Kazakhstan was another 5 days of blistering heat in barren landscapes. Enormous swathes of land with the only thing to look at being thousands of electricity pylons, and the odd camel. Twice we went into a large Valley and were surrounded by beautifully coloured cliffs and rock formations.

The locals were definitely the most friendly we have experienced. It became a bit of a joke about the questions that everyone asked us. “where are you from?”, “where are you going?”, “why?”, and “do you have a job?”.

The only saving grace from the heat was that it got nice and chilly at night. One day the clouds closed in and we had a tailwind all morning which was great, but it didn’t last for the next day.

The whole experience was made infinitely easier by the arrival of 5 other British cycle tourers we met at Alat. They really helped push us along and we all kept each others spirits up. It’s going to be strange not riding with the all from now on.

Jim

Kazakhstan stats:

Total miles – 291

Longest day – 70 miles

Shortest day – 44 miles

Biggest climb – 200 m

Number of closed chaikanas – 3

Most water carried – 19 litres between us

Longest unpaved section – 5 km

Longest stretch of nothing – 70 km