Jul 20 2017

Loving being back in Kazakhstan

After crossing into Kazakhstan in the record time of 1.5 hours for both border sides, we have an easy 120kms to our next overnight stop in Semipalatinsk. Or so we thought… We have had it far too easy for far too long someone decided, time to change that today…!! Storm clouds have been building fast, we dodge some then the lightening gets progressively closer. Time to find shelter somewhere as we know there are no towns ahead for quite a while. A bus stop appears just in time. Time to snack and watch the light show. Once the thunder moves away from us, we decide to carry on. We didn’t make it far before a very bright vertical lightning strike right ahead of us makes us turn back to our now favourite bus shelter. Good timing: we now get hail. We have been given quite a show. We enjoy our time waiting, watching. There is something special about being out in the elements. Cars and trucks passing by all acknowledge us and hoot and wave. We love being back in Kazakhstan already.

We’ve made it out of Russia and into Kazakhstan just in time!

Streak and Storm being pelted by hail

It is not long after we move on again that we realise what a good decision it was to stop. Swerving to avoid potholes and oncoming vehicles is one thing on a dry tar road, it is something else on a wet muddy potholed one.

Dodging storms and cattle

It is not long though before we have to seek shelter a third time: more lightning and now strong gusts of wind. Luckily, we are in a tiny village and we spot a convenience store with overhanging roof. The 2 drowned muddy rats shelter there until the shop owner kindly invites us in. Oh dear, she will have to mop the floor! But she is very gracious about our mess. I make the most of our time there to buy some of her mini ‘palmiers’ – a delicious flaky sweet pastry – perfect when you are wet and freezing – yes, the temperature has dropped from low 30’s to 14 degrees. 30 minutes later and we are off again. 4 hours after entering Kazakhstan to cover 120kms, we finally arrive at Semipalatinsk as it is referred to on maps and road signs, or Semey as it is officially known today. It has been a 12 hour day on the road. Time for a hot shower and dinner downstairs in the hotel restaurant. It is wonderful to have fish and veggies for a change!!

Fish and veggies in Semey

After a good night’s sleep, it’s time for an early morning walk. As usual, I have done a little research on the area and I have a walking tour organised to take Anthony on, a mystery tour for him if you will. It is a 6km round trip walk to get us here:

‘Stronger than Death’ monument, Semey

This memorial to the victims of Semipalatinsk nuclear tests called “Stronger than Death” was unveiled on 29 August 2001, 20 years after Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree closing Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, known as Polygon, in August 29, 1991. Above the marble centrepiece of a mother covering her child billows a Polygon mushroom cloud etched into a 30m-high black tombstone. Crouched at the base of the 30m black nuclear cloud silhouette is a mother trying to shield her child. It is such a powerful, sombre, monument.

Semipalatinsk Test Site or simply “The Polygon” is an 18,000-square-kilometre area on the Kazakh Steppe where the Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests from 1949 until 1989, a site selected due to its uninhabited status, despite the fact that 700,000 people lived there. The full impact on its inhabitants coming to light when the site was officially closed for testing in 1991. The site has been described as “One of the world’s 10 worst radiation hotspots”, Semipalatinsk’y and its neighboring villages suffering high rates of cancers and birth defects. In 2007 the Semipalatinsk City Council voted unanimously in favour of changing the name of the city to Semey as the existing name had negative associations with the atomic test-site.

In same year as this moving memorial was unveiled, the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved a constitutional amendment stating that the first president (Nazarbayev, who has been president since 1991) will have no limits on how many times he can run for office, but subsequent presidents will be held to a five-year term…

This is the extent of my planned tour today. Our minds are full, it does not seem necessary to visit more sights here today. We leave Semey just before lunch, with heavy hearts for the area… until I am stopped at traffic lights with this gorgeous man beside me, beaming, happy for us, happy for himself seeing us, giving me a thumbs up. So altruistic. I love the Kazakhs.

Friend Kazakh in Semey

To get from Semey to Ayogoz, we have 350kms to cover and it ends up taking us 7 hours. The scenery is relatively flat and boring, the road at times missing, but the ever changing sky keeps us entertained.

Powerlines in Semey city centre

Another fabulous sky

Time for lunch, packet fish and crackers, while the storm passes

Glad the traffic is light to work around the puddles

One of many sad sights – abandoned buildings…


That will take some cleaning!


