47 km
Chilik - Aktogai 70 km
Aktogai - Almaty
Almaty
Almaty - Qainar 50 km
Qainar - Shien 56 km
Shien - Restaurant on the main road 74 km
Restaurant on the main road - Korday 75 km
As we rode out of Kokpek, we thought we should climb a pass, but we were pleasantly surprised when we instead had to roll down through Kokpek Gorge with beautiful mountains on both sides of the road, where golden, green and yellow shades stained the nature . Before we knew, the first 12 kilometers were cycled.
We enjoy all the dirt and dusts being replaced with lush green fields and trees. There was also more life and we cycle through small towns. In one of the towns there was a market and along the road there were stalls filled with delicious vegetables and giant watermelons. There was also burning small fires where the locals burn waste and leaves. Here was life and many things going on.
We reached Chilik after a easy day and found a place to stay. In front of the place there was a nice garden with beautiful roses and other flowers. It looked cozy.
The lady who managed the place gave us a big room where there was two rooms and a private bathroom. We could even take the bicyles inside aswell, there was enough space.
Marianne's family had a family gathering, so we skyped with some of her family and then we talked with Sara over the phone as well, a Danish girl we knew from Denmark. She was also bicycling towards Denamrk and was near the Chinese border. We wanted to see if we could meet and then ride the Pamir Highway together.
When we had dinner we went around town to find a place to eat, which meant we bought some bread and cheese. Because we did not find any restaurant. We had gone to the right just after the hotel, but if we had gone straight about 400 meters we had reached 3 eateries. 
When we were going to eat our bread, we found out that it was moldy. We had some bread from the day before, so that became our dinner.
It was Sunday morning when we rode out of Chilik and it seemed like the town was still sleeping. During the day we cycled though a lot of small towns. In all places there were lots of little stalls tempting us with delicious vegetables. We bought potatoes, onions, peppers so we had for cooking.
I was in front of Heidi and as I drove past a sign that showed off to the town called Kazakhstan, I stopped to take a picture. I had expected that Heidi would come after a while, but she did not ????
I could see her 500m further down the road and I thought: what do she take pictures of ??? But it turned out she had crashed. She had come too far to the edge of the road, which was very high and suddenly she ran over the edge and overturned.
Fortunately, there were no cars behind her. She quickly got on her legs again, but of course she was shaken and she had a scraped skin of on her elbow. So I got her across the road where there was a bus stop with a shed. Here she lay down on the bench and got a bandage on the elbow.
We took a good long break before continuing to make her feel OK again.
Then we continued until lunch. Now we wanted to find a place in the shade and take a long break. We wanted to enjoy our fresh bread, butter cheese, tomatos, yogurt and juice. We found a place just outside a large apple plantation, here we sat under some big trees.
While we were sitting there, two young guys in a car drove into the plantation. They greeted and waved. 10 minutes later they came back and now they came to us with 6 apples. They wanted to hear where we were from and where we were heading. Then they wished us a good trip and drove on to their next chores.
We really liked Kazakhstan and its people. We felt very welcome.
After the break, we wanted to ride the bike until we found a suitable place to camp. We bought 7.5 liters of water so we had water to cook. When we stopped outside the store, there was a man who came to us with a lot of tomatoes, cucumbers and a small melon. We were a big smile, if kept on this way we could not ride anymore soon because we would get to heavy.
We found a place to camp. After we had asked a farmer if we could pitch our "Palatka" (tent) there.
The man was moving his cow to a better place with more grass. He said we could just put the tent where we wanted.
Now we were in an area of high golden grass and mountain views with snow and we had plenty of food so life on road was nice.
On our way into Almaty, we could notice that traffic was becoming more and more and we had to pay close attention to the traffic. When we were on the outskirts of town, we put our GPS to guide us to the hostel we had chosen.
Maps.me guided us through small streets where there was not much traffic and that was nice.
We found the place, with a little trouble. On the map there were two places with the same name and outside the place, which we finally found, there was no sign with Almaty Backpackers.
But we arrived well and now we just had to relax for many days to see if we could meet up with Sarah in Almaty.
Almaty Backpackers became a good base. Here stayed a lot of lovely people and the place was very relaxing.
We should spend the time changing the cassette, chain and brakes on our bikes. What initially just had to take a day, ended up being a lot of trouble. When we had to pick up the bikes, it turned out that the mechanic had destroyed Marianne's front brake. So she could get the bike the following day and then they had forgotten to change one of Heidi's brakes.
When everything was finally done and we were on our way back with the bikes this happend. Heidi's rear hub broke. Like it happened outside Dunedin in New Zealand. The pedals on the bike just went around and the chain got stuck.
It was the start of three very hectic hours. We went back to the store that had already helped us. First, it seemed they could help us. The whole wheel had to be replaced with a new one, as the wheel Heidi has on the bike has 40 spokes and only 36 or 32 spokes could be found in Almaty. That was fine with us, as long they could fix it.
But no, after the mechanic has called a lot of stores, he told us that they did not have the spare parts we needed. He then guided us to a shop 1 kilometer further up the road.
They could not help us either, but they knew that the Elite Sport bike shop certainly could. Elite sports were 4 kilometers away and they closed an 1 hour later.
Now we ran to reach the store before they closed. 30 minutes later we stood in front of the store and it turned out they were just closing. To our luck, there was a guy who spoke English and he understood our problem. He certainly meant he could solve the problem. He would just keep the bike for two days.
We actually believe that if someone had seen us running up and down the street, they would think we ran around and stole bicycles or they thought: there must be something wrong with the two girls.
The days in Almaty went with pure relaxation. We got up late and enjoyed the breakfast.
There were so many different travelers at the palce so there was always something to talk to. Two we talked very much with were Peter and Ann from Holland. He was an artist and worked part-time in a bakery. It suited him well, because he loved cakes. Ann worked with design of clothes. They were so lively and we got some good talks together.
One evening there were 19 guests in total and a barbecue with good food and cold beer was made. Everyone had different histories to tell and we were all from different places in the world. Extremely cozy and memorable.
When we had been in Almaty for 5 days, Sara showed up. Now we followed up on each of our trips and later in the day we went to the big supermarket that was close by. Here we went around for a long time and just looked at all the different foods we could buy. There was cheese, delicious bread, all sorts of salads and last but not least there was a big selection of pastry and every pice looked so delicious that it was hard to choose. None of us could remember when we had last been to such a great supermarket with the wide range of goods.
Now we had August 15th and it was time to cycle again. We had a total of 8 days rest in Almaty and had enjoyed each and every one of them if we ignored the day we ran around to fix the bikes.
In fact, it is always hard after a few days of rest to get back into the rhythm again packing and getting ready and today there was no exception. We would have left at 9 o'clock, but it was 9:30.
Now the trip went through the busy city, where we cycled three in a row. We had only cycled 8 kilometers before we were waved into the side by two men. It was a man named Mansur and his uncle. They would invite us to have coffee and cake. It seemed too good to say no, so we sat down at a cafe with them.
Here they bought 2 pieces of cake for each of us, chocolate, water and coffee. They would like to hear about our trip and would like to know if they could help in any way. Even if we had trouble with our bikes they could help. They owned a workshop right next to the cafe. They said goodbye after 30 minutes and wished us a good trip. Mansur gave us his phone number and said we could call if we got trouble. Again, we were completely speechless.
We got ready to ride on, but the ladies who worked at the cafe would also like to have pictures of us before we cycled. So we did that too.
We could feel we were going to restart after the breaks, so we cycled quietly out of town. The longer we got out of town, the less the traffic became.
After we had cycled 36 kilometers, we stopped at a small kiosk. As we sat there, Marianne caught sight of another cyclist who came in the same direction as us.
Suddenly, Sara shouted: Hey How. It turned out that this was a guy from Malaysia who was also heading for Europe. Sara had cycled with him before reaching Almaty. He was going in the same direction as us, so now
3 became 4.
We decided to ride a little longer and then find a place to camp. How had seen on maps. me there was a lake 15 miles further ahead, so it became our goal.
We never found the lake, but we found a beautiful place on a large field and overlooking the soft hills in beautiful autumn colors. A perfect place to set camp for the night.
The next day we followed a road that went parallel to the main road. There was almost no traffic and the road quality was good. We enjoyed the good weather and stopped several times to take pictures.
When we had a break for lunch, we asked someone who was building a house if we could use the shelter of a large tree that was right next to where they worked. No problem they said.
We even had bread, cold cuts and vegetables to eat, but before we knew, one of the craftsmen came with a big bowl filled with a chicken pasta. We should have that he said. We were all surprised by such a gesture and almost did not know what to say.
After lunch, we continued until 17:00, we had just arrived on the other side of a small village and here we found a suitable place for the night. We could lay around a tree and had a view of the rolling soft hills in green and brown shades, so it was a joy for body and soul.
In fact, How had birthday, he told it only later. But one wish he got fulfilled, when a man came riding on a horse and How was allowed to sit on the horse.
