Today I felt grumpy all morning. The wind is now beginning to frustrate me. In my face all day long. And when a lorry either overtakes or passes from the other direction the turbulence off the back of these things makes riding feel like I am going through an ocean wave, on a bicycle, pulling me in all directions like a spinning top. Bah!
I made it to Toreti/Baykoner in the early afternoon and found a hotel on the main road. Exhausted and having had enough I decide to stop. Tired I try the door to find it is locked. I can hear voices inside so I knock. At which point a rather rude voice shouts something unwelcoming in Kazakh towards me. I try again only this time to have the door swung open, more shouts and then the door slammed shut. Not the best I muse, so I head into town to try and find somewhere to stop for the night.
Toreti is a depressing one street town with a very dusty market in the centre and not much else. I find the train station and hope to find something there but fail. Baykoner is just a couple of kms down the road so I think that I will try there. However this being Space Town it has a military guard on the road leading into the town, and I am not allowed in. Apparently there is a hotel in there somewhere. But you need special permission just to get in. I give up and plan to try the grumpy place instead.
This time I get in. She has calmed down a little and has decided to let guests in. I am joined by a fellow cyclist who looks rather the worse for wear. He is exhausted and has had enough of the heat and wind and now only cycles at night. We talk and I find out that he is from Stuttgart and he has cycle Kazakhstan before, but wants to complete this southern section so he can say he has ridden from one end to the other. A few years ago he rode from Stuttgart to Cameroon, with Nigeria being a particular favourite destination.
Part of the Baykoner Cosmodrome that is visible from the main east/west M 32 highway. Baykoner town is located about 5kms to the south.
I made it to Toreti/Baykoner in the early afternoon and found a hotel on the main road. Exhausted and having had enough I decide to stop. Tired I try the door to find it is locked. I can hear voices inside so I knock. At which point a rather rude voice shouts something unwelcoming in Kazakh towards me. I try again only this time to have the door swung open, more shouts and then the door slammed shut. Not the best I muse, so I head into town to try and find somewhere to stop for the night.
Toreti is a depressing one street town with a very dusty market in the centre and not much else. I find the train station and hope to find something there but fail. Baykoner is just a couple of kms down the road so I think that I will try there. However this being Space Town it has a military guard on the road leading into the town, and I am not allowed in. Apparently there is a hotel in there somewhere. But you need special permission just to get in. I give up and plan to try the grumpy place instead.
This time I get in. She has calmed down a little and has decided to let guests in. I am joined by a fellow cyclist who looks rather the worse for wear. He is exhausted and has had enough of the heat and wind and now only cycles at night. We talk and I find out that he is from Stuttgart and he has cycle Kazakhstan before, but wants to complete this southern section so he can say he has ridden from one end to the other. A few years ago he rode from Stuttgart to Cameroon, with Nigeria being a particular favourite destination.
Part of the Baykoner Cosmodrome that is visible from the main east/west M 32 highway. Baykoner town is located about 5kms to the south.
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