Lovely to see mountains again, on our way to Ayogoz

Thanks to helpful customers and staff at the petrol station we fuelled up outside Ayagoz, we are given the directions to a gostinitsa nearby. We are greeted by a jolly fellow who speaks more English than I speak Russian, he tells us he works there but I suspect he owns the place. He directs us to his house around the corner to park our motorbikes securely in his own garage. It seems people are a lot more concerned about the safety of Streak and Storm than we are! His wife later puts us onto their daughter who is currently in Moscow to help us with ordering dinner. Once again, so many people putting themselves out to help us, just passing through…

Our Gostinitsa Alikhan in Ayogoz

We have a long day ahead of us today, with 512kms to cover from Ayagoz to Taldykorgan, so we are on the road by 7am, leaving under stunning blue skies.

Within an hour, we are dodging storms, occasionally getting drenched. For the next 4 hours though, it is the endless potholes we desperately try to dodge, occasionally getting it wrong and apoligising to either Streak or Storm for the brutal treatment. And of course the oncoming traffic is trying to do the same! So we don’t only look out for our potholes, but it is important to be aware of what the oncoming traffic is faced with so that we can move over to let them weave out towards us. It is a lot harder for trucks to avoid all those potholes, so they travel pretty slowly. Like in Russia, truck drivers are fantastic and always aware of us behind them. When they can see an opportunity for us to overtake, they will stay well over onto their side, in Russia they also indicate, to let us pass before they continue to weave. Occasionally we feel the oncoming traffic has come a bit too close for comfort to us, but the vast majority of the time, it all works out very well. This part of the world has such a bad reputation for bad drivers, but it is a matter of understanding the driving style.

And what we both love is that most truck drivers and many cars here hoot at us and wave as we go by.

More storms within an hour of leaving Ayogoz

Back to blue skies

Fish sellers line road

Hours of potholes between Ayogoz and Taldykorgan

We meet a couple of brits at one of our snack stops, chat about this awful road and our trips, see them along the way a couple of times later that day and see them again at our hotel in Taldykorgan!

Luckily the scenery was nothing special to look most of the day as we had to concentrate on the potholes so much. The second part of the journey was in better condition and scenery more interesting, with hills appearing. It wasn’t until we arrived at Taldykorgan airport that the road suddenly changed. Ridiculously so!! With painted metal fences in the middle of the dual carriage way, with the occasional deer sculpture.

Arriving into Taldykorgan


Lady sweeping the road in Taldykorgan

We get to our hotel 10 hours after leaving Ayogoz, we are hot, filthy and exhausted. It feels good though – it was a good day’s ride.

We have an easy 280kms to cover from Taldykorgan to Almaty. We suspect the road will be good and it was, dual carriage way most of the way. We are in Almaty in 4.5 hours. It might seem long for such a short distance but Kazakhstan police have a certain reputation and every driver is very aware and wary of them. Any and every speed limit is carefully adhered to, especially the occasional ridiculous reduction for no apparent reason – those sections can go on for kilometers and are designed to catch impatient drivers. Pedestrian crossings appear anywhere, on dual carriage ways too and the pedestrian here is king. You have to slow down for every pedestrian crossing, whether there is someone there or not.

Immaculate road from Taldykorgan to Almaty and some stunning scenery

Once in Almaty centre, it takes us another hour to get to our hotel. Not because of city traffic, but because all roads leading to our hotel has a no entry sign!! It was thanks to someone opening his gate to let us drive through his property that we finally got there!!

All roads leading to our hotel has a no entry sign!

View from our hotel, Almaty

We are planning on being here for at least a week as we have 3 visas to get: Uzbekistan, Iran and Turkmenistan. I wonder how long that will take and whether we manage to get the Turkmenistan one… Suite au prochain numéro…

– Anne

Jul 17 2017

Return to Russia

We arrived back in Russia with mixed emotions, we were ecstatic to have beaten the Naadam holiday 6 day border closure but disappointed to have left Mongolia earlier than planned. This is however the nature of this type of travel, one has to adjust and adapt on the road. We now had eight days in Russia before we must enter Kazakhstan so a more leisurely approach can be implemented. If you have seen the previous blog video, you will know the spectacular wilderness that lay ahead of us. For now, a place to sleep for the night was our next priority.