Another beard thing that happened that evening was. We had seen both cows and a lot of sheep, but when Sara said that there are two dromedaries here now, we did not belive her. But is was right. There they stod and we did not know where they came from.
Another beautiful day where we enjoyed there was almost no traffic on the road. After about 45 kilometers we had to turn off to cycle towards the main road. In the distance we could see that the clouds began turn black. We agreed to keep riding even though we started to hear thunder and the clouds became more and more black.
We managed to hold the storm behind us and again today we should have a surprise. As we cycled on a piece where the road was being repaired, a small truck came driving towards us. It turned out to be an icecream car and it stopped so that the man in the car could give us 4 Kazakhstan vanilie ice.creams We thanked, but now we really had to laugh too. An icecream car in the middle of nowhere and they stopped to give us ice cream ..... it seemed crazy but it was real.
Soon we had good asphalt again and now we could roll down a steep road leading us to the main road.
Our goal became a restaurant 10 kilometers further ahead and our cycle rate was significantly increased, because now it was real that the storm could break out every moment. We just reached the restaurant where it started to rain.
The bikes got a palce with shelter and we could sit inside and enjoy a little hot drink. The weather did not seem to get much better so we asked the restaurant if we could pitch our tents later. It did not matter as we could sleep inside the restaurant: the owner said.
Easy peasy and our dinner we just had to buy. So we did not need to be convinced to stay inside for the night.
When we woke up the next morning the storm was replaced by sun and clear blue skies. Now we were only 80 kilometers from the border of Kyrgyzstan. So we rode off with the border town of Korday as today's goal. At first we had to ride 7 Kilometers uphill to get over a high hill, then the fun started, really fun. We were going to fly downhill for the next 20 kilometers and the speed was somewhere between 30 and 40 kmh.
The rest of the road into Korday was the road easily hilly. When we reached the city we found a good supermarket for shopping food for dinner and then we cycled down a side road to find the campsite of today. It was only on the outskirts of the city, but no people took note of us. Only a man with a horse came and greeted us when we had sat camp.
Now we have had 22 lovely days in Kazakhstan and so far it became one of our favorite countries on the trip. In fact, we have talked about coming back sometime. Next day we would cross the border to Kyrgistan, a country we already knew a little about as we visited the country in 2015.
Kazakhstan - We love you
Fredag d. 29. juli - Torsdag d. 04. august 2017 (Update d. 31. okt. 2017)
Fra grænsen til Zharkent 48 km
2 pausedage i Zharkent
Zharkent - 82 km mærket efter byen 82 km
82 km mærket - Chundzha 14 km
Chundzha - Charyn Gorge 58 km
Charyn Gorge - Kokpek 38 km
Kazakstan var land nummer 9 på rejsen og hvor var vi glade da vi endelig kunne cykle igennem det sidste check post og sige vi officielt var i Kazakstan.
Allerede efter de første 10 kilometer, fik vi et indtryk af hjælpsomheden i landet. Vi have lige mødt en tysk cyklist (Hans), som var på vej mod Kina og imens vi stod og snakkede mad ham i vejkanten, var der en bil der holdt ind til siden og manden i bilen spurgte om han kunne hjælpe os med noget?? Han spurgte endda om vi havde brug for penge.
Landskabet vi cyklede igennem var tørt, men med majmarker og træer langs med vejen, så vi havde skygge for solens stråler. Vejens kvalitet var ikke som i Kina, nu skulle vi være opmærksom på huller og buler i vejen.
En time inden vi nåede Zharkent, mødte vi endnu en cyklist. Han hed Yogesh Gupta og var fra Indien. Faktisk havde vi haft kontakt på Facebook dagen før via et cykelforum, hvor han havde spurgt til om der var nogen på vej fra Kina mod Kazakstan. Så vi havde holdt udkig efter ham. Han havde boet i Holland i 5 år og var nu på vej hjem. Vi endte med at stå og snakke i lang tid. Han var en rigtig behagelig fyr og vi fik et godt indtryk af ham. Han fortalte hvordan han kunne mærke en forandring af hans sind, siden starten af hans tur. Han var blevet meget mere positiv og åben overfor at møde nye mennesker.
Tror vi kunne snakke hele dagen væk i hans selskab. Men vi ville gerne nå til Zharkent og han ville gerne nå tættere på Kina. Så vi fortsatte i hver vores retning.
