By Trudy and Marijke

Opening photo

The first three days of travel in Kazakhstan

We wake up in the fancy hotel. We took a taxi in style to an ATM and the supermarket.

We go out of the city over the big bridge towards the city of Karaul. A straight road to the south with a direct headwind.

The first part is flat and green.

Then rolling with silver-shining blades of grass, flowers, blooming broom, small waters. Very diverse, except for the storm, which remains. It looks like Patagonia. After 190 km we arrive in the city. We refuel and look for a café. We are taken there. We drank a delicious cup of coffee there. And………..it turned out that we can eat and sleep there. What a luck. We pack the Model T in the storm and rain.

The next morning we couldn’t leave the hotel. Door locked. We wait for the ladies, who prepared a delicious breakfast for us.

The wind was so strong that Dirk could not carry out all the maintenance.

Marijke asked a lady for the right way out of the city. A musician also came along and spontaneously started playing for us on his dumber.

What a great start. The road is 150 km long and full of holes and bumps. It looks like an attraction.

The landscape is beautiful and varied.

At the end of the road we go to a café for coffee, but without objection we were also served a Kazakh dish.

After a big hug from the hostess we drive the last 85 km.

With help we found a beautiful place to sleep in the middle of the greenery. A group accommodation with 2 dormitories with four beds each and a restaurant under construction made of sleepers.

The next morning have breakfast on the sunny terrace. We heard the flowing stream and the birds singing beautifully.

At first it doesn’t seem like the wind is blowing that hard, but after riding up the 12% slope, Trudy’s head was banging just as hard as it had been the past few days. Headwind! The Model T is having a hard time, but it still doesn’t complain, how good it is: for so many kilometres.

The landscape changed: more hilly. We also saw cranes.

Around 4 o’clock we drove into a town to do some shopping and withdraw money. Dirk asked one of the boys, who was taking photos near the Model T, about a restaurant. We went to the best restaurant in this city.

We received a warm welcome and were treated to a delicious Kazakh meal. So beautiful, lots and delicious. They treated us like guests of honour. We are very spoiled.

It’s too late to continue driving. One of the employees drove us on a motorcycle to a nearby motel.