Photo update

Kazachstan 20 September 2012

Kyrgyzstan 30 September 2012

Hospitality redefined

I remember reading about Almaty when we were sitting in our flat in Karlsruhe. The city was supposed to be very modern and western. Great, I thought, we will drive a few thousand kilometers through Central Asia to see a western city... Who needs cities like that anyway?!

Well it turned out I do! Desperately! For the last three months we have been served bad coffee in nearly every restaurant we have been to and ordering cappuccino would get us a glass of hot water and a bag of instant 3in1 coffee powder. After we left Russia the food quality was dropping rapidly too and we found it very hard to order anything, that would not be made of mutton meat. And here we are, in this unnecessarily western city, with Italian cafes and restaurants, serving lasagne, chicken meat and salads without mayonnaise! It felt like heaven!

Our moods got even better when we went to pick up our Uzbek visa. We printed all the papers we got from Stantours (the best visa agency ever!) and went to the consulate prepared for long hours of waiting. As usually, we met some great people in the queue, a French couple traveling through Asia with a dog in their Mercedes truck. I thought we will be able to enjoy a nice conversation for some time now, but they let us in after less then an hour. I was already surprised, but the biggest shock came when the consulate worker told us to wait a few minutes and prepare the money as he's going to print our visas on the spot! I thought I heard him wrong, but he returned 5 minutes later holding our visas in his hand. We were deeply impressed!

We were free to leave the city at once, since for the first time no visa-business was slowing us down, but we decided to stay and enjoy it a little bit more. It was a long while since we were in a city where we could actually do some real sightseeing, so we decided to see it all. Following a recommendation of our new French friends we decided to visit a concert too. It was a great performance of Kazakh music, played by an entire symphony orchestra on traditional instruments in regional clothing. We loved every minute of it!

However there was one thing dragging us out of Almaty, the Charyn canyon. I will be honest with you, before we actually choose the route for our journey we didn't really know much about most of the countries on it. I was trying to get the first impression using Google image search. And when I entered Kazakhstan that canyon was the first thing that popped up. In that moment I was sure I wanted to go there! And I wasn't disappointed! That place is simply splendid! We parked our car and spent a whole day walking between the rocks and relaxing by the river. The views were absolutely amazing! And once again we had the whole place to ourselves. Some people say it's nice, but it just ain't the Grand Canyon. Well I'm glad it isn't, as I doubt you could rent the Grand Canyon all to yourself for 3 Euro a day...

We were getting back to our cars as we saw some other tourist coming in an opposite direction. It was such an unusual view that we decided to stop for a chat. It was a local family with some friends, doing a small sightseeing trip. Before we even noticed we were invited to visit them in their house on our way back to Almaty. We felt a bit strange, as we hardly knew those people and didn't really want to cause them trouble, but we already promised to come, so there was no way back. We were planning to get back to Almaty on my birthday, to celebrate properly and decided to stop by our new acquaintances on the way.

Being Polish I was always more then sure I knew what hospitality is and how it should be practiced. But that was all before we came to this part of the world. The openness and kindness we are faced with here can not be compared with anything you may experience in Europe. When was the last time you stopped some unknown tourists on the street to give them fruits and sweets and welcome them in your city? Or when did you invite a total stranger to stay at your house for a week and join your family party? I can't remember doing anything like that in my life. And that's exactly how people treat us here. We wanted to make a small break by the road once when another car stopped next to us, three friends, one of them living in Germany now. We had a little chat, did some photos and were left with bread and fruits for the further journey. Just like that.

And now we were on our way to visit some total strangers, who invited us home only cause we had a little chat in the canyon. And I can tell you, Natascha and Sascha took our vision of hospitality to a very new level... What was planned as a quick visit, an hour or two maybe, ended up as a two days stay. And if it wasn't for our expiring visas we would have stayed much longer!