Da vi nåede til Zharkent, var noget af det første vi så et lille spisested, som solgte Döner Kebab. Det kunne vi ikke modstå, så cyklerne blev kastet ind til siden og så stod menuen på döner kebab og cola. Hvor smagte det godt!!! Vi kunne ikke huske hvornår vi sidst havde spist kebab.
Imens vi sad og spiste, faldt vi i snak med et par som boede i Zharkent. De fortalte om ting vi kunne se i byen og spurgte ind til vores rejse. Hvor følte vi os velkommen i Kazakstan og glædede os til at opleve mere af landet.
Vi holdt to pausedage i Zharkent. For det første havde vi en aftale med Lars fra Check-in bladet og for det andet ville vi planlægge turen vidre frem og vi skulle vænne os til en ny tidszone - 2 timer.
Vi boede på et lille hotel, hvor vi fik et kæmpe værelse og inklusiv i prisen var der dejlig morgenmad bestående af brød, æg, smørost, pandekager og kaffe. Det var himmelsk efter en måned i Kina med sødt brød og mystisk morgenmad.
Vi boede tæt på byens marked og nød godt af de friske vare vi kunne købe der. Så alt i alt havde vi to dejlige dage i Zharkent.
Efter 3 nætter i Zharkent, cyklede vi afsted før klokken 8. Vi ville undgå den værste varme, ved at starte tidligt. På vej ud af byen cyklede vi forbi den smukke ortodoxe kirke, den lå et par hundrede meter nede af en sidegade til hovedgaden. Et smukt bygningsværk opført i træ og muresten og malet i brun, grøn og hvide farver.
Her brugte vi lidt tid på at tage et par billederfor derefter at fortsætte ud af byen.
Vi skulle se om vi kunne få fat i benzin til vores MSR brænder, så vi kunne lave vores egen mad.
Vi måtte forbi 3 tankstationer inden det lykkedes. På tankstationen grinede de lidt over at vi kun skulle have 1 liter benzin.
Så var det ellers afsted ud af landevejen i Kazakstan.
Vi nåede til landsbyen Koktal og her holdt vi en lille pause. Udenfor den lille købmand vi handlede ved, holdt en Lada. Den havde helt sikkert ikke fået lov til at køre på danske veje. Massevis af buler og meget meget slidt. Manden der ejede bilen skulle i bagagerummet, her brugte han en pind til at sætte i klemme, for at holde bagklappen åben. Han hilste på os med et smil.
Da vi cyklede ud af landsbyen, overhalede han os og vinkede ud af vinduet. Dythornet i bilen var en lyd som når nogen pifter efter en kvinde. Det passede ikke helt sammen med standen af bilen, så det grinede vi noget af.
Vi cyklede indtil middag, hvor vi kom til Ili floden, her fandt vi et sted i skyggen af et stort træ, hvor vi holdt en lang middagspause. Imens vi slappede af, kom der to piger cykelende i samme retning som os. De valgte også at holde pause under nogle træer i nærheden af os.
Marianne gik hen og snakkede lidt med dem. Det var to piger fra Hongkong, som også var på en større tur.
Det var ret skegt, hvordan vi begyndte at møde flere og flere cyklister. Dem der cyklede i den modsatte retning, var helt sikkert mange cyklister som har startet deres tur et sted i Europa i begyndelsen af 2017.
Efter frokost fortsatte vi mod Chundza. Vores mål var at cykle så langt som vi følte for og så finde et sted at campere.
Nogen gange når vejkvaliteten var dårlig, var det bedre at cykle i rabatten, hvor underlaget faktisk var bedre end asfalten.
Sidst på eftermiddagen begyndte vi at kigge efter et sted at campere. Vi kiggede et par steder undervejs, men Heidi var ikke helt tilfreds med de første steder vi kiggede, men til sidst fandt vi et sted med nogle småtræer.
Her skubbede vi cyklerne ind bagved og fandt en lille lysning, hvor teltet lige nøjaktig passede ind. Vi var helt skjult fra vejen. Så et godt sted at sove. Temperaturen var stadig ret høj, så vi var spændte på om vi kunne falde i søvn i varmen. Men da sole gik ned, faldt temperaturen til en behagelig leje og vi sov godt.
Første nat i lang tid hvor vi kunne campere igen. Det passede os godt, da det var billigt og vi elsker at sove i vores hyggelige telt.
Vi havde sovet lidt uroligt, der havde været et par hunde der havde gøet i det fjerne og så skulle vi ind i wildcamp modet igen. Vi havde en meget kort cykeldag foran os, så vi tog os god tid til morgenmad og til at pakke sammen.
Vi ville kun cykle til Chundzha, som lå 14 kilometer længere fremme og så blive der en nat inden vi ville cykle mod Charyn Gorge.