While looking at the snowcapped peaks on our left we see a couple of log cabins surrounded by a wooden fence, looking like something out of the US or Canada. Here we meet a young couple who are developing the place for tourists, mostly Russians. We do notice cabins being developed as we travel towards civilisation over the next couple of days: I wonder if this a result of the imposition of sanctions by the west in 2014 for the annexation of Crimea which caused the Rouble to fall dramatically against the western currencies reducing holiday options for Russians, thus increasing domestic tourism, reflected in the increase of accommodation being built?

A perfect stop after a long ride and border crossing, at Kyzyl Tash and wait for the rain to pass


Enjoying the mountain views west of Kyzyl Tash


We are loathe to leave the beautiful vista of the snow capped peaks as we breakfast, but know that the road beckons with its twists and turns northwards. We are not disappointed as we ride open traffic-free roads, no stop signs, towns or traffic lights for 400km /250ml. We rise and fall as we transition from valley to valley via peaks that open up new and changing vistas. It is dream like riding for us.

Endless mountain road P-256


Blue skies and grey peaks P-256


Winding river on the P-256


Each time we stop, we are approached by friendly Russians interested to know where we are from, what we think of the area. Some were surprised when we told them how friendly we had found people, they thought we were just being polite, but no, it’s a world wide phenomenon we said. While communication in Russian was difficult, we found a number of people, as we did, get out their phone and call up the language app and away we go. The improvement in the language apps will aid communication which is a good thing.

Anthony talking to the ‘locals’ via an interpreter


Russia/Australia friendship association!


Monument to the builders of the P-256 that opened up Western Mongolia in the 1930’s


As we head north and reach Ust-Sema, the tentacles of civilisation start to reach out, more cabins, tourist resorts and increased traffic as we are at the start of the summer holiday season, families packed into cars with the roof loaded with holiday baggage. At one point a head pops out of a large inflatable raft strapped to the roof of a rafting adventure van travelling in the opposite direction – would have made a great picture but it appeared too suddenly for Anne to photograph. We also find we are really riding the bikes, on the open sections with no traffic, it is easy to move along, we now face streams of oncoming holiday traffic, no overtaking lanes and the lead laden smokescreen belching out of the old Russian truck lumbering along in front of you encourages a more active riding style. Judicious use of throttle and brakes is required to skip past the four or five trucks travelling together. Drivers are very courteous and the creation of the third lane happens often. We feel most drivers are more aware in these traffic conditions and act accordingly.

Let’s take the inflatable on holiday this year


Lunch with a stream fed handwash on the left.


Magnificent late 19th century architecture in Biysk


Library in Biysk, dilapidated grandeur.


Still mourned, over 60 years on. WW2 memorial in Biysk


We have found the cause of Anne’s rattle as we headed over dirt roads while leaving Mongolia: we have lost a crashbar expansion nut & bolt. While we have spare bolts, the expansion nut is more problematic. I contacted the retailer who informed me that the manufacturer was out of stock and did not expect parts for three months. Humm… not the best customer service. That and a sticky front wheel, brake related we think, has us head for Russia’s third largest city, which I did not know was Novosibirsk, so used to just hearing of Moscow and St Petersburg.

Vassily at the BMW Motorrad dealership in Novosibirsk, comes up with a solution for both problems, thanks Vassily. A couple of relaxing days in Novosibirsk allows us to recharge our batteries after travelling every day since Ulan Baatar. Novosibirsk is the most northern point on our journey at 55.01 degrees North, the most southerly point was Payton in Arizona USA at 34:14 degrees North. We will cover 360 degrees Longitude but only range in a 20 degree Latitude window.

Vassily ‘the Fixer’ at BMW Motorrad Novosibirsk with a happy Anne


Novosibirsk Railway station. All trains run on Moscow time. Russia has 10 contiguous time zones vs 4 in the USA


The Opera house in Novosibirsk sadly sold out while we were there


Soviet workers statues in Novosibirsk


Anna from Novosibirsk


First Russian style haircut.


Where’s Wally, or Anne


Our departure on a Sunday morning gives us an easy ride out of the city, progress is slow but steady with a long country section of road limited to 70kph instead of the usual 90kph, possibly a potential revenue raising section except people here stick to the limits, as we do. No fines please.
We dodge a few thunderstorms with well timed fuel and food stops, retrace our route back to Barnayl and onwards to the Kazakhstan border. Our hotel en-route in Aleysk turns out to be the re- purposed offices of a factory. The top floor is the hotel, with other levels housing a restaurant, supermarket and pharmacy. Clever thinking, but had no idea what the factory manufactured.

