I'm now absolved of all my sins ....
Looked at Google for the weather today, which said scattered thunderstorms. Looked out the window, and Mother Nature said, bright sunshine. Now I have been teased by this morning sunshine before, and learned not to believe it, so I was prudent and put the waterproof linings into my riding gear.
Left the hotel, fuelled up, which in Kazakhstan is no problem any more, petrol stations a plenty. Within 30 mins, we were climbing into the mountains. But then the skies started to darken ...
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| Darkening... |
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| ... and then some heavy rain ... |
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| ... wait, ouch, that rain is beginning to hurt ... |
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| ... its hail, and I had to stop ... |
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| ... it was horrendous, with no-where to shelter.. |
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| Hail the size of big peas.... trust me, they hurt. |
After about 30 mins, the hail stopped and the sun came out for a short time, before the rest of the day was spent under riding cloudy skies, all the way to Taraz.
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| Boring scenery. |
Not one of the best days, but making progress. Got to our destination, like drowned rats, and we had four hotels marked into the GPS, as nothing was booked. Did a tour to take them all in, but the choice was obvious ... the "best" in town.
Parked in front, got stuffed paying the rack rate (full price) for a tired old room, but after the day, a hot shower was all we needed ... yup, no hot water.
Well eventually after I went to reception to complain, they assured me it would come if I was patient. She was right, 15 mins of patience paid off.
Had a walk around later, picked an eating venue, and met with Jeremy at 7pm, for food. We walked back to my choice of eatery, and I was rather brave picking something off the menu that my translator could make out contained mutton, onions and carrots...
5 hours later, well you know what they say about carrots and how they have a habit of reappearing ! Will leave the rest to your imagination.