Vejen var stadig meget dårlig, så vi cyklede stille og roligt. Kort efter vi var cyklet afsted fra vores skjul, så vi en stor bod i vejkanten hvor de solgte vandmeloner og honningmeloner. Marianne tog nogle billeder og inden vi havde set os om, blev vi inviteret på vandmelon. Det smagte så godt og dem der stod i boden ville også tage billeder af os. Inden vi cyklede derfra, forærrede de os en honningmelon. Vi forsøgte at betale for den, men det ville de ikke høre tale om. Det var en gave til os. Sikken en gestus og hvor var de søde og rare.
Da vi nåede Chundzha er det første vi ser, 3 på cykel. Det viser sig at være 3 piger fra Tyskland. Anne, Rebecca og Karoline hed de. Den ene af dem havde cyklet i længere tid, hvor de to andre var fløjet til Biskek for at alle tre kunne mødes og cykle sammen til Mogoliet.
Vi endte med at spise frokost sammen og sad i 1 1/2 time hvor snakken gik på cykling. Et hyggeligt mde på vores vej. Efter frokosten fortsatte de mod Kina og vi fandt et hyggeligt lille gæsthus, hvor vi brugte resten af dagen til at slappe af.
Natten havde været ulidelig varm, så vi var ikke ret friske da uret ringede klokken 06:10. Men vi kom ud af sengen og fik pakket. Morgenmaden var kaffe og pandekager. Imens vi spiste morgenmad snakkede vi med en dame, som var en form for advokat for Uger folket. Hun sørgede for at de fik en fair retssag og var også mentor for dem. Hun endte med at give os hendes telefon nummer, i tilfælde af at vi skulle bruge hjælp imens vi var i Kazakstan.
Dagen startede overskyet, hvilket var dejligt. For så var det ikke så varmt. Der var næsten ingen trafik på vejen, så vi kunne nyde stilheden og den næsten flade vej. Naturen var meget tør og næsten ørken agtig. Efter 13 kilometer kom vi til et udsigtspunkt med udsigt ned over en stor kløft. Her var en stor statue af en ørn og vi stod helt stille og nød udsigten. Oppe fra udsigtspunktet kørte vi 5 kilometer ned, indtil vi nåede ned i bunden af kløften, hvor Charyn floden løb igennem. Nu kunne vi se op imod den anden siden af kløften, hvor vi skulle cykle igen.
Op kom vi på den anden side og kort efter var der en bil der holdt ind foran os. Det var et hollandsk par, som var på 14 dages guided tur rundt i Kazakstan og Kyrgistan. De ville sikre sig at vi havde nok vand eller om vi manglede noget. Vi kunne meddele at vi havde hvad vi skulle bruge, men takkede dem fordi de hørte til os. De skulle også til Charyn Gorge.
Nu var vi nået til grusvejen, som vi skulle følge de næste 22 kilometer, for at komme til kløften. De første 12 kilometer var vejen meget dårlig. Så vi kunne ikke cykle ret hurtigt. Vi kom til et skyggeskur, hvor vi holdt en lille pause inden vi forsatte de sidste 10 kilometer, indtil vi nåede indgangen og vagthuset hvor vi skulle betale for at kunne fortsætte helt ned i kløften.
Ved indgangen var der et stort kort over området, som viste at vi kunne campere helt nede i bunden af kløften og der var endda en restaurant. En af mændene der styrrede indgangen forklarede at der var to veje. Den ene førte ned i kløften og den anden op af kløften.
Det skulle vise sig at være forkert eller også var det fordi hans engelsk ikke var så godt, at Marianne havde misforstået.
Vi endte med at cykle 2 kilometer til en vej, som var lukket med en bom og på et skilt stod der: indkørsel forbudt. Vi fik et smukt udsyn ned i kløften, som mindede om en miniature Grand Canyon, men vi måtte vende om, for at komme tilbage til den rigtige vej. Alt var grusvej og nu stod vi ovenfor en stejl bakke, den var umulig at cykle ned af. Vi måtte af cyklerne og holde godt fast i cyklen og bremserne. Et skridt af gangen til vi var nede hvor vi kunne hoppe på cyklerne igen.
Efter 2,5 kliometer igennem den dybe kløft med de smukke klippeformationer i forskellige brune nuancer, nåede vi ned til området hvor vi kunne campere. Her var en lille restaurant og nogle små strå hytter der blev lejet ud.
I restauranten forklarede de os hvor vi kunne slå lejr, hvorefter vi fandt et sted lige ved siden af floden.
