In the last post I said it was Almaty or bust. Well it was almost “ bust” but we have made it to Almaty
In the hotel foyer there were some trainee cosmonauts I think. . Can you spot Diana?
And thus after a nice stay we head down to the town of Balkhash 400 km down the road. It was 370 km of roadworks on a hot dusty day. On the way we see a horse being butchered near the side of the road. There are two types of horses in Kazakhstan- eating horses and riding horses. This one might be a bit of both I think
And dubious road surfaces
Monday morning comes round. Off I go to Bavarian Motors to see about getting the bike serviced and fixed. Yes, they can do a service. Yes, they can hold the bike for two weeks whilst we return to NZ. No, they can’t order parts or tyres as they take at least 5 weeks to arrive. So I get on the phone to Cyclespot, the BMW motorcycle dealer in Takapuna, New Zealand. They can get the tyres and new wheels and other parts for me in 10 to 15 days. So we will bring all of that back with us. Then Bavarian Motors here will fit the wheels, tyres and other parts and off we go. That is the theory anyway You could say we are both going to return to Kazakhstan each sporting a distinctive spare tyre !
Clean as new ones. Still smell of chocolate though.
But then we have this ( Japan )
is
And this (Russia)
s
But let’s go back several days to the Cosmonaut hotel in Karagandy. I mentioned in the last post that I thought it was only a tenuous connection with cosmonauts and astronauts themselves. I was wrong! Outside the hotel was a grove of trees with each tree being planted by an astronaut or cosmonaut. As the Russians now take the Americans up to the ISS ( International Space Station ) there were some of the trees planted by American astronauts
. And with gender balance ( I think)
And the grove itself
In the hotel foyer there were some trainee cosmonauts I think. . Can you spot Diana?
And thus after a nice stay we head down to the town of Balkhash 400 km down the road. It was 370 km of roadworks on a hot dusty day. On the way we see a horse being butchered near the side of the road. There are two types of horses in Kazakhstan- eating horses and riding horses. This one might be a bit of both I think
We arrive at Balkhash. It is a copper mining and smelting town with a ginormous smelting plant on the edge of town.
Now it is time for the final push to Almaty. 632km the GPS says which is 1 km longer than Auckland to Wellington. So it was always going to be a long day. But in this case there were 300km of roadworks, washerboard gravely stretches, dust, heavy trucks and 38 degree temperatures. Plus wild camels on the road
And dubious road surfaces
And we even have to swerve to avoid a single camel striding it out in the suburbs of Almaty
12 and a half hours after leaving Bailhash and hot, tired and dirty we roll into our very nice hotel in Almaty.A doorman with white gloves on ( who would normally open a car door) offers to help Diana off the bike. She refuses help ! Understandably so. And thus we enter a different world and it all looks very rosy from the 30th floor of the hotel we are staying in as the sun sets on Almaty
Monday morning comes round. Off I go to Bavarian Motors to see about getting the bike serviced and fixed. Yes, they can do a service. Yes, they can hold the bike for two weeks whilst we return to NZ. No, they can’t order parts or tyres as they take at least 5 weeks to arrive. So I get on the phone to Cyclespot, the BMW motorcycle dealer in Takapuna, New Zealand. They can get the tyres and new wheels and other parts for me in 10 to 15 days. So we will bring all of that back with us. Then Bavarian Motors here will fit the wheels, tyres and other parts and off we go. That is the theory anyway You could say we are both going to return to Kazakhstan each sporting a distinctive spare tyre !
And now there is one last thing to do. I have to wash the melted chocolate from a Bounty Bar off my US $50 notes from where it has melted all over my US currency and stuck the notes together. I need to do it before we leave Kazakhstan as I do not want to fall foul of the new anti money laundering regulations that have just been introduced to New Zealand!
Clean as new ones. Still smell of chocolate though.
So now we are resting up and tomorrow morning at the very unsociable hour of 4.30 am ( only a sadist could dream us such a departure time !) we are off to Dubai and thence to NZ
So it is the finish of the first leg of our trip and at this point I should get philosophical and reflective. We I am, sort of. This trip has been our toughest long distance ride so far. Mongolia with its roads ( or lack of them) was very tough. It does not get more dispiriting than this
But then we have this ( Japan )
is
And this (Russia)
s
And there have been some amazing highlights. People everywhere have been kind , warm and generous ( with the exception of the odd border official!). We have kept very much to the schedule drawn up somewhat theoretically in Queenstown. The weather has been very kind to us. Just two shortand sharp thunderstorms. We now know a lot more about Japan, Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. We know a lot more about ourselves. We have survived. And then in just over two weeks we are back and off on leg 2 to London. Can’t wait!
So for now it is over and out for the next two weeks. Blog posts will resume in early August !
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Adversity breeds character and you two have it in spades.