Monthly Archives: July 2009

Day 50 Sunday in Almaty, originally uploaded by Big Al!.

Good breakfast in the hotel, best for a while. Then we go looking for MyTownMoto. Manage to find it with the help of a passing biker, and hang around for a while till the owners turn up. Another local helps translate and we leave Dave’s bike for an inspection to see what’s wrong, and i give Dave a pillion back to the hotel. Then a long walk and a cable car ride up the hill before returning to town for more nighttime entertainment.

Day 49 Almaty, originally uploaded by Big Al!.

A quick of easy ride and we’re in Almaty. Find an internet cafe and hunt a hotel. A bit of guesswork and we find the hotel. Seems nice enough. Check in for 4 nights assuming that Dave’s bike needs attention and this is our last chance to enjoy civilisation until Ulaan Bataar.

Day 48 Sharyn Canyon, originally uploaded by Big Al!.

First impression of Kazakhstan? Big. Very, very big. Fairly uneventful day, not much happening apart from the border crossing. Kyrgystan customs causes a fuss as we don’t have a customs declaration form. We weren’t given one on the way in at the remote, not often used, disorganised border post in the mountains. Customs guy today makes a fuss, says we’ll have to go back to where we came in. After a while, he suddenly says that if we were to give him a knife as a present, then he would let us through. He rejects my multi-tool but seems happy with Dave’s christmas cracker penknife and we’re through. Kazakhstan entry procedure is pretty simple, they have computers, it’s a far cry from Turkmenistan. A fairly long day in the saddle, covering 200 miles, but all seems easy. Dave’s bike continues to drink oil and turn it into white exhaust smoke, but seems to be running normally. Tomorrow, Almaty, hopefully for a few days of civilisation after 10 days of wild camping and homestays with even worse facilities than wild camping…

Day 47 Issyk Kol, originally uploaded by Big Al!.

Dave’s bike is now smoking badly and burning about a litre of oil per 100 miles. It’s a bit of a worry but hopefully it will make it to Almaty and a bike shop. We’re just 2 days away and with luck can get there with 3 days in hand. Today was a fairly uneventful ride apart from stopping every half hour to check and refill dave’s oil. Made it to the lake, not as far as I’d planned but still good progress and a really enjoyable ride. Great to be back on tarmac. 50mph feels so fast when you’ve spent a couple of days doing 30 max on gravel, sand and mud. Picked up some more wine for dinner. This time it’s Jessica Alba wine. Very wierd, but all the wine here seems to have pictures of celebrities on the bottle, is really sweet and foul tasting, and claims to be 17% alcohol. Camp site is a very quiet spot with a view of the lake, the mountains to the south from where we’ve just come, and the mountains to the north beyond which lies Kazakhstan, the last of the stans. Kyrgyzstan has been brilliant. Stunning landscapes, friendly people, thrilling dirt roads over mountain passes, plentiful wild camping opportunities, and comfortable weather bar a few evening storms. Today we saw 2 seperate european cyclists and 4 GS riders from Switzerland, it’s obviously a popular place and easy to see why. But now i’m eager to get to Kazakhstan and one step closer to Russia and the big one – Mongolia.

Day 46 Unforgetable, originally uploaded by Big Al!.

We spend the whole day riding a dirt road over a mountain, gravel all the way. Superb fun on the way up, scary on the way down. Dave’s bike gives out near the top, and we have to remove and clean the carb. The road is like the stelvio pass and goes about as high, but it’s dirt all the way and we hardly see another person all day. Lunch of noodles by a river. On the way down the other side we suddenly get the most incredible view of the whole trip. We’ve been through too many countries to remember and done way more than 7000 miles, but this view beats all others. It’s astonishing, unforgettable. Distant snow capped mountains circling the horizon, and the foothills spread out across everywhere we can see, looking like a painting of an alien landscape. Indescribable, jaw dropping, breath taking. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life, and there must only be a very small number of people who have ever come over that pass and seen that view. It is a sight i will never forget. Later we set up camp after a hard day’s ride, just as a storm comes in and threatens to destroy my tent. When it passes, we enjoy more wine and pasta, and a game of rocky throw throw (throwing rocks at other rocks, but with japanese accents). When it gets dark we retire, and the wine does a good job of helping me ignore that i’ve parked my tent right on a very lumpy bit.