Vi havde købt to øl, som blev lagt på køl i floden og så slog vi teltet op. Herefter tog vi bad i floden, lavede dejlig aftensmad og nød aftenen med kold øl og god mad i de smukke omgivelser af Charyn Gorge.
Vi vidste jo godt hvad der ventede os næste morgen, da vi skulle op nede fra kløften. Turen op dernede fra blev ikke lettere af at vores ben var totalt trætte. Vejen skrånede let opad, så vi cyklede stille og roligt op til den stejle bakke for enden af kløften. Her tog vi en cykel af gangen, hvor vi begge skubbede af alle krafter for at komme op dernede fra.
Da vi kom op til vagt huset, skulle vi cykle af en anden grusvej end dagen før, for at komme ud til hovedvejen igen. Vi havde 11 kilometer foran os på meget dårig grus-/sand vej. Det gjorde det ikke lettere at cykle på da vi havde en vild sidevind oveni.
Vi nåede til hovedvejen efter 2 timer, nu skulle vi cykle mod Kokpek og det betød vi skulle cykle i en strid modvind. Inden vi på begyndte de 27 kilometer der var til Kokpek tog vi en god pause, hvor vi fik samlet lidt krafter.
Hold nu op hvor det blæste. Vi kunne kun cykle med 8-10 kilometer i timen. Vi hjalp hinanden ved at skiftes til at ligge forest, for at give hinanden læ. Der var ingen steder at finde læ i landskabet, da alt var fladt og uden bevoksning. Heldigvis var der et busskur da vi var nået 12 kilometer af strækningen, så her søgte vi ly og fik noget chokolade.
De sidste 15 kilometer trak tænder ud og jeg tror det var lige før vi gav op. Men da der var to kilometer tilbage kunne vi se Kokpek, så vi fik kæmpet os det sidste stykke.
Kokpek er ikke andet end en lillebitte by, med 5 - 10 faldefærdige huse og nogle små spisesteder/kiosker, som er bygget ud af gamle rusiske togvogne. Stedet bruges som stop for busser der kommer fra Almaty eller fra modsatte retning og det samme gælder for lastbiler.
Meget trætte fandt vi hurtigt læ i en af skurvognene og bestilte en varm suppe med brød. Da vi havde spist spurgte vi om vi kunne slå vores telt op et eller andet sted. Vi fik at vide vi kunne slå teltet op omme bag ved skurvognen.
Vi havde håbet på de havde sagt vi kunne slå teltet op i læ af et eller andet, men sådan blev det ikke.
Nu skulle vi forsøge at slå teltet op i fuld storm. Det lykkedes, men med total sand og støv blæsende ind i teltet.
Samtidig begyndte det at regne!! Sand, støv og regn er ikke en god kombination i regnvejr. Men vi kunne ikke rigtig gøre andet end at slå lejr og søge ly inde i teltet og så måtte vi rense teltet senere når det blev tørvejr.
Heldigvis blev det kun til lidt regn og efter regnen lagde vinden sig.
English
Friday, July 29 - Thursday, 04 August, 2017 (Update 31. oct. 2017)
From the border of China to Zharkent - 48 km
2 restdays in Zharkent
Zharkent - 82 km mark after Zharkent - 82 km
82 km marked - Chundzha - 14 km
Chundzha - Charyn Gorge - 58 km
Charyn Gorge - Kokpek - 38 km
Kazakhstan was country number 9 on the journey and we were happy when we finally could cycle through the last check post and say we were officially in Kazakhstan.
Even after the first 10 kilometers, we got an impression of the helpfulness of the country. We have just met a German cyclist (Hans) who was heading for China and while we were talking to him on the roadside, a car stopped beside us and the man in the car asked if he could help us?? He even asked if we needed money.
The landscape we rode through was dry but with corn fields and trees along the road, so we had shade form the sun's rays. Road quality was not like China, now we should be aware of the holes and bumps along the road.
One hour before reaching Zharkent, we met another cyclist. His name was Yogesh Gupta and was from India. In fact, we had contact on Facebook the day before via a bicycle forum where he had asked if there were any people on the way from China to Kazakhstan. So we had been looking for him. He had lived in Holland for 5 years and was now on his way home. We ended up talking for a long time. He was a really nice guy and we got a good impression of him. He told us how he could feel a change of mind since the start of his trip. He had become much more positive and open to meeting new people.
Think we could talk all day away in his company. But we would like to reach Zharkent and he would like to get closer to China. So we continued in each direction.
