Ok Kazakhstan isn't exactly exploring oz and may be just a lil far away from
home but none the less here's my trip report for anyone who may be interested.
So all preconceptions aside, most people think one thing when they think Kazakhstan, Borat. As a matter of fact the scenes supposedly shot in Kazakhstan were actually shot in Albania and don't represent the
geography or the culture one bit.
Kazakhstan is actually booming, road works cover the whole country. Not like in Australia where limited resources are used to build a small stretch over a long period of time. The whole country is under construction simultaneously. Each major town has a massive roadworks plant on the outskirts. And let me tell you, the completed sections of highway put most roads back in oz to shame. There are still some long gruelling sections of road works where you fight oncoming semis for the less potholes sections of the road. Anyway enough about highways that's not what we are all about!
We entered from Russia on our overland journey from London to Cape Town crossing the border to a town called uralsk. from there we charged across the stepp to Aralsk for our first bit of 4x4 action. On the highway We passed many camels roaming wildly, also loads of red, scrub covered sand dunes reminiscent of the Simpson.
Aralsk is the site of one of the worst ecological disasters of the 20th century. In the 60's when Kazakhstan was still part of the Soviet Union the soviets diverted the two rivers that feed the Aral Sea for cotton production. This resulted in a drop in the sea level and rise in salinity. It came to a point in the 80's where the sea receded up to 100km from the harbour town of Aralsk. This destroyed their main industry of fishing and there were many other other negative effects on the environment and health of the locals.
Ships were left to rust on the sea floor.
This was one of the things we came to see, the ship
cemetery of Zhalanash. We first visited the dried up harbour of Aralsk where a few lonely boats still sit propped up on concrete blocks. The cranes that were used to unload the boats rise above the town as a constant rusted out reminder of their loss.
Zhalanash is a 60km off-road drive through the desert before the trail ends and you begin your trek on the sea floor to the ship
cemetery. It can be reached directly from Aralsk by driving on the sea floor but not recommended without a guide.
We drove on the sea floor for about 5km before reaching the ship
cemetery. There were once 14 ships here, over the years they have been cut up and sent to China as scrap metal, 4 remain in pieces. It's pretty striking to see where the shore use to be and the vast emptiness that follows.
From there we picked up a trail and thought we'd try our luck and see if we could make it to the water. We followed it for another 10km before we reached water. There were 3 small wooden fishing boats there, a sign that the locals haven't given up hope. A
dam was constructed and opened in 2006 which has seen a slow but steady increase in the water levels.
driving on the sea floor
The Aral Sea
From here we started making tracks for Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest and most cosmopolitan city at the foot of the Tian Shan mountain range. About 1700km through various landscapes, deserts, snow capped mountains, vast flood plains all made for some interesting scenery.
It's a very interesting city, tidy, pretty and full of friendly people.
The poor Russian roads and some of the long stretches of roadworks took their toll on our cheap Chinese alloy roof cage. Probably the biggest mistake I made building up the troopy. Looking back I don't know what I was thinking, maybe it was the $2000 price tag of an ARB one. Or the fact the steel Chinese one I had on my patrol was still going strong after 25,000km of punishing km on Aussie roads.
We found an ARB dealership here in Almaty, they have a massive 4x4 culture here, with predominant Japanese 4x4s sporting all the Aussie goodies. They love it, half the fourbies either have ARB, tough dog or Ironman stickers covering them. This worked
well for us because ARB had a steel full length roof cage suitable for our troopy in stock
and ready to go.
One of the many jacked up 4bies going around
The guys there were absolutely awesome Victor and Anna were the two English speaking employees that we dealt with. Our roof cage had all sorts bolted, strapped and wired to it so it was far from a straight forward job. Turned out after two days of labour with up to 6 blokes helping out they only charged us about $200. This included looking over the car and welding up a busted exhaust bracket. We tried to pay them more but they wouldn't accept any more. They told us they charge the locals more but for us overlanders they do a special price.
We also met Tim and Nic, father and son from
Leura in the blue mountains. They were travelling from Vladivostok to England in their 1980's troopy. ARB were going above and beyond what was necessary to help them sort a few small issues their troopy. We had them over for dinner at an apartment we were renting in Almaty.
Tim and Nick and the ARB Almaty team
From Almaty we headed up to shymbluk a ski resort in mountains that surround almaty. It's only a 30km drive and your in the snow capped mountains. The final ascent sees you climbing to 2500m and is really steep. From here we got a cable car to the top of the mountains and within a few hundred meters of a glacier slowly working it's way down one of the peaks. You get an incredible panoramic view of Almaty from here.
This is a real truck, Russia Ural 6x6
We camped in the mountains that morning so we could get an early start because after the cable car we were off to the Charyn cannon. It's the '
grand canyon of Kazakhstan' and only a 200km drive.
The last 20km of the drive is down a rough badly corrugated track before you enter the national park. There were bugger all people around and some spectacular
views of the canyon and surrounding mountains to be had. There is a proper 4x4 track into the base of the canyon where we planned to
camp that night. We hit it and were finally able to crank low range for the first time in our trip. The road into the canyon is amazing particularly in the late afternoon with the sun striking the rocks and drawing the different colors. At the base of the canyon there was a pristine river flowing surrounded by Prehistoric Sodgian Ash trees. It was a welcome sight after driving around in the dusty desert from most of the day. We camped the night here and were invited to dinner by some of the locals. It was a great meal with great company and plenty of vodka. It's amazing how much you can learn about people with hand gestures and maybe a few words of the local lingo.
The next day we spent chilling out by the river and exploring a little more around the canyon.
Getting out of the canyon proved challenging, even with low tire pressures, locked Diffs the troopy struggled right at the peak. So much weight in it, we are pushing easily 3.5t.
A tight fit with a few cm to spare!
After some mucking around we were off to the Alatu Emle national park. This route took us with in 50km of the Chinese border, which is as Far East as we will be travelling and a bit of a detour on the way to Cape Town from London.
The Alatu Emle National park is
home to the singing
sand dune, white mountains and a few other attractions. You need a guide to escort you because of the distances between the sites and remoteness, most peoples vehicles are not suitable for the trail either.
We spent the next few days camping and following the guide in his old Russian 4x4 van through the park while checking out the sites. Unfortunately for me, being in a wheelchair not everything was accessible. But none the less we got to see some amazing landscapes. Particularly the singing
sand dune which must be 70 odd meters tall and emits a humming comparable to a jet engine when the wind hits it. Scientist are still unable to explain the phenomenon.
our setup vs traditional Kazak yurt.
We made our way back to Almaty visiting lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan's biggest lake and camping for the night.
The next leg of our trip will take us into Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Over the Pamir Highway second highest road at 4655m.
We stopped in to ARB once again as we needed to do a service and tweak a few things on the car. We spent half a day there using their hoist and all their equipment. They refused to charge us. Kazakhstan's hospitality at its best.
Although it's a long way from
home he highly recommend visiting Kazakhstan. It's one of those less travelled destinations that has so much to offer with such contrasts and so many friendly people.
If you want to hear more about our trip we have many, may more stories and pics on our blog
LOSTABOUND.
I'm in a wheelchair after falling off a
cliff in 2009 and breaking my back. We are traveling around the world to raise funds for spinal cord injuries Australia, so please donate if you like our blog.