UPDATED July 4, 2016

BY Jacob Warner

IN Company, Silk Route

no comments

UPDATED July 4, 2016

BY Jacob Warner

IN Company, Silk Route

no comments

Conquering the Kazakh steppe

After reaching the dizzy heights of 52° of latitude in Gorno Altaysk, the Silk Route tour took a south westerly trajectory into Kazakhstan towards its former capital, Almaty. A country that despite being the 9th largest in the world, is low on many of the riders’ radar, besides the massively inaccurate depiction in the film, Borat. Immediately across the border, everyone was surprised by the friendliness and hospitality of the local people, and the modern infrastructure and standard of living in this former Soviet state. Russian is still the predominant language, but the Kazakh culture unique and welcoming as anything we have experienced so far. Riders were immediately faced with the longest day on the tour at 188 km across vast open steppes – a challenging day of both physical and mental endurance – but helped along with friendly encouragement from local people.

Sundown at camp in Kazakhstan

This vast empty region used to be the testing ground of Soviet nuclear weapons, and our rest day town of Semey was greatly affected by radiation fallout during this era. Fortunately the nuclear tests are a distant memory, and the area of north eastern Kazakhstan is now a bustling and vibrant region. Like Mongolia – but with trees – the Kazakh scenery has built slowly from the empty scrubland into rolling valleys and mountains towards Almaty. However the legendary Kazakh potholes have certainly lived up to expectations, and have proved that just because a road is paved isn’t necessarily a guarantee of a comfortable ride!

A bustling market in the city of Semey

The news of the attacks at Istanbul airport, perpetuated by those from Central Asian countries has been a shock and a reminder of the disharmony that exists in some small aspect of the countries we are cycling through. Fortunately the disconnected nature of being on the road in this region helps to avoid media sensationalism, that will paint an entire group of people with the same brush. We are looking forward to our time in the smaller Central Asian countries, which have each had their share of discontent in recent history. However, if Kazakhstan is anything to go by, our preconceptions will be quickly proven wrong.

In Almaty we say goodbye, to Rhys, Bernice, Mike, and for a brief spell, Paul. Whilst welcoming some new sectional riders to the tour. Two days off from riding in the largest city in Central Asia will be a welcome respite as we approach the halfway point of the tour, and more challenging, but beautiful rides.

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