Manchester to Vietnam Part two
Well this was it. As I stepped off the boat and into Kazakhstan, I was now properly outside anything that could be considered Europe. After a frantic two hours searching for the two bags that contained all my valuables, I headed off and cycled the 5km towards Aktau – not the kind of place to take a vacation. Here I found a hotel for two nights whilst I resupplied and readied myself for the nearly 500 km ride to the next town of any significance.
I left Aktau with my bags seemingly bursting at the seems. With little to nowhere to resupply for the next 6 days and with water sources being few and far between, I thought it best to be well prepared and so I slowly began on my precarious way through the outskirts of the city and into the steppe.
I thus spent the next few days cycling along roads where bends of any kind were few and far between. The air was hot and dry and rest points were found in storm drains that ran at regular intervals underneath the road. camels trotted alongside me throughout the day and I even spotted a few packs of what muyst have been wild horses. These were sights that never ceased to take my breath away.
Something also has to be said too of the wonderfully clear and starried nights made possible by the distinct lack of light pollution of any kind. Camping under the stars and out in the steppe is something that will stay with me forever.
From Kazakhstan, I continued east and onto Uzbekistan where I encountered what – to this day – must count as the most frustrating border I have ever crossed and I say that having crossed into China too. I could write an entire blog post about that and fortunately I did: it can be found just above.
Ever since I had decided to take this trip, the silk road had aroused in me a kind of child like curiosity and central asia had been the one part of the trip that I invoked in me a facinating curiosity. Cities such as Samarkand and Bukhara were places that I had wanted to visit ever since first devising the trip but on this trip, Samarkand would have to be missed due to time constraints, the climate and difficult border crossings. I did however manage to visit Bukhara and you can see some of those photographs below.
After spending the best part of two weeks cycling through Uzbekistan, it’s beautiful cities, deserts and crazy/curious locals, I entered Tajikistan where I would at last, find the awe-inspiring’ roof of the world’
From it’s capital, Dushanbe’, I cycled east and onto the Pamirs with Brecht, a guy from Belgium I had met back in the hostel we were staying at in Dushanbe. This was the third time, I had had the opportunity to cycle with someone on the trip and I was mightily glad for the company. Soon after leaving Dushanbe, we came to a junction where the road splits. Cycling south would mean a 600 km ride to Khorog on mostly paved road, with ample supplies and no huge passes. Cycling east would mean 550 km’s on mostly gravel and sand, very few supplies and one huge 3300 metre pass. We took the eastern route, naturally.
The next few days were some of the hardest but also the most beautiful of the trip so far. The achingly beautiful landscape simply took my breath at every turn whilst the people were so very accommodating. The last climb before reaching Khorog quite literally floored me but I had made it to my first checkpoint – and for that I was eleated.
I spent three days in Khorog stocking up on supplies and utilizing to its fullest what must have been the town’s only ping pong table.
I had 700 km’s of hard, cold mountains ahead of me. It was the final push to China and it would no doubt be the hardest part of the trip thus far. To say that I wobbled out of Khorog with a heavy heart would be an understatement indeed.
The next few days were spent cycling on what people call “the roof of the world”, perhaps because it’s quite high up. It’s a strange place to find yourself really. It’s barren but awe-inspiring, fairly warm during the day but freezing at night. The shadows of the clouds drape themselves over the scenery due to their close proximity and it simply feels like another world: you truly do get a sense of how inconsquential you really are in this sort of environment.
Due to the height (you’re mostly above 4000 metres), it can be quite a challenge to exert any kind of effort but due to the acclimatization being relatively slow in the previous days (I was on a bicycle), I found the whole affair do-able. The whole experience was mesmerizing but you can read more about that below.