We were supposed to call them when we'd reach their city, so that they could come and show us the way. I was even a bit uncertain if they will remember us, as two days passed since our meeting, but the moment we called we knew, they not only remembered, but were really looking forward to our visit. They led us to their house with a lovely garden and shortly after we were sitting at the table filled with all kinds of delicious food. It felt like home. There was fish, meat, cheese, salads, fruits and sweets, one better than the other, so that you could get full just by looking at it. And new things kept appearing all the time. We told them about our journey, about my birthday and the plan to fix Gerrit's car in Almaty and before we noticed everything was planned. Sascha did a few phone calls to organize the spare parts Gerrit was looking for and promised to fix his car with him the next day, we were staying not only for a dinner, but for the whole night and would enjoy the traditional Russian banya, which will be prepared specially for us as soon as it get's dark and colder. The plan sounded perfect. I could not imagine a better way to spend my birthday this year. We ate a fantastic dinner with the whole family, drank some Kazakh cognac and relaxed in the banya until late in the night. It felt great!

We ate so much the day before that we didn't even think about breakfast. But Natascha did and surprised us with a full table again. I kept looking at the fridge wondering how on earth are they able to store all this food in there! Once again we were hardly able to move after the meal. We were already feeling bad for staying so long and eating so much, but they didn't want to hear a word of it and only repeated we are being silly and that our company was all they wanted in return. And we soon found out we will be staying one more night, as Gerrit's car needed some extra time. We left the next morning with full bellies, some extra food in the fridge and the feeling, that we have got more than we will ever be able to give back. We were grateful for the food and shelter, but mostly for giving us another good reason to believe in people and their selfless hospitality.

Dead boring paradise

Kazakhstan really gave us a warm welcoming, in every meaning of this word. We heard a lot of stories about corrupt Kazakh border officials, who take your car apart or make you spend a night on a border unless you pay them and were really hoping it was just stories, like the ones we heard about Russian police. We also decided to go for a smaller border crossing, as we expected things to go quicker there. And they did! None of our border crossing was as quick and relaxed as this one. The officials were smiling and joking and didn't give the inside of our car more than one glance. Both on Russian and Kazakh side. And they also (like so many before) found the idea of driving such a long way just for fun a total craziness, which made them laugh even more. We were ready to go in no time, our moods better than ever.

The day was sunny and nice as we were leaving our last camping spot in Russia and I still had the words of Sergiej, the truck driver in my head. He promised me I will unpack my light clothes and even my bikini in Kazakhstan and I was really hoping for him to be right. And he was! By the time we got to the border I already had to change, as it got too warm for my jeans. And when the formalities were over we decided to hit the first lake we can find on a map. We didn't care about exchanging money or shopping, we just wanted to get to the water and enjoy the weather. And we did enjoyed it! The sun was shining, the view was amazing, the water crystal clear and the beach nice and sandy. And I did unpack my bikini and stayed in it for the whole day. We actually enjoyed it so much we spent whole 2 days there until it was time to finally go to a big city and register our visas.

After all the Mongolian cities Ust-Kamenogorsk made quite a nice impression. The shops were well stocked and the restaurants really good, so that we were happy to be in the city again. Registration formalities were also pretty painless, but we had to spend at least one night in a hotel to have an address under which we could be registered. So we stayed and enjoyed the hot water, shopping, eating out and all the other advantages of being in a town. And we met some extremely nice people again. We wanted to look for some spare parts, as few small things were causing us trouble ever since we left Mongolia. Like our hatch door, which was closing on it's own, making it unable for us to leave our bedroom window open. We not only found a shop with the right parts, but we actually got them for free, as a gift with the best wishes for our further journey.

We didn't really know what to expect of Kazakhstan before we came here. I have to admit the reports from other travelers were not really positive. They basically advised us to drive through the whole country as fast as we can, spend a day or two in Almaty, go to see the famous canyon and then leave and never come back. Details differed from story to story, but nearly everyone was sure about one thing: the country is boring. Dead boring. Nothing to see, no nice camping spots, the same view from your car window for hours. We we were planning to change our route a bit, so that we could really be out of Kazakhstan in no time if necessary. But we started to doubt those stories already on the first day. We had a lake with mountains in the background, nice clean water, enough wood to make fire the whole evening and a sandy beach all to ourselves. We were far from giving up on Kazakhstan!

