After a well deserved rest day, the ride took us from Qyzylorda to Shymkent (520km). Again nothing than new road constructions. Next year one can drive from the north to the south of Kazakhstan in a matter of a few days.
During a small pit-stop in Turkestan we were invited by some friendly older men to a children's 'baptism' party. Luckily were strong minded otherwise we would have ended up on the floor completely waisted from the local vodka.
Onderweg in Turkestan waar we even halt hielden om iets te drinken, werden we uitgenodigd op een "doopfeest". De lokale mensen waren uitzondelijk vriendelijk.
Back on the road it took us 1.5 hour to reach Shymkent. The desert is turning green and when entering Shymkent we could notice a big difference in vegetation. Trees and grass is something we have not seen the past days.
Hoe dichter we Shymkent naderden, hoe groener het werd. De woestijn van de voorbije dagen veranderde langzaam in een mooi groen landschap.
Een ongeval onderweg, waar een tractor letterlijk in 2 stukken was gebroken.
When talking to the locals everyone warned us not to go to Kyrgyzstan due to the unrest. We've been told these pirate stories every time before entering a neighbouring country. In Poland they warned us for the Ukraine thieves, in the Ukraine people told us to be careful with Russian mafia, and the Russians told us we where nuts to go to Kazakhstan. Once there, we heard the same story, but then from the other side, so we will take our chances and try to cross the border with Kyrgyzstan tomorrow. First we will drink a few PIVO's (which of course means beer).
No comments:
Post a Comment