We stayed in Sarkand that night. The weather was getting really hot the further south we went
We stopped for lunch and had blinis I was a very happy girl
The road was still really bad, and it was so hot and we had a lot of kms to do to get to Almaty.
There was a big lake over to the left, next thing Kev pulled off the main road, heading towards the lake. We still had 50 odd kms to go. We got close to the lake but you couldn’t get down to the lake, there were gates everywhere. Kev stopped and asked if we could go down to the lake and a guy nodded, so we went around the barrier and down to the lake. There was a beach, full of people sunbathing and swimming. We pulled up and decided we’d strip off and jump in for a swim.
Then a guy came up and told us we’d have to pay. It wasn’t a lot, and to be fair, we were desperate to cool down.
We paid the man, stripped down to undies, and ran to the lake. The sand was roasting, and then there was a big rocky bit, and it was roasting, so we were trying to get off the hits stones quickly but it hurt too much!!! Worse than LEGO!!
This young fella came over to us and welcomed us to Kazakhstan he spoke good English. He’s 12 years old and so lovely and confident. He asked where we were from and why we there, then introduced us to his little brother and aunt.
We were so refreshed after the swim we went back up to the bikes and got dressed again. As we were getting ready, another man came over with watermelon for us. He had no English but through charades and placenames, we told him where we were from, where we’d been and where we were going.
He then wanted us to join him and his wife for a picnic, but we needed to crack on, so had to decline.
We hit the road again and soon came to Almaty. We were heading straight to the ktm shop. Kev wanted to get a master cylinder for his clutch. Also, both our brake lights were gone, so they needed fixing.
The traffic was awful, we were straight into rush hour. Fritz’s bike started over heating and then Kev’s bike started.
We made it just in time to the ktm shop. The mechanic had actually just left, we passed him at the gate and he turned around and came back in. He told us to come back in the morning
We found a hotel just over a km away. As always, the first question we ask is, have you availability? Followed by, is there safe/off street parking for the bikes? Followed by how much? And have you Wifi?
So a yes, yes, cheap and yes later, we paid and asked her where we could park. She pointed to the hallway we were standing in, basically, we’d to bring the bikes in the door, through the hallway, and out the 2nd door to the courtyard!
I brought my bike through first, it’s only little, so it was grand. Then Kev, he managed ok, but Fritz had hard panniers. He took one off but it was still tight.
We were doing a right angle in the main door off the footpath too!
Almaty is a big city and there was a guy from Almaty staying in the hotel so we went for dinner with him and his Mrs. they live in Astana now.
We were back to dodgyish food again, dicky tummy next day
We went to a pub afterwards and had a few pints. All the locals we met were lovely.
Next day, we had to take the bikes out again!
We dropped the bikes to the garage and the mechanic said he couldn’t work on my bike as it was a Honda. So he phoned the local Honda garage and booked it in there.
So Kev dropped my bike over there
The guys in Agent Orange (ktm shop) told us that they offered winter storage for bikes. We had organised to leave them with a friend of a friend in Bishkek and fly from there, but we hadn’t booked flights yet.
We had a chat and decided we’d leave them in Almaty.
We wanted to go to Charon Canyon and then to Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan first though.
So, we booked our flights out of Almaty for 4 days later and spent the rest of the day chilling out waiting for the bikes to be ready. Picked them up that evening. Neither of our brake lights were fixed. Parts needed to be ordered to fix Kev’s brake light and clutch.
We couldn’t face bringing them back into the courtyard and back out again next day so we locked them up outside.
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We stopped for lunch and had blinis I was a very happy girl
The road was still really bad, and it was so hot and we had a lot of kms to do to get to Almaty.
There was a big lake over to the left, next thing Kev pulled off the main road, heading towards the lake. We still had 50 odd kms to go. We got close to the lake but you couldn’t get down to the lake, there were gates everywhere. Kev stopped and asked if we could go down to the lake and a guy nodded, so we went around the barrier and down to the lake. There was a beach, full of people sunbathing and swimming. We pulled up and decided we’d strip off and jump in for a swim.
Then a guy came up and told us we’d have to pay. It wasn’t a lot, and to be fair, we were desperate to cool down.
We paid the man, stripped down to undies, and ran to the lake. The sand was roasting, and then there was a big rocky bit, and it was roasting, so we were trying to get off the hits stones quickly but it hurt too much!!! Worse than LEGO!!
This young fella came over to us and welcomed us to Kazakhstan he spoke good English. He’s 12 years old and so lovely and confident. He asked where we were from and why we there, then introduced us to his little brother and aunt.
We were so refreshed after the swim we went back up to the bikes and got dressed again. As we were getting ready, another man came over with watermelon for us. He had no English but through charades and placenames, we told him where we were from, where we’d been and where we were going.
He then wanted us to join him and his wife for a picnic, but we needed to crack on, so had to decline.
We hit the road again and soon came to Almaty. We were heading straight to the ktm shop. Kev wanted to get a master cylinder for his clutch. Also, both our brake lights were gone, so they needed fixing.
The traffic was awful, we were straight into rush hour. Fritz’s bike started over heating and then Kev’s bike started.
We made it just in time to the ktm shop. The mechanic had actually just left, we passed him at the gate and he turned around and came back in. He told us to come back in the morning
We found a hotel just over a km away. As always, the first question we ask is, have you availability? Followed by, is there safe/off street parking for the bikes? Followed by how much? And have you Wifi?
So a yes, yes, cheap and yes later, we paid and asked her where we could park. She pointed to the hallway we were standing in, basically, we’d to bring the bikes in the door, through the hallway, and out the 2nd door to the courtyard!
I brought my bike through first, it’s only little, so it was grand. Then Kev, he managed ok, but Fritz had hard panniers. He took one off but it was still tight.
We were doing a right angle in the main door off the footpath too!
Almaty is a big city and there was a guy from Almaty staying in the hotel so we went for dinner with him and his Mrs. they live in Astana now.
We were back to dodgyish food again, dicky tummy next day
We went to a pub afterwards and had a few pints. All the locals we met were lovely.
Next day, we had to take the bikes out again!
We dropped the bikes to the garage and the mechanic said he couldn’t work on my bike as it was a Honda. So he phoned the local Honda garage and booked it in there.
So Kev dropped my bike over there
The guys in Agent Orange (ktm shop) told us that they offered winter storage for bikes. We had organised to leave them with a friend of a friend in Bishkek and fly from there, but we hadn’t booked flights yet.
We had a chat and decided we’d leave them in Almaty.
We wanted to go to Charon Canyon and then to Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan first though.
So, we booked our flights out of Almaty for 4 days later and spent the rest of the day chilling out waiting for the bikes to be ready. Picked them up that evening. Neither of our brake lights were fixed. Parts needed to be ordered to fix Kev’s brake light and clutch.
We couldn’t face bringing them back into the courtyard and back out again next day so we locked them up outside.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk