I ride through a “town” in the late afternoon and take notice of the local wells. As I walk towards a pump, I ask a woman for some water. She takes my bottle in and fill it up. Riding further on, past all the buses, the trucks, and the truck drivers washing up from the well water…I stop to fill all my bottles up.
By the looks of the trucks and buses, I have a feeling this may be the last stop for awhile. I debate on eating but decide to continue on.
As I ride out of the truck stop, a big rig pulls over and the driver is filming me riding. He is smiling, waving, and encouraging me to continue riding past him. I do as the director says and he passes me later with a friendly honk.
An abandoned “kofe” on the outskirts of the truck stop…the only life I saw were donkeys hiding in the shade.
Within a few kilometers, I find myself in the Steppe. The headwind picks up just a little, but not too bad yet. But the lack of life…is…well…stunning. I’m beginning to question if I’m headed into a desert…AGAIN! As you know, I notoriously have problems with desert dwellers.
As I begin the final climb up onto the Steppe, it’s getting warm and I’m hungry. I think I can continue on without a bite to eat but I finally give in to resting in a bus stop and cooking some pasta. The wind has picked up and there is a small village about 3 kilometers away.
As I begin to set up my stove a car pulls up. There is a Russian driver and a Kazakh man in the back seat. The passenger stays in the car and we make small talk through the window. After the basics, he offers me a cigarette. No thanks. Then gum. He really wants me to have the gum.
He knows I’m preparing to cook something and the next thing that comes out the window is 1000 dollar note. Whoa!? Really? He’s very, very insistent I take it. I actually didn’t know how much it was until after he left because it was folded up and I just put it in my pocket. After 3 days in Kazakhstan, I have more money than I started with.
Then I’m offered his cell phone to call my mother in the US. I tell him she’s sleeping but thanks so much for the offer. He seems harmless enough, and his driver is pretty jovial. We continue to chit chat for a little longer then he goes on his way.
I have another visitor a little later and he’s just making sure I’m okay. He returns about 15 minutes later with an ice cold 1L Pepsi. He tells me that there is a “magazine” in town where I can get something to eat. I can’t be bothered. The Pepsi had been opened, with a sip. I try not to think about germs and enjoy my Pepsi with my hot pot of pasta.
The full stomach and wonderful kindness of strangers motivates me to continue up and over onto the Steppe. It’s still a little hot and the sun is beating down.
As I’m nearly up there, I see a truck driver give me a hand signal of a “snake”…a WW motion. Shit, I know exactly what this means…up and down up and down. And with a headwind, it means I’ll be putting in work even going down.
Near sunset I make it onto the Steppe. I’m in awe of how far I can see…am I seeing the curvature of the Earth?
I begin to hunt for camp and there is nothing to hide me from the road. I’m not really fearful of truck drivers as I have gotten encouragement from all of them. More smiles, thumbs up, and waves than China! These guys are fairly harmless.
I push off about 500 meters from the road and I am beginning to notice the mosquitos. My lazy self makes an attempt to sleep without the tent. After about an hour and near dark, I jump up choosing a few words to come out of my mouth and throw the tent up. Christ, the mosquitoes! …And it will only get worse.
This photo shows a curvature in the opposite direction because of lens distortion…and I’m limited with photo editing software right now.