Our factory hotel in Alyesk


Interesting hotel decor in Alyesk


Interested locals pose for a photo


Sunflowers


Got our Kazakhstan travel insurance from two very nice ladies just before the border and we were set to go. 30 days for Russia and Mongolia, we did it but really would have liked more time…

The town bypass


Kazak Insurance at the Russian border


Towards Kazakhstan and the oncoming storm


– Anthony

Jul 10 2017

Mongolian Trilogy Part 3 – Serendipity

Anne awakes with a start after midnight on the 9th of July, “We must be out of Mongolia tomorrow” she realises, the five day border closure for the Naadam holiday starting on the 11th runs until the 15th which is a Saturday and the border is always closed on a Sunday. It will not reopen until Monday 17th, one day before our Russian visa expiry. It is highly unlikely that Russian Immigration officials will allow us in with 1200km to cover in just over a day through mountainous terrain. If we cannot leave today we will be stuck in Western Mongolia and need to apply for a new Russian visa back in Ulan Baatar some 1600kms/1000miles away with a likely three week delay in getting the Russian visa issued. Are you awake now, I certainly was.

With the evening’s events still fresh in our minds, we knew that we could do nothing but wait till dawn…

My mind drifted back to the events as they had unfolded over the previous 18 hours. After a good night’s sleep at the Entym Hotel in Altai after the long crossing in the truck, we bid goodbye to Baltar our driver who now started the long return journey home. Anne felt sad we had not been able to communicate as there was much about his world we could have better understood.

We had 450kms/270miles of paved road ahead and being ahead of schedule, with our view of the unpaved roads we had crossed yesterday we felt that we should give the upcoming 180kms/110miles of dirt ahead a go. We could take three days if necessary, time was on our side. “Confidence is high” to use a movie/military quote.

A quick walk around Altai before we leave:

Mongolians love their sweets

Mongolians love their vodka too

Mongolians appear to love karakoe too

Altai

We settle into more undulating vastness, good road and little traffic, in a few short years the missing links will be filled in and a trip on paved road from London to Ulan Baatar will be possible opening up more opportunities for visitors. Many dirt road alternatives will exist, so options for all types of rider. A small wrinkle appears, don’t build your bridges on a sand base is all I can say.

The road from Altai to Khovd

Oops!

Time for a stop

Very dry Govi-Altai province

Very gusty Altai to Khovd road with endless wind twirls


Onward and onward, strange to have 550kms/330 miles of paved road sandwiched between two dirt sections. While on one of our regular breaks, a lone motorcycle appears from the west. We meet out first ever Turkish adventure rider. Discussion as always quickly turns to road conditions. He informs us that the dirt section we have decided to attempt is “Hell”. Humm… not what we wanted to know, our riding barometer for dirt is swinging from fair to rain. Not a confidence booster. A truck is coming back into the equation.

Somewhat unsettled by what we have heard, we travel on, the landscape does vary and as the green is replaced by brown, the number of herds decline, but they still treat the road as part of their domain, goats and sheep the worst for movement, cows just stare and horses ignore you.

Nice to see some greenery again as we approach Khovd

Typical Mongolian bike and family

Big sky

Approaching Khovd province

Descending into Khovd

Khovd below


Sparsely populated, only two villages en-route to Khovd exist, neither appeals to us and the landscape does not entice us to camp although I know Anne desperately wants too. Khovd appears over a final rise and we roll into town past the old abandoned Soviet era coal fired power station, I cannot imagine this was either efficient or environmentally friendly. We are now seeking hotels, the usual end of day occupation when we meet two riders, Gilles and Lino, French and Italian respectively with the same agenda. I find an english speaking local who will guide us, Gilles and Lino chat to the nearest pretty girl, typical.

The black car stopped to help us and we picked up a Frenchman and Italian along the way


As we follow our guide’s car to a couple of hotels, trying to find one with running water, it becomes apparent Lino is in a lot of pain. We learn he crashed four times today on the unpaved section we plan to cross and thinks he has a broken leg, later confirmed at Khovd hospital. What comes after rain on the barometer, stormy?

While Lino is at the hospital, we have dinner with Gilles, visit the local square and hospital to check on Lino. He is discharged with a nice white plaster-cast and back at the hotel they assess the road with terms such “worst road conditions I have ever come across” and “nightmare” – crashing four times may influence one’s view, but you get the general direction. We leave Lino to sleep on the lobby couch while his plaster-cast sets, he has no crutches and declines a group offer to carry him upstairs, probably to avoid the fifth crash of the day.

