I'm safe and sound and alive and in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Credit for this achievement is entirely due to Lady Luck, and definitely not to the kamikaze fuckwit minivan driver who drove me and six other unfortunate passengers from Bishkek apparently believing he was in command of Saturn V. Normally I don't bat an eyelid at being driven at 160Km/h, but when the driver has a penchant for overtaking straight into the path of oncoming trucks it worries me. At one stage we missed a combine harvester by less than 2 feet, and we had several similarly close shaves along the way. The road into Almaty was like a scene from the Matrix, as we hurtled along weaving in and out of the traffic, including again the oncoming traffic, and as he tried to race another minivan
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