Almaty to Balkhash, Kazakhstan, July 2016

Dag 53. Almaty til Balkhash, 615 km

Vi kørte fra hotellet kl 6.30, eftersom vi skulle ud på en lang tur i dag, og ikke vidste hvordan vejene var. Vi havde fået hotellet til at lave madpakker til os.

Inden vi overhovedet var kommet ud af Almaty, blev Louis og Janet stoppet af politiet – ingen bøde denne gang. I løbet af dagen blev vi stoppet 3 gange i alt og betalte 2 gange bestikkelse. Nu er vi ved at kende systemet, når der er fartbegrænsning, kan man næsten være sikker på at der står politi efterfølgende. De lokale bliver også stoppet, de hopper hurtigt ud af bilen, stikker politimanden nogle penge i hånden og så er de klar til at køre igen. Ulrikka smug fotograferede politiet hver gang, for at dokumentere hændelserne.

Checking out the landscape - kigger på landskabet

Steppe

Camels - Dromedarer

Kort efter at vi var ude af Almaty begyndte steppe landskabet.

Vi stoppede på en øde markvej og spiste vores morgenmad. Senere smurte Ulrikka mad til os, hun havde sit eget lille smørrebrøds udsalg på bagsædet, hvilket indimellem var farligt, når bilen hoppede helt vildt, og hun skar pølse med skarp lommekniv.

Vi kørte nok 400 km, hvor vi nærmest ikke så et hus eller et menneske. Vi så heste, får og nogle kameler. Vejen var halvdelen af turen med både huller og kørespor, men det gik alligevel. Vi nåede frem til Balkhash kl 15.30, tjekkede ind på hotellet. Vi gik en tur ned til Balkhash søen, som er verdens 13. største sø. Halvdelen af søen er ferskvand og halvdelen er saltvand ( besynderligt). 

Balkhash lake

Dinner - Aftensmad

Der var folk som badede og vandet virkede til at være ca. 20 grader. Vi fandt en hyggelig restaurant og Michael, Ulrikka og Janet afprøvede en fin Russisk vodka. Louis holdt sig til whisky og jeg drak øl.

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7th July. Distance 615. Almaty to Balkhash, driving time 8 hours.

We left early; 6.30 am, as we today had a long drive ahead of us.

Our hotel thankfully had made us a packed breakfast, with cakes and sandwiches.

Just as we were leaving Almaty, Louis was stopped by the police (bastards). He got away, without a fine.

About 20 km outside Almaty, we rolled into Steppe land.

This is a vast area of grass, grass, grass and nothing else. Almost no other vegetation here, and very rarely, a few small bushes.

Breakfast stop - Morgenad

Steppe and empty roads - Steppe og tomme veje

Grave yard - Gravplads

Uneven roads - Ujævne veje

We had breakfast, and a piss stop, at the roadside.

Ulrikka had turned the back of the car, into a sandwich bar. She made us some fabulous sandwiches, of cheese, salami and fresh bread.

We were stopped twice by the police (bastards). Both the times, we had to pay bribes, and they even shook our hand afterwards.

On this wast stretch of land, there are a few turns, where the speed limit drops, from whatever to 50 km. These assholes will be there, by a turn on the road, and stop every car or truck, that is going over 50. The system is, you put some cash in your right hand, and hand it over to these ‘bastards’, and off you go again.

We quickly learned the system.

Ulrikka, as usual, with her paparazzi genes, documented all this. We reached Balkhash, at around 3.30 pm.

The long winding road, here was almost unpaved, bumpy and full of truck tracks. With this, I mean that, the road was so uneven, that Blackie, danced about, as if she was in a disco. This made it even more interesting, when we demanded sandwiches, and Ulrikka had to cut sausages, with my sharp pen knife. Even the sandwich meat, was uneven.

Blackie, danced around so much, that it felt like the water in the car fermented, and turned into Camels milk.

We saw wild horses, camels and nothing else for about 400 km.

This country is just a bit smaller than India, and has only 17 mill people. ( I felt, at least half of them, are traffic police).

Sale of smoked fish by the roadside - Røget fisk sælges

Balkhash

At Balkhash, we walked down to the Balkhash Lake. We had our dinner in a Yurt tent. Our waitress, did her best to help us, and we even tried out their best vodka. Ulrikka, of course, drank Vodka and Beers, like a true ‘Kazak’.