Kazakhstan route over the next week
 

I'm currently in Beyneu and heading for Atyrau tomorrow (Tuesday 21st) before going on to Uralsk and then Aktobe

If anyone has any advice/suggestions/places to visit/stay please feel free to let me know

Cheers

Mark

Mark

Not the most exciting roads, but this is the way I've been:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...ic&usp=sharing

(change colour = new day)

Uralsk it is then??

Ian

Hey Ian, I'm trying to decide whether I should ship my bike from Almaty to Moscow or ride back via Aktobe and Astrakhan along the road you took to Almaty.

Anything interesting along that way? Looks kind of long and boring...

Its long and boring, I would spend more time elsewhere if time is a factor like East Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, & Tajik Pamir and ship the bike back

Confirmed! I'm in Kyrgyzstan now, total opposite to Kazakhstan. People still great, definitely a poorer less developed country.

IMHO though I always feel planes and trains are 'cheating' somehow! I like to feel I've ridden the whole way, even if boring. Just a personal opinion.

Yep - lots and lots (and lots) of long straight roads across vast expanses of desert scrub/grassland/farm crops(in the north)

Road from Aktobe (theres a town to forget) to Kostanay was a bit more of a mix - Nearly 800km- early part was across green grass steppe Then later enormous stretches are farm crops then almost northern European feel to the flora
And quite a few km's of dirt track/sandy track (at the side of a new road being built) and about 40km of broken up potholed tarmac that I rode a lot of alongside on packed earth that was great to ride.

Taking a break tomorrow in Kostanay before pushing on to Astana

Nah, I'm over that. A few trips to the East from Moscow cures you of that pretty quickly...