{"id":143,"date":"2019-06-25T16:13:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T14:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/j-ontheroad.at\/eastbound2019\/?p=143"},"modified":"2025-05-24T18:53:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T18:53:24","slug":"through-the-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/?p=143&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"through the desert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photos<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

21.06<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Off to\nKazakhstan. It is only around 50-60km to the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the\nborder I meet Orhan and his son Halit from Turkey. The two are traveling for\n3-4 weeks with their motorcycles to ride the Pamir Highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndeparture from Russia and entry into Kazakhstan is fairly quick and without\nproblems. Especially on the Kazakh side, the border officials are extremely\nfriendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right\nbehind the border, a handful of women are approaching us. Money exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are\nstanding outside in the sun all day long to do their business. They are dressed\nfrom top to bottom, in as light and bright clothing as possible, wear gloves\nand sunglasses. Not a single patch of skin is visible. Money exchange is\nillegal, but for a traveler the only way to survive, when you are far, far away\nfrom the next bank or ATM. The exchange rate is very bad. I try to trade a bit,\nit does not help – margin, black market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then we\nget a car insurance in a booth just across the border. We take a short break at\na food stall and then continue together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The road\nto Atyrau is extremely bad. It takes hours until we arrive in the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

22.06<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\naround 450km to the next town. I assume that the road conditions are bad again,\nwhich means traveling about 10h-11h. After 8 days and almost 4,000km I don\u2019t\nwant to do that. The hostel is nice, not busy, WiFi available. Therefore today\na rest-day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But not\nreally a rest-day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sightseeing,\nsiesta, planning the further route, sorting and making backup of the photos,\ncharging all electronic devices, making preparations for future reports on my\nblog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also\nvisit a car wash to clear the insect cemetery from the motorcycle and check if\nall screws are still tight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until now\nI did not waste a thought on (wild) camping. I’m glad when I find a hostel or\nhotel in the evening, where I can take off the clothes and take a cold shoer\nafter a hot day. And where there is also air conditioning in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, at\nthe moment I carry a round the gas cartridges and cooker and the instant coffee\nuselessly. Maybe I can use them in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, in the mountains,\nwhere the temperatures are hopefully a bit cooler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police in\nKazakhstan is very strict about speed limits. The police cars have radar\nmounted on the roofs of the cars, which looks like a rocket launcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23.06<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atyrau –\nBeineu<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today it\nwas unbearable. Somewhere I’ve seen written 46 Degrees C. I have opened every\nzipper on my motorcycle jacket, that the wind can pass through a bit. It\ninflates the jacket and I must look a little bit like a balloon. Sometimes an\nextremely strong wind blows from the side, which almost lifts me off the bike.\nThe small gap on my hands between glove and jacket sleeve is constantly exposed\nto the sun. I must not forget to apply sunscreen in the morning before I leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I\nget off the bike in the afternoon \/ evening, all the items are very warm, the\nwater is warm, the clothes in the suitcases and bags, electronic devices,\nsunscreen and other liquids. Just everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roads\nare often a disaster, in between brand new. But all the way along – in Ukraine,\nin Russia in Kazakhstan, now Uzbekistan \u2013 roads were built or renewed.\nIncredibly much. Is it the new Silk Road that is already being built?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The area\nis extremely bleak. More sandy than stony desert. Very low vegetation,\nknee-high shrubs are widely spread. There are no trees. No shade under which to\nseek refuge. Just a bunch of camels running around freely here. Many have a\nrope around their neck or a band. So they must belong to someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Earlier\nthese days Beineu was definitely one of those caravan cities. The houses are\nwidely spread. The warm wind blows the sand through the streets. I remind you\nthat I can not read the Cyrillic alphabet. All windows are concealed with\ncardboard or similar, to keep the heat out. I am looking for water and food.\nThe locked, concealed windows do not allow to look inward to see if it’s a\ngrocery store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I run\nthrough the streets and look out, if I can see people walking around with\nshopping bags somewhere. In the end, I find the big market, where everything\ncan be bought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

