October 10th

B - Reporting

We woke early, as we ususally do when in a new place...only to find the sun high in the sky and the realisation that we are now an hour ahead! So did we wake v early, or quite late? Who knows...

After breakfast and a successful search for a supermarket (though we failed to find Peanut Butter, which is now our equivalent of the Holy Grail) we headed out of town. Confusion at a junction enbaled a Kazak cop to insist we must pay a 'protocol' which G managed to bargain down...no paperwork was filled out, strangely!

It was a long drive to Turkistan, the holiest city in Kazakhstan, with one of Kazakhstan's most beautiful buldings. We know this only from the guide book, because the building in question was completely covered in scaffolding when we got there. UNESCO scaffolding, but still! We did see a very nice camel in the rose garden, though.

Then a lot more driving, which will be the theme till we cross into Russia. Kazakhstan is huge! And the roads, mainly, awful.

We found an old gravel pit close to the road by about 6pm. Gravel pits are great for this sort of camping: close to the road, yet out of sight of traffic; smooth flat ground; no bushes or grass for spiders to lurk in! It was pretty windy, but we were cozy in dear old Swiss. Very cold as soon as the sun set, though the moon, nearly full, was almost bright enough to read by!

Scaffolding obscuring the famous dome

Beer in the sand pit!