The last three days have seen us cross Kazakhstan from North to South and cover more than 1,000 miles or 1,600 km mostly on good quality roads. We have spent our first couple of nights camping out on the Kazakhstan steppes. What a great experience and one we had not done in many years. It is funny how things that you have experienced, i.e. camping, just do not happen for a variety of reasons, but when we go back to them we do not understand why you took so long to get out in a tent again. (I am in love with my new Jack Woolfskin Yellowstone III Vent tent, Trango pillow and Lifeventure Downlight sleeping bag!!! – Anne) We saw hardly any other bikes , and then only local ones, on this leg of our journey, but lots of trucks, many of whom would toot their horns as we went past. They even went so far as to act as our alarm clocks as we slept in our tent some way off the road.

The temperature has finally warmed up, we are now riding in up to 34 degree celsius weather, and the Klim jackets have proved to be well ventilated while riding and we are comfortable even without all the vents open. While you can read all the reviews on equipment, its good to find that it works the same way for you.

More and more camels, horses, cows, goats and sheep appear as we head south and they decide where and when to cross! The camels are well camouflaged and no fences mean you need to keep a eye out for them at all times.

The people of Kazakhstan have proved to be very friendly and interested in where we were from, we find that “kangaroo” acts as the best way of describing Australia vs Austria! Each time we stopped, we seem to attract someone who wanted a photo with us, on the bikes or just ask a few questions.

We stopped at Aral, the town which used to be on the Aral sea before the shoreline retreated due to Soviet era agricultural policies. The cranes at the docks can still be seen from the centre of town. Then on to camp with a glorious sunset.

– Anthony