Kazakh Roads

Yesterday was a great drive from Atyrau to Oral (Uralsk). The road was magnificantly straight and bump free! The other road, to the east, we heard was frought with so many potholes that people routinely drive in tracks in the desert parallel to the road.

We had some interesting and diverse interactions with the Kazakh people yesterday. The spectrum was covered. We met terrific people and terribly cranky people. We got kicked out of a gas station for inquiring as to where we might buy a certain adapter for our LPG tank. I even got into a shouting match with a police officer who, I think, stopped me for not having my headlights on - at 5:30PM. After I gave him a flask of special "American vodka" (ask me in person about that sometime), he gave me my driver's license back.

We're in Aktobe now. We've met up with some Englishmen who we'll convoy with for a few days. We are going to head towards Kustanay tonight and camp somewhere along the way. We have run out of time/money on our cell phone, so the map (www.charityrallies.org/thelostcrusade) may not be updated for a few days until we can sort something out.

The road awaits! I wish I could be more detailed, but we must be on our way.

Camels crossing the road. I didn't even know that had camels in Kazakhstan until this trip. We've seen many heards and flocks of livestock here, but interestingly we've yet to see a fence.

Out in the countryside looking for a campsite.

Ran into this little hedgehog while looking for a spot to camp.

A grassy spot to sleep, trees for cover, and a good sunset. We'll drink to that.