So the tech knowledge expands .... by installing a VPN on my tablet I am able to write the blog once more, the phone effort was doable but tedious.
The suspension bridge at Atiraw was indeed illuminated and further on a lively funfair added to the list of the unexpected in this absorbing country. Fabrice's dog Otto didn't take to the vibrancy so we walked back and all spent a quiet night - the German 6 wheel drive with collapsible living compartment looked an expensive and unwieldy beast to run.
I left next morning heading north east to Aqtobe with F unsure as to his onward plans and soon found myself back on the major road with the frequent deep potholes easily avoided if you concentrated. Headlights on was the rule as the two lane road made overtaking a challenging manoeuvre particularly with my driving position although almost all traffic was moving at the 90 kph limit so it was rare I had to risk it. A few cars and vans cut in sharply occasionally and the odd police check waved me in for a cursory look but otherwise the seemingly endless steppe stretched away in either direction with the truck stops and filling stations breaking up the monotony. The railway ran parallel and being single track required a number of passing loops signed from the road and a steady number of mixed freight trains were rumbling west. At Qandiagash when I stopped for the police, who are just fascinated by my set up rather than questioning my intentions, I tried to ascertain if the road through Shalqar to Aral was surfaced all the way but couldn't make myself clear. As Google Maps suggested the shorter route would take 2 hours longer I figured it might be less well surfaced so pushed on late in the evening to arrive at Aqtobe at dusk and parked in front of a stunning Orthodox Church.
Eventually by late afternoon I pulled in at an abandoned cafe for the night but as the internet had stalled carried on a few more miles until one of the many large truck park ups provided a place to stop with connectivity. A couple of HGVs reversed in nearby which actually screened the road noise and as the sun set I had a quick wash and hit my pit. With the gas refill situation uncertain I have changed my routine so wash instead of shower, haven't bothered with hot drinks and just have the lovely fresh bread for breakfast. After a day's driving the fridge is cold enough for overnight so I reckon it will be OK.
Monday saw another long haul leading to a stop at Aral where the excellent museum documents the tragic demise of the once vast Aral Sea. Responsible in the past for 80% of the Kazakh fish industry it began drying up after Soviet diversion of two rivers hundreds of miles to the north for cotton production and has declined in area by 90% leaving fishing ports many miles from the water's edge. A couple of vessels from the heyday were incorporated in to the museum and from the deck of one you could see the cranes now just rusting away that had once offloaded the catch. I had met a French family on a year away doing pretty much the same route as me so joined them in their van for a coffee to exchange ideas.
An hour or so further south I turned off the main road for a few miles along a road that led to one of the small lakes that are a vestige of the once noble sea and parked up in just my sort of remote location. Plans to get a chair out and soak up the afternoon sun were thwarted by hordes of large mosquitoes but at dusk as it cooled down they disappeared and I took a walk down to the shore. Fishermen from a distant and humble looking village were whizzing about on motorbikes with a sidecar attached that consisted of just a platform for transporting goods and waved in a friendly manner. At dusk I also spotted a passenger train heading north way in the distance with the brightly lit coaches seemingly floating above the flat desert.
Not long before that I had passed the Baikonur Cosmodrome which under Soviet control had put Yuri Gagarin in to space in 1961, the first human. The site is leased back to the Russians and rocket and satellite launches still take place. The array of tracking dishes and some low buildings were all that could be seen and at present visits are not permitted.
With Google Maps working well I soon found the park up in Qizylorda (if only Scrabble allowed place names) on a large area of tarmac by the Aqua centre where two large expedition trucks were already in situ. The nearby mall was again a symbol of the new consumerist religion gripping the world and was a neon filled temple to extravagance to which I succumbed for an excellent pizza. After a quiet night I returned to the mall as it had a well stocked supermarket and then moved on to a useful water vending machine that dispensed clean filtered water at 16p for 5 litres. Thus I added 20 litres to my tank and refilled the two bottles once more to have as spares. At the fuel station the helpful attendant tried to undo my water filler cap (as good a reason as any to have a lockable one) but was soon putting 75l of diesel in the right hole for £40. His mate cleaned all my glass and both were fascinated to have a look round inside. I gave them a small tip and had paid cash in the shop, getting some grease for the sliding door channel as well. Steady progress on a flat road and with no use of the diesel heater recently saw a creditable mpg of 44 which would make those trucks cry - apparently tyre wear alone works out at 15p a mile if on tarmac....
I stopped for lunch parked under a welcome steel canopy as the temperature had risen to the low 30s and then walked out under the railway line to the remains of Sauran fort which had been hugely important until the 18th century. The pise walls reminded me of the old kasbahs in Morocco, and like them without regular remudding they are starting to disappear. Freight trains rumbled by and a passenger train - the journey from Shymkent to Aktobe takes 36 hours.
Two friendly police officers took up almost an hour of my time as they were interested in the van, especially the fold away table and bathroom and insisted on WhatsApping their wives for me to speak with them so I was about an hour later than planned arriving in the city of Turkistan which like previous ones was modern, well laid out and full of amazing architecture. The first P4N was very convenient for all the major sites but was a hot tarmac carpark with no shade so I tried an alternative and was lucky enough to get in under trees that fully shaded me from the heat. The two trucks had been unable to tuck away so were baking as the sun beat down. I walked along tree lined avenues to Fountain Square and then down towards other notable sights. Most of these used to stand independently but are now slowly being enclosed by a glass panelled 'fence' so that all are now covered by a single admission fee of about £3 for foreigners. I decided it would be too hot that afternoon so walked in to the Flying Theatre and Caravansary Mall before heading back to the van. I met a Spanish couple, currently living in London, who had been looking at me in surprise as I turned the van round earlier, they are using the train to get around and said the sleeper compartments are pretty good. It was a sweltering night not helped by the need to cook some chicken and mince and I suspect from now on it will be salads within any cooked meals enjoyed out, so I left all the windows open and had a cold shower which did the trick.
Today has been a tour of the various mosques and mausoleums within the new fencing and I was able to enter the main Khoja Ahmed Yasawi building where women were at prayer in the cool interior. The exquisite turquoise domes and tiling defied belief and I enjoyed a couple of hours there, also visiting the underground mosque and ancient baths before heading down to the Flying Theatre.
This is housed in a golden domed building surrounded by a make believe nest and signifies the egg of the fabled eagle. After a tour through some re-creations of traditional Kazakh life, where one of the staff kindly gave me an English translation we then entered the main attraction, a large dark domed space. We were strapped in to seats, the lights dimmed and beneath our feet the floor fell away. The seating then surged forward as the 8D experience began and it was truly amazing. The seats rose and fell, twisted and turned as we seemingly hurtled towards a yurt, whizzed through the door and then out in to the vast steppe with an eagle leading the way. It really was hugely convincing as we snaked through canyons, swooped up cliff faces and at one point plunged beneath the waves. Eventually of course we returned to the yurt, the soundtrack dimmed and the seats retracted but without doubt it was one of my top ten experiences and is to be thoroughly recommended.
A lunch of fried eggplant followed by an ice cream on the way back rounded off a remarkable day and as it has now cooled off I am heading out to catch the sunset.
Tomorrow I move on for a couple of days in the last Kazakh town for now, Shymkent near the Uzbekistan border. I have decided that a return through Russia in a few months might be problematic as the internet is seeing increasing restrictions and I have neither map nor guide but that should leave me time to visit the Mangestaw region of Kazakhstan and the Svanetti area of Georgia that was under snow last year. I would then return via Turkey and Northern Greece before a ferry to Venice but that's all ages away so for now enjoy
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