24.06 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And again\na long trip in front of me. 540Km, around 11h and a border crossing. Today I\nenter Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The night\nbefore I have already filled my motorcycle to the top with gasoline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In\nUzbekistan petrol stations are very scarce, because the vehicles use LPG. There\nare a few petrol stations in the country, mainly in the larger cities.\nOtherwise you have to look for petrol on the black market. If you see someone\ndriving around with the moped, you just show that you need gasoline and\nhopefully you will be taken somewhere, where you can get gasoline from the\ncanister in mostly bad quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today there is an app for everything, including for overland travelers (iOverlander<\/a>). In this app, people enter useful information for other travelers. Petrol stations, overnight accommodation, money exchange offices, mechanics, … and for Uzbekistan also, where you can get gasoline or diesel on the black market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nmotorcycle is quite frugal with 3.5 to 4l on 100km. But even with a 17l\ngasoline tank, I won\u2019t make it to my destination today. I have a foldable water\ncamping canister with me, which holds 5l and I want to abuse it for spare fuel.\nFor an emergency situation it must be enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gasoline\nhas the characteristics of evaporating. Anyone who has ever left a jerry can in\nthe sun, will notice that the things are very bloated. So I am not sure if I\nshould use the water canister because I am afraid that it will torn apart by\nthe pressure in the heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today I\nleave before 7 o’clock. The last gas station, before the border is still\nclosed, so my idea is superfluous. Now I can only hope that I will get gasoline\nat the positions indicated in the app, otherwise it looks bad for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not\nfar to the Uzbek border. There – I wait. The wind blows the sand through the\nair, soon everything is covered with a fine layer of dust and it crunches\nbetween the teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young\nborder officials are very friendly. One tries to persuade me, that I allow him\nto drive around with my motorcycle. It’s ok to sit on top, but I will not let\nhim drive. Also, one or the other person standing around, wants to take a seat\non the bike, and is allowed to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People\nare very friendly and open since Kazakhstan. Many come up to me, want to talk a\nfew words. It\u2019s always the usual things, where are you from, where do you go,\ntalking with hands and feet, some speak a little bit of English. People wave\nwhen passing by, by car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nprocedure for the border crossing here is extremely tedious, the passport is\ngetting controlled tens of times, running from A to B to C. It\u2019s very similar\nto Central America. Apart from the tedious bureaucratic hurdles, I would like\nto mention again that the border officials are very friendly and interested.\nAnd I must stress that we tourists have received preferential treatment and\nwere served first. With \u201cwe\u201d, I mean the German couple I met at the border,\ntraveling with an off-road camper. I do not know how long it took, 2 – 2\/1h and\nI can finally continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Behind\nthe border, I am immediately surrounded by a lot of money exchange ladies, each\nholds me a bunch of money under the nose. The official rate is 1 to about 9500.\nI change 100 USD and they hand over a thick bunch of money. Suddenly everyone\nis running apart, pointing to me that I should follow. Two border guards came\nalong. Then they give me another bunch of money. It is impossible to count\nthat. I do not know how much I received and if I got screwed. In the hostel I\ntry to extrapolate. It was a very bad exchange rate 1: 7000 or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nrecommendation, just change around 20-30 EUR or $ at the border, just enough to\nget you to the next town and bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the\nborder to Nukus it is more than 400km. In between, two, three villages and a\nrest stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsparrows are always sitting around on the street or flying low through the\narea. Later I can see, one of them got shredded in the spokes of the wheel. I\nhit two or three more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nbetween, a motorcyclist approaches from the other side, we stop and change a\nfew words. He is from Spain, has shipped his motorcycle to Central Asia and is\nnow on his way back. Fully packed up to the top. Why do people take so many\nthings with them. I think I’m pretty good now with what what to carry on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\napproach said place, where there should be gasoline. It is a railroad crossing.\nThere is just a boy sitting there, barely over 10 years old. I stop and ask him\nwhere there is gasoline. He points to himself, You get it from Me. An older guy\nis already approaching with a motorcycle, he was not older than 15. I ask, how\nmuch? 9000 SOM, about 90 cents, twice the usual price. But if you have only the\nchoice to buy overpriced petrol or to die out here on the side of the road, you\ndo not bargain much. 5l should be enough to get me to todays destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From\nanother traveler I read: Sometimes 1l of gas will bring you further, than 1l of\nwater. How true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I\nalso learn to appreciate how precious and vital water is, that we need not\nworry about in Austria, where it is abundant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At some point, I see someone waving from behind a bush and a packed bicycle lying on the ground. I stop. It’s Lena and Ollie (if you read this, please let me know, if I wrote your name correct), a young couple who ride their bikes home to Germany, as far as I can remember. They sought protection in the shade from the blazing sun under one of the few larger bushes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first\nquestion was: WTF are you doing out here? Already with the motorcycle it is a\npain and the two have to go through there with their bicycles. We talk for a\nfew minutes before I leave them to their fate again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I finally\narrive in Nukus. The first way leads to the gas station. I had 1 liter of\ngasoline in the tank left. Enough for maybe 30-35km.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nchecking in at the hostel and cleaning up, I search for the nearest grocery\nstore. That’s always the first thing I do. Looking for a grocery store to\nrestock the water supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I walk\ndown the street, I see a tap from the corner of my eye. Internet source says\n80% in Uzbekistan are Muslims, so I thought that alcohol is scarce. I enter\nimmediately. It is a small stall. Maybe 4 by 4 meters. On the back wall: a\nfridge filled with beer bottles, a door into another room, a shelf full of\ndifferent vodka brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\nroom: another fridge, 2 small tables, 3 chairs and 4 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\npeople are discussing and were a bit puzzled as I step into the room. I’m just\npointing to one of the cool beer bottles standing in front of one of the people\non the table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want\none too \u2026 Ahh, that’s good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nshyness disappears quickly, one of the persons speaks a few words of English\nand we are already in a „conversation“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among\nother things, he mentions that it is a tragedy with the dry Aral Sea and that\nit is troublesome with tourism in Uzbekistan, because the government always\nwants to know who is in the country, and where they are. The official hotels\nhave to register their guest. If you travel individual, e.g. with the camper,\nyou have to register every 3 days via an online platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they\ntell me, that I absolutely must visit the art museum. I will do that tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photos 21.06 Off to Kazakhstan. It is only around 50-60km to the border. At the border I meet Orhan and his son Halit from Turkey. The two are traveling for 3-4 weeks with their motorcycles to ride the Pamir Highway. The departure from Russia and entry into Kazakhstan is fairly quick and without problems. Especially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kazakhstan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":698,"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-bauer.at\/eastbound2019\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}