When we reached Zharkent, some of the first we saw was a small eatery, which sold Döner Kebab. We could not resist that so the bikes were thrown into the side and then the menu was kebab and coke. It tasted sooooo good !!! We could not remember when we had last eaten kebab.
As we sat and ate, we fell in conversation with a couple who lived in Zharkent. They told us about things we could see in the town and asked questions about our trip. This was the fisrt day of Kazakhstan and we were looking forward to experiencing more of the country.
We stayed two days in Zharkent. Firstly, we had a interview with Lars from the Check-in magazine and secondly, we would plan the trip futher on and we would had to get used to a new time zone - 2 hours.
We stayed at a small hotel where we got a huge room and included in the price there was a nice breakfast consisting of bread, eggs, creamcheese, pancakes and coffee. It was heavenly after a month in China with sweet bread and mysterious breakfast.
We lived close to the city market and enjoyed the fresh produce we could buy there. So all in all, we had two lovely days in Zharkent.
After 3 nights in Zharkent, we cycled before 8 o'clock. We wanted to avoid the worst heat, starting early. On our way out of town we rode past the beautiful orthodox church, a few hundred meters down a side street to the main street. A beautiful building constructed of wood and brick and painted in brown, green and white colors.
Here we spent some time taking a couple of pictures and then continuing out of town.
We should see if we could get gasoline for our MSR burner so we could make our own food again.
We had to pass 3 gas stations before we succeeded. At the gas station they were laughing at the fact that we only had to buy 1 liter of gasoline.
Then we sat off on the roads of Kazakhstan.
We reached the village of Koktal and stayed here for a short break. Outside the little merchant where we shopped, a Lada held. It certainly would not have been allowed to drive on Danish roads. Lots of bumps and very much worn out. The man who owned the car went to open the trunk, he used a stick to keep the backdoor open. He greeted us with a smile.
As we rode out of the village, he overtook us and waved out of the window. The horn in the car was a sound like somebody whistling after a woman. It did not quite fit with the condition of the car, so we laughed a bit.
We rode until lunch time when we came to the Ili River, here we found a place in the shadow of a big tree where we had a long lunch break. While we were relaxing, two girls came cycling in the same direction as us. They also chose to have a break under some trees near us.
Marianne went over and talked to them for a while. There were two girls from Hong Kong who also were on a bigger tour.
It was quite clear how we began to meet more and more cyclists. Those who rode in the opposite direction were definitely many cyclists who started their trip somewhere in Europe in early 2017.
After lunch, we continued towards Chundza. Our goal was to cycle as far as we felt and then find a place to camp.
Sometimes when the road quality was bad, it was better to ride the bike on the side of the road, where the surface was actually better than the asphalt.
Late in the afternoon we started looking for a place to camp. We looked a couple of places along the way, but Heidi was not quite happy with the first places we looked, but eventually we found a place with some small trees.
Here we pushed the bikes behind the trees and found a small spot where the tent exactly fitted. We were completely hidden from the road. So a good place to sleep. The temperature was still quite high so we were excited if we could fall asleep in the heat. But when the sun went down, the temperature fell to a comfortable temperature and we slept well.
First night for a long time where we could camp again. It suited us well as it was cheap and we love to sleep in our cozy tent.
We had slept a bit uneasily, there had been a couple of dogs that had barked in the distance and then we had to get used to wildcamping again. We had a very short day in front of us, so we had plenty of time for breakfast and to pack up.
We only wanted to bike to Chundzha, which was 14 kilometers further ahead and then stay one night before we would ride to Charyn Gorge.
The road was still very bad so we cycled quietly. Shortly after we had started cycling from our camp spot, we saw a big shag at the roadside where they sold watermelons and honeydrew melons. Marianne took some pictures and before we knew we got invited to taste watermelon. It was so tasty. Before we cycled away from there they gave us a honeydrew melon. We tried to pay for it, but they would not take the money. It was a gift for us. Such a gesture and such nice people.
When we reached Chundzha, the first thing we saw, was 3 by bike. It turned out to be 3 girls from Germany. Anne, Rebecca and Karoline were named. One of them had cycled for a long time, where the other two had flown to Biskek so that all three could meet and bike together to Mogoliet.
We ended up having lunch together and sat for 1 1/2 hours where we talked about cycling. A nice meeting on our journey. After lunch, they continued towards China and we found a cozy little guesthouse where we spent the rest of the day relaxing.
