John & Mick's BIG AdventureCaught speeding
Day 23 – 485 kms (8396 kms total)
Clear sunny skies this morning at 06:15 as we left the worst hotel to date.
John had another night of erratic snoring, (must feed him more beer).
Leaving Atbasar, the road out of town was full of holes, which we didn’t notice yesterday after coming off the dirt. We got to the main road and it was OKish for 5km, before we were forced off it again due to roadworks. The nights rain had muddied the track and as the soil has now taken a reddish tint, so when we finally left the soggy track & found tarmac after 12km, both bikes had a pink coating on the front.
As we approached Astana, the countryside conjured up some hills which seemed to make the landscape more interesting, but it didn’t last.
We drove into Astana to raid the cash point as we had run out again, but then got caught in dire traffic getting into town centre as they are digging up both sides of the main road. Then on the other side, absolute chaos as they are repairing a bridge. Just prior to this work there is no road, and with the earlier rain, this seems to be a lake, which we had to ride through amidst chaotic down town traffic. We stopped at a petrol station/ car wash (Astana Noor Oil) to check directions and get some snack. We were swamped with staff asking stuff and the manager – “Noorlan Botkenovich Moosulov” then took us to the café upstairs and treated us to lunch; a nice hot soup, followed by the regular meat in omelette roll with rice, coupled with a large pot of tea….far too much for a lunch, but such a friendly gesture.
We left with full bellies and plenty of directions out of Astana.
Charlie and Ewan should be grateful they got police escorts in and out of towns, cos without them, its hard work. Signposting has not caught on yet.
The road finally took on a new lease of life and proper tarmac felt good to ride on – too good in fact and I was stopped by a policeman who kindly informed us (in Russian) that the speed limit there was 40kmh. We nodded, thanked him and were on our way with a handshake and a smile, a far cry from Russian attitudes.
Having removed our winter gloves when leaving Astana, the weather soon closed in and we were heading into a fresh storm with some impressive lightning. We stopped just in time to re-waterproof ourselves, before the heavens opened, not too much at first, but fairly constant until we hit the outskirts of Karaganda where it absolutely lashed down.
Spotting a motel sign, we darted in and were met by a chap in army fatigues.
Room was exceedingly basic, but bigger than last night. Toilet at end of corridor, shower block outside. Cost for both, 1900 tenge (€6)
A welcome port in a storm and friendly staff. Bikes safely stowed in garage. Café down the corridor where we got two coffees and 2 beers for 300 Tenge and a free samosa each (we must be looking hungry today).
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