Karakol to Almaty, (2 - 10/10); 3rd-10th August - From Aqtau

Karakol to Almaty, (2 - 10/10); 3rd-10th August

3rd August

After packing up from the campspot a herd of horses galloped past, quickly followed by the shepherd in tow. We gave a wave and he waved back.

We were headed to Charyn canyon. Part way through, someone stopped and asked if we wanted a lift. The wind was pretty strong, and Tjalling and David were already in Almaty; we last saw them in the early days of Tajikistan, when MayLyn and I got really ill and they continued to the Bartang. The wind was strong and the road straight, so we decided to get the lift, about 40 km to the canyon to increase the days we could spend with the boys.

very interestingly shaped animals, camels!

We cycled down to the bottom of Charyn Canyon -- a very beautiful campspot, next to the river.

4th August

The road and scenery not too interesting -- long and flat. We did meet David and Helen from the UK, also touring on a Thorn Tandem. We chatted by the side of the road for an hour and exchanged stories. They were headed to Tosor Pass, then up to China, Pakistan and finally India.

Looking food and drink down in the stream

During the Soviet times, they had built a canal to carry snowmelt from the mountains to Almaty. Here it is. It runs through little streams in the city to cool it in the summer

Taking a dip from a side stream of the main canal. I think now used to irrigate fields. This was our camp spot

5th August

The road along the canal was blissfully quite -- there is two big highways that carries the motor traffic out east from Almaty, which meant the road we cycled on was essentially empty.

The following day when we entered Almaty was a different story though. The road got busier carrying construction traffic and a few times I had my heart in my mouth as the truck overtook.

6th-10th August

We arrived at the AirBnB and met Tjallen and David -- we all stayed in the same place. Very nice to see them after what felt like an age.

Next few days was spent catching up on our travels, watching films (King Kong Vs Godzilla and EuroTrip stick out -- the later being terrible) and eating lots -- I think we had the Pierre inspired quasadella at least twice.

Also had another visit to Arasan, which David also joined later for. Got the treatment where a man whacks you with a eucalyptus branch in a sauna which was invigorating.

On the last night we got a bus up to the TV tower and watched the sunset, with a rain cloud in the foreground giving a dramatic effect to the light. Was a wonderful way to mark the end of our trip in Central Asia, with the company of the two guys which we had enjoyed so much in Uzbekistan.

After we got a bus to a decent Kazakh restaurant and enjoyed another healthy serving of food — lagman for the last time, which had been one of the consistent foods for the last three months.

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