Enjoyed a nice
breakfast, and bless her … the receptionist had spent some time on
Google, writing down a translation of the menu for us. Got on our way around 9am, a lot of miles to do today...
But first, Jeremy
needed water, and I went for the Kazakhstan Red Bull equivalent …
Yeti !
The adventure is
getting a bit tougher now … longer days, more miles, rougher roads,
and lack of petrol. The scenery is, well, the same … sand.
Sometimes its difficult not to fall asleep while riding, but the MP3
player helps a lot in situations like this.
Lunch becomes a
Snickers bar and a soft drink in a petrol station … and you carry
on, with the occasional camel to break the monotony. The roads are
generally good in Kazakhstan, but the odd pothole will catch you out
if not careful.
 |
| Rutted tarmac such as this can catch you out. |
We are heading for Beyneu (sometimes spelt Beynau), which the last town before Uzbekistan. We don't have a hotel
booked, but there are a few showing on the map !
 |
| Most towns have a concrete sculpture to signify their name. |
 |
| A "posh" graveyard |
 |
| So typical ... straight for miles. |
 |
| Arriving Beynau |
Beynau is a bit like a
Wild west town, with dust streets, boarded up houses, and possibly an
undertaker somewhere. It might not have been technically
“one-horse”, but there were quite a few donkeys & carts in use.
We ride around and check our list of “hotels” out, eventually
settling on the Dymah Hotel which is probably the best of a bad
bunch. A lady with more gold in her teeth than South Africa, smiles
and welcomes us. It's a bed for the night, and while the hot water
and the Wi-Fi prove elusive, we are too tired to care.
I won't eat there on
principle, so find a local cafe close by, and after some nosh and a
couple of beers, hit the sack.
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| Sunset in Beynau. |
Tomorrow we enter
Uzbekistan.