Goodbye Kazakhstan
13AugWe have to sleep in a bit today, to allow the tents to dry a bit.
We drive through Semey at around 8am. It’s not such a bad place to the eye. It has a lovely white suspension bridge. It has a dark history however. Semey, or Semipatlinsk was where the Soviets conducted a lot of nuclear weapon testing, for a 50 year period ending in 1991. The civilians were never warned of the risks, and even today the test site is not well marked or entry prohibited.
A truck in Semey just manages to contain it’s load:
We’re keen to keep moving, so we stop only for fuel, bread and a couple of cold drinks in Semey, and continue to the Russian border. It’s only 120km, so we arrive around 10:30am. For once the road gets better on the way to the border. Arid plains are replaced by thin pine forests as th border approaches.
We see another team ahead of us in the queue to exit Kazakhstan. It’s a team of 3 guys driving a Citroen. They’ve done the Southern route and have had a relatively trouble free run, bar a little suspension damage on a pothole near Semey. As we exit Kazakh border control and queue in no-mans land before Russia, we’re surprised to see a British taxi with a tent pitched next to it. It’s Team Taxistan, and they are in big trouble. They have 3 members, 2 brits and an American. One of the british guys didn’t check his Russian visa, and when he showed it to Russian authorities they kindly pointed out that it didn’t start for another 5 days. This was their 5th day camping in no-mans land. I’ve got to tell you, it’s a pretty horrible place. Full of rubbish, dusty and dirty. They are camped directly under the sign marking entry to Russia. One of them is walking around in his Union Jack board shorts. They start the day by playing God Save the Queen as loud as possible on their stero, and have hung a sign on the entry to Russian fence that reads ‘Republic of Taxistan’. To pass the time they have been playing cricket. Kazakh authorities and passing teams have apparently been keeping them supplied with just enough food and water. They warn us that the Russian gate attendant is a bad man, but we find him quite amicable. Perhaps this is because we’re not playing Advance Australia Fair when we approach him.
It takes some 4hrs to get into Russia. We’re not particularly in a hurry, so it’s okay. A couple of other teams appear behind us, and we chat a our paperwork is processed. Team Nerds have had the windscreen on their Micra smashed by a rock from a passing truck. They have managed to get an old Lada windscreen, and it’s now securely duct taped to the Micra. They went through the infamous Tajikistan tunnel, submerged their engine, and had to be towed out. I think I mentioned a couple of days ago that the tunnel is in Western Tajikistan over the Fan Mountains. We gave it a miss, so I ask them how the scenery compares to the Pamir highway. However, they drove the Fan Mountains in the dark! This is a known for its beauty!
We stop on the other side of the border to do a quick fire oil change. I was clutching at straws and hoping fuel from when our engine was rich at altitude may have worked it’s way into the oil. It only takes 10 minutes to do the change (it doesn’t make any difference by the way), during that time Stephen is first approached by two Russian girls. They like horses and want a photo with our car. No problem, snap, done. They a man comes over smelling of alcohol. He announces he is from Kyrgyzstan. We tell him we’re on the way to Mongolia, and he starts talking about Genghis Khan. He then proceeds to give us a Genghis Khan karate style exhibition, and the proclaims he wants to have a fight with our horse. He is fully determined that he is going to lift the front of our car off the ground. I try and reverse but he won’t let go, and starts head buttin and ripping at our horse. He trys lifting on the bumper, but there is a nasty noise (it’s not that well attached), and starts on the bull bar. There is a long queue of cars waiting to exit Russia, and they are watching and laughing. He turns to the queue and addresses them in Kyrgyz (or maybe Russian) They laugh profusely, but unfortunately we have no idea what they say. Stephen eventually cohearses him to the side window, and I take the opportunity to reverse quickly, horse and Kyrgyz man still intact.
Kyrgyz man picks a fight with Dobson the horse:
We continue through Rubotsovk where we grab some cold drinks, and by the end of the day we’ve traveled 240 of 360km to Barnaul. We camp while it’s still light behind some trees in a farmer’s field.
The road to Barnaul heads north, but after the city we head South East to Mongolia’s western border. It’s 800km through the Altai noted in the Long Way Around as being beautiful.
The scenery has become progressively greener today, with loads of sunflower paddocks, and lakes and rivers. There was loads of people fishing i one lake we passed, which is the first fishing I’ve seen in a long time. It’s easier to buy things to, and find places to withdraw money. Russia seemed difficult when we arrived there from the Ukraine, but now it seems a peace of cake.
Hopefully our engine goes a bit longer. We’re blowing a bit of blue smoke now, and we’ve lost power. There is only 2000km to Ulaanbaater. Stephen and I are having a great time. Fingers crossed we can go distance.
The sun goes down as we set up camp in a golden Russian hay field:
