Saturday 6th July 2013
Happy National Astana Day Kazakhstan.
Had two great emails, one from Collette and one from Vince and Moira. Great to hear from you guys. Glad house and chickens ok. Good luck with OFSTED Moira. Weather at home is better than here, mid 20s and sunny. Is it the Beer on the Wye festival this weekend? At least you can walk there and stagger back Will. Enjoy.
Downloaded paper. Murray in the Wimbledon finals tomorrow. The army in Egypt has ousted democratically elected president, as they feel he is trying to turn the country into an Islamic state. An Iranian swimmer will not be awarded a title for swimming the Caspian Sea, as her fully Muslim swim wear, which added kilos to her weight in the water, showed the outline of her body as she climbed out. The authorities felt by recognising her achievement, it would be given permission to other women to go wild swimming. She has already had tens of thousands of hits on You Tube, and this may prompt the incoming President to think about changes.
We read about the real reason why we were not allowed to stay in the Shiny River Hotel. We were supposed to give a bung of 10%. Well we didn’t. Kazakhstan is the wealthiest of the Stans, but the most corrupt and most polluted. Local people who were here before the early 90’s were made to go out of the region, further East, for 10 weeks every year, in order to recuperate and get stronger. A lot of nuclear testing went on at Semey, close by, and waste is dumped still. We have seen an alarming amount of people with disabilities.
At breakfast, Atle said he had a nightmare about driving along a bumpy road. Fancy. We decide not to go shopping here, as we would need to get more local currency out. So, next stop RUSSIA. Head towards Shamanaikha, supposed to be less lorries using this route. They travel to Semey then onto Rubtsovsk, so maybe this road will be less bumpy. Bit overcast, but not raining.
Soon cross Ulba River, another abandoned factory, out of city and into countryside. Green and grassy. Cyclist in full racing gear. All a bit quiet this morning, not knowing what the crossing will be like. When we get there we turn right, and hope to cross into Mongolia early Monday morning. Eeeeekkkkkk!!!! Last night Hilde sent me a VSO link to an organisation which is supporting Eco- tourism in the Pamir. Apparently, locals are increasing their poverty, as they do not charge enough for tourists at their Home Stay to cover costs. Also, on the link was a study about education in Mongolia. The principal from yesterday said if Tim and I were going to offer our services, it would not be as teachers. We have other, managerial skills, with an overview of financial management, leading of personnel, curriculum, and H&S issues which are non existent now. Tim also would bring skills in IT infrastructure, training and maintenance. Sounds worth looking into.
We bimble on. Road surface not too bad, yet. Ominous grey sky ahead. Wonder how Astrid and Olav are doing on the Highway? By spending two days in both Osh and Ostermen, and having a detour to the north in Mongolia, we are giving them chance to catch us up soon after the border. Rain. Slow to 70 kph, probably a lot of road checks before the crossing. Parked motorbike covered in decorative rug. Tim emailed British Embassy, asking for advice. We need a new indicator stalk sending out by Sally, and need an address for them to be posted to. How quickly can we get to our waterproof clothing? Soon be coming in the footwells. Skittish foal dashes across road, Tim already slowing down.
First red kite of the day, closely followed by second. Lifts spirits a little. Rain a abates, no wet feet. Scenery opening out a bit. Rolling, grassy plains. Stop for bush toilet. Everything smells fresh and rain soaked. We creep on. People scavenging on rubbish tip. Crops being cultivated on either side of road. Large yellow lorry dumping asphalt in lay by.
70kms to border. No RUS cars coming towards us. Those hills in the distance most definitely are in Russia. Forlorn calf straining neck to reach over fence. Can’t quite reach hay stack. We are following two RUS cars now, so on the right track. Wedding procession. Roads deteriorate 6kms before Shamanaikha. Potholes full of rain. Police stop Russians and us. Russians go after couple of minutes. We take a few minutes longer. Young officer startled when Tim holds out his hand to shake. Officer salutes first, then shakes. Has to take foreigners inside, to see man with more stripes. All ok. Large troop carrier.
Bigger wedding parade. We follow behind. Cross swollen river. Lights on red for us. We stop. Seconds later a KZ car screeches past and races across, startling on coming drivers. Two young women wave and smile. Fun fair. Gardens with fruit and veg growing. Woman walking along road in dressing gown and slippers. Coming back from shower somewhere?
17kms to next turn, then less than 5kms to border. Two RUS cars race ahead. Going home. Arrive at border post 11.39am. Another use for a container, an immigration office. Several cars ahead of us, passengers form a coach get out and are being processed first. We wait. Russians from two cars get out. Little girl in pink raincoat. Child seat swops car. They all eat strawberries from a bag. Some are discarded, bruised. Younger woman wears a leopard print fleecy, complete with ears. A lot of men in track suits. And flip flops.
Out of Kazakhstan by 12.41. No problems. On to Russia. Arrive at crossing 13.44, just lost another hour. Now six hours ahead of home. Same queue of cars. We wait. Light turns green, we all drive in. Given a ticket, denoting how many people in car. Guard says “Welcome to Russia”. Drivers and passengers split up, usual procedure. Everyone courteous, everything organised. Two men ask if they can jump the queue. Of course, we will take longer. Small hut. Toxic alcoholic fumes. Gets quite full. Immigration cards have English sub titles, so complete them quickly. Female officer is slick, has a computer to use, and proper pips on her epaulettes. The Kazak one had yellow sticky stars on cardboard, coloured in with pencil crayon and edged with felt tip. We are through. Into the Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus, at 14.28. Less than two hours.
Now for insurance, NOR have theirs. Russians queuing to enter KZ. They must be off to some sporting event, everybody in tracksuits, tee shirts, flip flops, tiny little shorts. Or maybe I missed the beach. A lot of right hand drive cars. But I thought we drove on the right here. Local Kazak said they were imported from Japan.
Weather clearing. Atle and Hilde drive on to petrol station, non existent. Atle tests out new antennae. Hear you loud and clear. Munch peanuts for lunch. No insurance. The woman in the little hut was only doing it for KZ. Have to go to next place. Tim not happy, queued for ages, she wasn’t very helpful and he doesn’t like driving without insurance.
370 kms to Barnaul. Lorry driver beeps at us and waves. My window rattling, not shut properly. Landscape different again. Grassy, little hillocks, grey sky and white clouds. Russian red kite. Russian wedding. Russian dead cat.
Although petrol station had sign for Nomad, no insurance. Drive on. Pass Beer House. Garden produce. Hundreds of crows, the Hooded ones look as if they are in academic garb with mortar board and gown. No insurance.
Scrap yards. Wood piles. Large lady on four wheeled buggy. Last bumhug, too sad. Gangly youth chopping wood. Sun breaks through. Huge fields of crops, potatoes?
Turn onto brilliant road surface, the best for weeks. Obligatory evening rainbow. Fields of rape in the distance. Heron. Following a lorry load of manure. Lightning off to the right. Cloudburst. Very poor visibility. Not been all dusty today – strange. Ate some Kazak chocolate from hotel room.
Being born in the 50’s and growing up in the 60’s, Russia has always seemed a threat. The Cold War, spies, the old USSR. Visiting for the first time today is quite shocking. The scenery looks familiar, the crops look the same. The driving has been safe and sensible. It feels far lass repressive than Kazakhstan, and certainly Turkmenistan. I know this is only a tiny corner of the Federation, but it is not what I expected. Belarus.
Hilde has found a hotel, Lonely Planet. How far to go now? We need to get our Russian map out of the storage box. Hope we need it again at a later date, as we plan to leave the day after tomorrow. Do you know, it’s almost dull driving on perfect smooth roads in a Landy all day? No potholes to shake you awake, no animals running out in front of you. Better be careful what I wish for.
Atle asks if we can speed up to 90 kph, as he has a vibration at this constant lower speed. Good. We should get there quicker. 56 kms to go. Just realised, we have been on the road for over a month now. Saturday night, girls in long floral dresses waiting for a bus. Large city ahead, Barnauld. All smokey from wood fires on outskirts. Families at a diner. Young men all scrubbed up and on the prowl, plastic bags full of cans. Somebody paragliding. German over lander.
Citroen and Lada garages. Juddering old coach. The first bit of risky driving all day. 20.30 and 18 degrees. Trolley buses. Large cinema.