The night had been unbearably hot, so we were not eager to get out of bed when the clock rang at 06:10. But we got up and got packed. The breakfast was coffee and pancakes. While we ate breakfast we talked to a lady, who was a lawyer for the uger people. She made sure they got a fair trial and were also mentor for them. She ended up giving us her phone number in case we needed help while we were in Kazakhstan.
The day started cloudy, which was lovely. Because then it was not that hot. There was hardly any traffic on the road, so we could enjoy the silence and the almost flat road. Nature was very dry and almost like a desert. After 13 kilometers we came to a viewpoint overlooking a large gorge. Here was a large statue of an eagle and we stood completely quiet and enjoyed the view. Up from the point of view we drove 5 kilometers down until we reached the bottom of the gorge where the Charyn river ran through. Now we could look up to the other side of the gorge where we had to cycle up again.
We arrived on the other side and shortly after there was a car that stopped in front of us. It was a Dutch couple, who was on a 14-day guided tour around Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. They wanted to make sure we had enough water or if we needed something. We could tell that we had what we needed, but thanked them because they checked on us. They were also going to Charyn Gorge.
Now we reached the dirt road, which we had to follow the next 22 kilometers to get to the gorge. The raod was very bad for the first 12 kilometers. So we could only go slow. We came to a shadow shed where we took a little break before continuing the last 10 kilometers until we reached the entrance and the guardhouse where we had to pay to continue all the way down into the gorge.
At the entrance there was a big map of the area which showed that we could camp at the bottom of the gorge and there was even a restaurant. One of the men who ruled the entrance explained that there were two ways. One led down the gorge and the other up the gorge.
It would turn out to be wrong or it was because his English was not so good that Marianne had misunderstood him.
We ended up cycling 2 kilometers to a road that was closed by a bomb and on a sign stood: No entrance danger. We got a beautiful view over the gorge from there, which reminded of a miniature Grand Canyon, but we had to turn around to get back to the right road. Everything was dirt road and now we stood above a steep hill, it was impossible to ride down this hill. We had to get of the bikes and hold on to the brakes and as well as the bikes. One step at a time until we were all the way down where we could hop on the bikes again.
After 2.5 kilometers down through the deep gorge with the beautiful rock formations in different brown shades on each side, we reached the area where we could camp. Here was a small restaurant and some small straw huts that were rented out.
In the restaurant they explained to us where we could set camp, after which we found a nice spot right next to the river.
We had bought two beers that were put into the river to cool and then we put up the tent. We went swimming in the river, made nice dinner and enjoyed the evening with cold beer and good food in the beautiful surroundings of Charyn Gorge.
We knew what was waiting for us the next morning as we were going out of the canyon. The trip out of there did not get easier as our legs were tired. The dirt road was going up easily, so we cycled quietly up to the steep hill at the end of the canyon. Here we took a bike at a time, where we both pushed with all our forces to get up from there.
When we got up to the guard house, we had to cycle out from there on a different gravel road than the day before, to get to the main road again. We had 11 kilometers ahead of us on very bad gravel / sand road. It did not make it easier to ride a bike because we had a wild crosswind as well..
We reached the main road after 2 hours, now we had to ride the bike towards Kokpek and that meant we were going to cycle in a battle against the crazy head wind. Before we started the 27 kilometers to Kokpek we took a good break to get ready mental for the ride..
The wind was CRAZY. We could only ride 8-10 kilometers per hour. We helped each other by shifting to take the lead, to give each other shelter. There was nowhere to find shelter in the landscape, as everything was flat and without vegetation. Fortunately, there was a bus shed when we reached 12 kilometers, so we searched for shelter out of the wind and got some chocolate.
We really had to find our best strenth for the last 15 kilometers and I think it was just before we gave up. But when there were two kilometers left we could see Kokpek, so we pulled ourselves together for the last piece.
Kokpek is nothing but a tiny town, with 5 to 10 warn out houses and some small eateries / kiosks, built of old rusian trains wagons. The place is used as a stop for buses coming from Almaty or from the opposite direction and the same applies for trucks.
Very tired we quickly found ourselves in one of the small eateries and ordered a hot soup and bread. When we had eaten we asked if we could pitch our tent somewhere. We were told we could put the tent up behind the chariot.
We had hoped they had said we could put the tent in shelter of something, but that was not how it was.
Now we should try to put up the tent in full storm. It succeeded, but with total sand and dust blowing into the tent.
At the same time it started to rain !! Sand, dust and rain are not a good combination in the rain. But we could not do anything but camp and seek shelter inside the tent and then we had to clean the tent later when it became dry.
Fortunately, only a little rain came and after the rain the wind set as well.