Since Sergiej the truck driver proved to be a reliable source of information we decided to take his advice and check out the lakes east from Ust-Kamenogorsk. The roads in this part of the country turned up to be quite good (especially after driving in Mongolia for a month), so we wanted to give it a try. Our way to the lake was already splendid but it was nothing compared to what we found when we got there. I don't think I could ever get bored with that. Beautiful lake, splendid mountains, nice beaches, hundreds of wild birds and hardly anyone around. It was perfect! We spent a few days driving around Lake Zaysan, changing between perfect locations and enjoying every moment of the ride. We spent some lovely days reading, swimming, lying in a hammock, watching sunrises and sunsets, as well as the starry sky, which is nearly as pretty as the one in Mongolia. We loved it! Back there we already knew, there is no way we're going through Kazakhstan without stopping, we were going to take our time, enjoying every lake on our way to Almaty. And a few rivers too! Sweet or salty, big or small, they were all amazing, each having different views and surprises to offer. And camping when the days are sunny and evenings cold enough to make a big fire is simply the greatest thing!

Sasykkol Lake is the one that will definitely stay in our memory for a long time. We were already traveling in this region for a third day and wanted to take a last swim before we hit the road again. We found a path that looked as if it was leading to water and slowly followed it in the direction of the lake. Unfortunately what looked like a solid ground turned out to be a total swamp and our car got stuck before we could even notice what was happening. Gerrit wanted to pull us out, but we soon noticed that it was hopeless. Trying to come anywhere near our car would get his car stuck too, which was not exactly our goal. There was no other option then the good old digging. Fortunately getting stuck and helping others get out of their troubles in Mongolia gave us some good training and taught us some nice tricks, so we knew what was to be done. But we also knew it would take us ages, as we had quite some distance to bridge before getting on ground that could be described as safe to drive on. It took us eight hours! Eight hours of digging, lifting the car, putting some wood and sand ladders underneath it, moving it a few meters and starting all over again. Eight hours in burning sun, with a wind that was constantly blowing tons of sand in our faces. Funny thing was the day before we were actually complaining we're not moving enough recently... Well, we got what we asked for. But in the end hard work payed off and we got Karossi out of trouble and were finally back on the road to Almaty.

Photos from Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan 12 September 2012

Good old Russia

We fell in love in Mongolia! Head over heels! The country is simply marvelous and the more places you visit the more you want to see. And you soon notice that you could spend a year here and not see half of the things you should. 30 day visa for a place like that is a pure cruelty. It's simply not enough time! When we left Olgyi to drive towards the border we knew that leaving Mongolia won't be an easy thing and that we will probably miss it a lot. We knew there are still a few countries ahead of us, which will definitely be amazing too, but it just wouldn't be the same.

On our way we had to cross the last city, Tsagaannuur. You have probably noticed that I am not a huge fan of Mongolian cities and that is one of the ugliest I have seen. Surrounded by a huge fence it really makes a scary impression. And since we met a British couple, who got their valuables stolen there after being invited to a ger we decided to be a bit more careful than normally. But nothing could have prepared us for what we saw there. Those people went crazy when they saw us. They were running out of houses, jumping in front of our car, trying to stop us and make us follow them. Some of them were chasing us on motorbikes, just to draw our attention. And when we did stop, just to get some fuel a bunch of kids got to us and they actually started begging. I have never seen anything like that in Mongolia! And those children were not poorer then the other ones we saw. They were dressed normally and didn't really seem to be missing much. But they were following our every move chanting “pen, pen, money, money, money, present” for a good 10 minutes. And they were not only chanting, but also hanging on our clothes and even trying to get into the car. I absolutely adore Mongolian children and wanted to adopt at least 10 of them on our way, but I really hated those ones. Even though I knew it's not really their fault, since they were way too young to understand what they doing. But someone had told them to do it and it must have worked with a few tourists if they still continue. But still, after getting to know so many wonderful Mongolian people, who never expected anything and always insisted on giving more then they got from us this was just a huge shock. We did bring along some presents for Mongolian children and we gave away a big part of it, but we were never asked for anything, except for an old 5L bottle, which we wanted to throw away anyway. I just hope this illness will not spread to the rest of the country, but will stay a small problem of the border region.

We left this place as quick as possible, making sure there will be enough distance between our camping place and those begging kids. And once again we managed to find a splendid location on a lake. That is a thing I'm gonna miss the most, the fact that no matter where you go and where you decide to stop you can be sure it will be a great camping spot. And that there will be enough wild animals to keep you company. The only thing missing is wood to make some fire, but well, you can't have everything...

