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Wednesday 11 June - Karakol to campsite, 78 km (610m climb)
Breakfast in the courtyard, rather disorganized; bread and their very runny jam, then some cheese and butter arrived, then last the hot water for tea and coffee. There was meat soup that hardly anyone wanted.
Today was not a nice ride - the road surface was bad in many places, and the last 30 km mostly very bad. There was a head wind some of the time, too. The road was quite hilly. I got very tired and hungry and stopped and ate my supplies, but then a few km further found everyone had stopped for the official picnic, as the lorries with the camping equipment had not arrived. Hung around a long time, had a walk down to the river. The landscape here is different again, tall green hills with pine trees, very alpine.
The campsite is far from ideal, there is a river but hardly any flat ground. I secured a good site for the women’s tent and we got it up (a bit complicated with 4 people!). It rained just after we got it up, but not for long. Most of us got washed in the river.
Dinner was in the big tent, I had a tin of beans with their pasta.
Thursday 12 June - camp to Kegen, 59 km - frontier back into Kazakhstan
Up early to pack up and 6.30 breakfast. I was able to leave early with some of the other slower cyclists. The track continued in a really bad state for 30 km. There was a re-grouping shortly before the border and we were all ordered into official kit - I had to borrow a top from James.
At the border the Kazakhs were letting 5 people through at a time. There was a little form to fill in, then the process was quite quick, but for 120 people it still took a considerable time. I got through early and set off with the first group.
The road was just as bad to start with, then for 8 km it got almost impossible - all big pebbles, wellnigh impossible to cycle on. I took a very long time, as did one or two others. The mountain bikers liked it. After the bsd road we got a headwind and had to ride in a close group. After the border the landscape changed very
quickly - from green and hilly with trees, villages and farms, it became flat, grassy but not green, with distant mountains. Not interesting.
At Kegen we were directed into a car park where we collected our picnics and were able to take them into a big café and eat them at long tables with benches. Some of us got tea and their awful coffee - out of packets with coffee, milk and sugar mixed. After everyone had arrived and eaten we went a few hundred yards down the road, past a pretty blue mosque, to the school we are sleeping in.
I went out and found some shops including a small supermarket, and bought water, cheese, fruit juice and an orange.
Friday 13 June - Kegen to Shonji, 77 km and 1000m down
We had to re-pack all our luggage into one of the big lorries, as one of the small luggage vans has to be towed to Jarkent for repairs. Because of this we will have our rest day at Jarkent instead of Shonji. As we may well not be able to take all our vehicles into China there will be a general sorting out of the equipment at Jarkent. We will also have more bivouacs in China - 8 instead of one or two. I wonder if the tents will stand up to it - they are not very strong, and ours is already damaged.
The route was announced as flat apart from a col at 15km, but in fact there were two cols and we also got the usual headwind in the late morning. Fortunately the road was quite good all day. The hills were spectacular, but not pretty. The grass is dying off in the heat and the general appearance is desert. It got very hot in the afternoon.
Re-grouped and were led into town by police. We are in a big school building, the single women have a nice big room to ourselves. Lunch was heated up expedition rations, but today I ate it because it was cassoulet (beans with meat and sausage, which of course I gave away). We ate in the school courtyard which was nice and green and shady.
I went out into the village with Paul and found a covered market: there were some nice things, but fortunately I didn’t have any money so couldn’t buy anything! I did get some fruit. Back at the school I did some washing, using one of my panniers as a bucket, and hung it on a hedge to dry. Had a cold shower in the lorry.
Saturday 14 June - Kegen to Jarkent, 98 km
Today the countryside was nice and the road was flat. There was not much wind but I rode with a group most of the day. Lunch was in a shady place by an irrigation stream with some interesting plants growing nearby.
At Jarkent we are split between 4 hotels; meals are at the largest. Our hotel is small but brand new; Liliane and I have a very nice small room with WC and hot shower. It is extremely hot here.
I went out and found some shops, a bank machine and an internet café, where I did my email. Dinner was meat dumplings, but Andrei the interpreter had a word with the staff and I got a nice plate of cooked vegetables. Not a good night, due to the heat and a lot of barking dogs.
Sunday 15 June at Jarkent
For breakfast there were 2 fried eggs, brown bread, and coffee. Very good for Kazakhstan! I did a huge stack of washing and hung it in the yard. Then I soaked my feet and re-did my toenails - though there’s not much point, they will be covered in dust the minute I go out.
I felt rather poorly and rested all afternoon and didn’t eat. Liliane came back in the evening with the news that we had to pack enough gear in our panniers for three days, in case the lorries were held up at the border - which indeed was what happened. So we had to a hasty sorting out of baggage to try and carry the essentials without overloading the panniers.
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