Won those prizes on Khovd town square with Gilles

Lino with his fresh plastercast and Gilles


Anne had earlier in the evening spoken to Tsoogii, the English speaking sister of our hotel finding guide, asking if he could drive Lino to the hospital once he was checked into the hotel, and took the opportunity to ask her if they knew of any truck drivers in town who could take us to Ulgii. She would call us tomorrow morning.

After a fractured night’s sleep we are up early and packed, conscious of the impending holiday and our need to depart today. Tsoogii comes through with a truck, a friend of her husband’s. People are always willing to help, it’s natural and worldwide In a couple of hours, we have said goodbye to Gilles and Lino, Lino will be heading home his trip over, but he was almost to his destination Ulan Baatar having started in Italy. Well done.

Tsoogii, the black car driver’s sister, helped us find another truck


Loading is easier, just find a dirt bank to back the truck up to. No ramps with nasty foot traps as in our previous loading excursion.

Much easier loading of the bikes in Khovd


On board and tied down, we are off, over the river and choose your track. I have realised that the Mongolian dirt roads with multiple choice within multiple choice route selections are a little like the old dungeons and dragons games. Multiple doors and passageways. Some contain fair roads and others sand traps, vicious corrugations or just disappear in totally the wrong direction having started parallel to the correct route. Regular local drivers, such as ours, know which to take to avoid the harshest terrain. We start by staying off the main track for the first 10 kms/6 miles and then went over a different mountain pass to the main mapped route, all good local knowledge.

Outside Khovd, preparing for Naadam tomorrow


Which way?

Glad we are not riding this…

Multiple lanes sometimes merge into one narrow one

Sudden soft patches are the worst

More sand on our way to Ulgii


It was possible we could have ridden a fair part of this route, not in a day, but we would never have selected each junction correctly in the first place. I understand why so many have struggled with this section, given the impossible task of correctly choosing the best path at each junction.

Roadworks paralleled this route for most of the day, I think within two years it will be paved highway. Reminding me of bleached bones in the desert, twisted black tyre strips dot the landscape, a constant reminder of the harsh nature of the terrain we are crossing. We cross paths with a number of horse laden trucks heading for the Ulgii Naadam, our driver looks intently at the horses, possibly competition for his horses? They do love their horses here.

Horses being transported for a Naadam festival somewhere

At last, some green again

Somewhere between Khovd and Ulgii

The desert is always full of delicate surprises

More desert flowers


Holding a 10kg eagle

Mongolian eagle


Back on tar after 7 hours to cover the 180kms/110 miles of dirt and we want our driver to return home, it’s a long day’s round trip, so an embankment, truck tyres and the three of us unload Streak and Storm . Back on board our steeds and along side Lake Tolbo then down into Ulgii.

Time to unload Streak and Storm

Outside Ulgii – pity we don’t have time to stop here for a few days

Outside Ulgii

Outside Ulgii

Coming into Ulgii

That’s right, just pull out in front of us, you’re bigger!!


A fortuitous meeting in the centre of town leads us to stay in a gur overnight, something Anne has been looking forward to since we entered Mongolia. We are also able to confirm that the border does close tomorrow, the 10th of July for six days, the manager knows an official at the border she called and checked for us. In Ulgii, Tsoogii who was helping us had looked online and called the immigration info number to confirm the closure dates. Both options said call the border post, which did not answer. In this modern information age we still needed the mobile/cell number of someone working there to confirm the dates!

Our night in a ger

Our ger, with the door open


A couple of hours’ ride on the morning of the 10th brought us to the Mongolian immigration and customs post, (see Visas and Borders for details). Four and a half hours later we are back in Russia, ahead of the six day border closure.

On our way to the Mongolian border at Tsagaannuur

Our last hour in Mongolia

Watch the goats!

Watch the yaks!

Bye bye Mongolia – so raw, so beautiful


Russian border an hour later


So how does Serendipity fit into all this? If we had not made the decisions we did regarding the truck travel based on others’ assessment of road conditions, we would now be stuck in Mongolia, our plans setback by a minimum of three weeks, assuming all went well in getting a new Russian visa in Ulaan Baatar. We would have to shorten our route to London, probably just back through Russia to Europe, so Serendipity it is.

– Anthony