Category: Kazakhstan

Eastern Kazakhstan

Upon crossing the border into Kazakhstan, my journey took me westward toward the city of Almaty, where I intended to catch a flight to Southeast Asia. Admittedly, I hadn’t conducted any prior research on this region of Kazakhstan, so my initial expectation was it would just be a ride along one of Kazakhstan’s very straight roads for a few days. A quick google search swiftly dispelled my assumptions, revealing that this particular area of the country offered much more than just desert or steppe terrain, boasting numerous noteworthy sites to explore.

On the first night, I sought out Temirlik Canyon as my camping spot. Not wishing to do an out and back from the main road, I embarked on a challenging path, navigating along a rugged dirt track, very steep descent and several deep river crossings. Eventually I settled for the evening in a great spot with only the company of some grazing cows. I of course make a large fire to cook on, now a necessity due to some how losing my fuel bottle.

The following morning, as the sun illuminated the canyon’s dramatic contours, I ascended from the canyon and continued my journey along dirt roads, eventually rejoining the main road.

After about 50km along the main road, I veered off once more, setting my sights on Lake Batogay, a picturesque location where I aimed to make camp that night. Fortunately, along the shoreline I could once again find an abundance of firewood.

The subsequent day proved to be particularly demanding. Scaling a 1000-meter ascent, I then traversed a treacherous trail that necessitated constantly pushing my bike through steep and rocky terrain.

Eventually, the terrain flattened out and my path led me to the Assy Plateau, where I stumbled upon an old Soviet observatory, which I really wanted to explore.

I was unsure whether it was abandoned or not so spent a while trying to decode the signs and looking over the fence to see if anyone was there. Eventually I saw someone and they began walking towards me. I had no luck convincing this security guard to let me look around, dispite talking to him for about 15 minutes. He spoke no English making it an interesting conversation where each of us would just take turns talking at the other, and then get a shrug and laugh in response. I think he was quite bored and it didn’t really seem he had much to do. Finally, I left and as the sun was setting descended into a forested valley to make camp. This was quite a challenge with the limited light cycling down a dark grassy trail.

The next morning, I returned to tarmac descending down a beautiful road through Turgen Gorge. Leaving my bike locked up, I took a brief hike to admire an impressive waterfall and enjoy the stunning autumnal colours of the valley.

Later that day, I entered one of Kazakhstan’s national parks costing me about a pound and cycled up a valley to spend the night at Lake Esik. This breathtaking lake hidden away in the mountains displaying a vibrant green-blue hue from glacial flow. While the lake was quite busy with people during the day, I had the place to myself that evening.

I had a nice down hill ride into Almaty and checked into a hostel for two nights on Thursday afternoon. With my flight not until 2am on the Sunday, this forced me to have a few days off the bike which were probably needed. Dispite being the largest city in Central Asia, there wasn’t much to do in Almaty and after walking around for half a day, I felt I’d seen it all. Therefore, I spent the rest of this break mostly at the hostel meeting the other people and making the most of the good wifi.

Aquiring a bike box was very easy in the city, and I managed to cycle it to the airport without much difficulty. The next challenge was packing the box up which didn’t go to plan. The box was quite small forcing me to remove both wheels and I was also unable to remove the pedals, so I just crammed it all in and hoped for the best. I was sightly worried it would be too heavy. The weight limit was 30kg and my bike was 38kg last time at Tbilisi airport, forcing me to squeeze as much stuff into my hand luggage and wear both my coats. Fortunately, it weighed 28kg which was very relieving.

After 6 weeks I was now leaving Central Asia. I had a great time cycling through this region and really enjoyed the wilderness, incredibly friendly locals and meeting so many cyclists. Only in the last two weeks have I felt I’ve been managing my food well. Some of the best foods have been the local street food that featured deep-fried bread stuffed with sausage or potatoes, along with pastries akin to Cornish pasties, filled with a blend of meat and potatoes. Additionally, I found myself indulging in halva: a sweet treat made of sunflower seeds and also lots of sweet pastries the best being the ones stuffed with walnuts.

West Kazakhstan

At Tbilisi airport before flying to Kazakhstan, I had about four hours before my flight, so I was just sitting there using some wifi when I met Joris, a French man cycling around the world. He was the first bike tourist I had met since my first day in Turkey and it was great to have someone to navigate the airport with.

Once check-in opened, we were both worried our bikes would be too heavy, not knowing what they weighed or what the maximum weight would be. Fortunately, neither did the check-in staff, and they were fine with mine weighing in at 38.8kg.

There was a lot of turbulence on the flight, with it being lightning in Georgia when we left. Fortunately, I slept the whole way, and we landed at 2am in Aktau.

Our first task upon arrival was to reassemble our bikes, much to the amusement of the local Kazakh taxi drivers who watched with curiosity. My initial plan was to find a quiet corner in the airport and sleep until sunrise, but Joris shared that the airport was situated in the middle of nowhere. So, we pedaled a kilometer away from the terminal, finding a spot to camp amid the desert’s solitude.

With the morning sun, we cycled into the city of Aktau, greeted by the Caspian Sea and an opportunity to swim. The city itself felt very empty but this could be due to it being the Constitution Day of Kazakhstan a national holiday.

For the first time on my journey, I had to purchase water, as it seemed that bottled water was the only option in this desert landscape. Furthermore, with the towns approximately 100km apart we had to stock up on the essentials.

The next three days were all spent very similarly, cycling through the desert and stopping anytime we could find any shade to rest and eat. Finding places to camp was incredibly easy; just cycling a few hundred meters from the road, but every night we’d get a beautiful sunset across the flat baron landscape.

One day, a friendly truck driver offered us a lift. Having cycled nearly 90km in a straight line, we welcomed the respite. Our bikes nestled in the truck bed, with us squeezing into the front cabin, sharing the limited space with our generous driver. To avoid unwanted attention from the police, I had to lie on the bed keeping my head down as there were only two seats in the front. After a 140km ride, we disembarked in the final Kazakh town before the Uzbekistan border, where we once again found ourselves camping beneath the desert stars.

The following day marked our entry into Uzbekistan. The Kazakh border was formidable, with long queues and strict procedures. However, our status as tourists afforded us preferential treatment, to the clear displeasure of fellow travelers. On the Uzbek side, we underwent thorough checks, including X-rays of every item packed on our bikes – a minor inconvenience compared to the motorists forces to remove every bag from their cars before passing them all through the scanner.

In the 4 days spent in Kazakhstan I feel like I didn’t really learn anything about this country. The people were friendly but we didn’t communicate with them any more than “where are you from?” and “where are you going?”. I found the desert to be amazing and was in ore anytime I’d look out to see nothing on the landscape and also amused anytime I’d see a camel. The food has been different and I’ve mostly been eating tinned fish, loads of biscuits and even some horse milk. I’ll hopefully be returning to Eastern Kazakhstan in October if it hasn’t got too cold in the northen hemisphere by then!