We had to get to a border on a specific day, early in the morning, since our transit visa for Russia was only valid for 5 days and we didn't want to waste any of them. And we actually managed to earn some money waiting in a border line. It turns out that not only 5L water bottles but also 20L jerrycans for fuel are quite popular in Mongolia. We heard that fuel may sometimes be hard to find in the country side and it would be wise to take some extra fuel in the cans, so we bought four of them back in Germany. We used only two and even those we used only once, as we were able to find 92 octane fuel in most bigger cities (95 octane is a really rare thing though). We were pretty sure we won't be needing 4 cans in Kazakhstan neither, so we were even thinking what to do with them, as they take some place and add some weight to our already overloaded car. The solution found us on a border, where people were actually arguing about who can buy them from us.

All formalities went quick this time, mostly because we already knew how it works and which papers we needed to get and since we already filled them out a few times we knew perfectly well what to write, even though all the questions were in Russian. We felt sad to be leaving Mongolia and worrying that we won't like Russia that much anymore. We didn't really know what to expect of the region we were crossing and we were a bit afraid of the roads that await us, which could make crossing to Kazakhstan in 5 days a bit of a challenge.

Well we soon knew we had nothing to worry about. It seems that Russia decided to show us it's most beautiful side at this very moment, just to prove that Mongolia is not the only country that had something to offer. The region of Altai is simply splendid! Mountains, rivers and trees make for a perfect view all along the way. And the road is perfect! The best one we saw in Russia. We stopped in the first city to get some fuel and a new car insurance for Russia and it felt so good to be able to understand local people again. And by the time we stopped to get some food we were all perfectly happy to be in Russia again. Don't get me wrong, Mongolian food was not as bad as I expected, but the choice was pretty limited and nearly almost included mutton meat. It simply can not compete with Russia cuisine, full of many various options, one better then the other. Those are two different worlds.

Leaving the city we met three Russian backpackers hitchhiking their way back to Moscow. Gerrit decided to give them a ride and it all worked so nicely that we stayed together for 2 days, until our ways parted. Camping that night was really perfect. Mountains all around us, a river flowing next to us and enough wood to make fire all night long. We were cooking, baking potatoes, drinking Indian spicy tee and playing cards until we got too tired to recognize the numbers. And by the end of the evening we missed Mongolia a bit less then we did while leaving it.

Driving with locals had quite a few advantages. They were showing us quite a few things we would miss for sure if we were driving alone. And so we had a chance to discover the perfect spots to take pictures and see some extremely old wall pictures, that were better preserved than any I have seen before, although they were in an open air, exposed to rain and sun all the time. But the view I will remember best was a cow along the road, looking quit happy while chewing on a huge bush of wild growing marihuana.

The last stop on our way was Barnaul, where we decided to check our car as we had some serious problems starting it in the mornings. We wanted to check it as soon as possible as the problem seemed to be getting worse with time and because we learned to trust Russian car mechanics and wanted to get the job done here. The thing I like most about them is that they seem to be able to find a reasonable solution to every problem. Nothing is impossible, even if the spare parts are not available. And that is exactly what we needed since we already knew, that taking a starter out of T3 Syncro will be quite of a challenge and getting a new one was out of question.

We found a VW garage and after a moment we knew Karossi is in a right hands. But we also knew it may take a while. All the guys were really helpful and agreed to repair our car on a spot knowing we had to leave the country the next day. A few things were checked, but they all seemed to be in a perfect condition until we were sure it can be nothing else but the starter, a part that is well hidden behind our differential lock and quite difficult to pull out. The fun has just began. I was especially amazed to see how much dust and dirt is getting from underneath our poor car. It was massive clouds of what was soon called “a souvenir from Mongolia”. It took quite a while and an awful lot of effort before we managed to get the source of our problems out of the car. But it was finally out and we hopped we could get it fixed, as we knew there is no way of finding a replacement, especially not in one day. But we put our car in good hands. The starter was cleaned, repaired and tested until we were sure it's working fine again. It was nearly 22 o'clock before Karossi was put together again and we were having a bad conscious for keeping all the guys up so late. They were working really hard on our car, making sure we had something to eat and drink at the same time. And they didn't seem to be loosing their good moods. It was totally dark when we were leaving the garage, being extremely thankful for all the help and support and for the fact that Karossi was up an running again, ready to enter Kazakhstan the next day. And as a souvenir Karossi got new frames for his number plates, as the old ones were broken in Mongolia.