Crossing the Kazakh-Chinese border

On the day we crossed the border our initial plan was to camp about 20 km before the border and enter China the next day. We wanted to have sufficient time for leaving Kazakhstan, and thus Central Asia, and entering our 6th country on our journey. In the middle of the day, however, we decided spontaneously to enter China on the same day. The last few days were cold and we were really fed up with the poor food we had on the road. We imagined China, precisely Korgas as the first Chinese city behind the border, as our food paradise.

So we rushed to the border. We didn't know the business hours of the border station but we had something like from 7 am to 7 pm in our head. At 2 pm we were still 30 km away from the border. Suddenly we remembered that China has only one time zone, Beijing time. As Beijing is 2 hours ahead of Kazakhstan, so was Korgas. We were afraid that the Chinese would close the border at 5 pm. So we pedaled even harder. In total it was a 90 km ride to the border with a constant 1% climb on the last 30 km.

At 4:40 pm we arrived at the first Kazakh border post. They told us to hurry up. The border station would close soon. At that time we knew our assumption was right. From the first border post it was still about one km to the second Kazakh border post. The chief officer stopped us and contacted somebody on his walkie-talkie. We could pass but again we were told to hurry up. At 4:45 pm we arrived at the customs and passport handling. We handed over our registration card and got our departure stamp. At the customs they were expecting us. We were the last persons passing through the customs. Nobody showed any interest. They simply waved us through and the closed the border on the Kazakh side after us. The last Kazakh officer told us that the Chinese border would close in 10 minutes time.

On the Chinese side we were stopped by two border posts. The people at the last border post tried to explain that we couldn't go further to the customs and immigration building that was only 20 m in front of us. We didn't understand why and made an innocent face. They looked at the clock that showed 4:55 pm, didn't know what to do, sighed and let us through. The customs and immigration building was a modern building with all the security devices that you would expect at a border station. When we saw all that we realized how poorly equipped the Kazakh side was.

The Chinese customs officer were very curious but friendly. They were interested why I look like a Chinese, what my parents' name are and what they do. They checked our bags thoroughly. Very nice people!

We believe that our very late arrival made the border crossing very easy. Everybody wanted to go home what was to our advantage. There we were in China. We left Central Asia without paying any bribes! Yippiee! A new chapter has started with China and Southeast Asia.

Right after the border skyscrapers, very good roads and many cars welcomed us. What a difference! Only some minutes ago we still saw donkeys. We stayed a night in Korgas in a nice and cheap hotel and took a long shower. That night and the day after we ate at Chinese street rerstaurants. It was definitely the best food since we left home! We are finally in food paradise!

A sleeper bus took us 700 km over night to Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang province. The beds were small but still ok for us. Standard Europeans would very likely have problems with the size. In the morning when we woke up, we were already in Ürümqi. Somehow we were sad that we missed that part of the road. What we had seen in the evening from the bus, had looked like a really nice road to ride by bike.

Winter in September

Total distance: 4268 km
Almaty - Shilik - Kökpek - Shonzy - Köktal - Korgas

After a relaxing week in Almaty it was time again to get back on the saddles. We were ready to tackle our last stretch in Kazakhstan, from Almaty to the Chinese border in Korgas. We set off very early on a cold September morning. The temperature dropped to 12°C. We wore our all-weather gloves that we had not worn since Sweden in June. It took us 20 km with heavy traffic to reach Almaty's suburbs. After 50 km we could say that the city traffic was gone. We were back in the countryside.

When we left Almaty we had only 4300 Tenge left (22 EUR or 29 USD). Our concern was that it wouldn't be enough for approximately 5 days to the Chinese border. However, we reached China with 1700 Tenge still in our pockets. You don't need much in the countryside, especially when sleeping all nights in the tent. Our last Tenge were only spent on bread, vegetables and chocolate.

The 5 days that we cycled in southeast Kazakhstan and the Tian Shan mountain range were a big surprise with regards to the weather. When we left Almaty it was cold but it was getting even colder. The temperature dropped to only 5°C. It was raining too so that we wore our rain gear again. The last time we touched our rain gear was in Sweden. During these cold days we pitched our tent very early every day to look for shelter from the cold wind. Soup, spiced up with noodles and vegetable, was our daily dinner. Hot soup is the ideal food when it is cold. Cold and rain did also change our mood and plans to cycle further into the Tian Shan mountains at an altitude of 2000 m. At a junction we took the hard decision to ditch the Charyn Canyon and probably more spectacular mountains. Clouds were hanging low, it was raining and it was too cold. Our cloths were good enough for 5°C, but it shouldn't have got any colder. So we took the direct road to China. When we had Taz on the phone, he told us that the weather was unusually cold for this season. Bad luck!

Chocolate and tea season again

Despite the bad weather we were able to see parts of the beauty of southeast Kazakhstan. The Tian Shan mountain range accompanied us all the way. We very much enjoyed the loneliness and the view till the horizon.

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Almaty

Our first two days in Almaty consisted of sleeping and eating. We were so tired from the long ride to Almaty that it felt so good simply doing nothing. Walking through the city center and looking for food (we found the best cheese somsas in Almaty) and good coffee was the only sportive activity. The bicycles were left untouched for seven days in Almaty.

We had heard a lot of stories about Almaty and how similar to Europe or the USA the city would be. Almaty did not disappoint us. Huge and modern buildings, great supermarkets and people with the latest devices like the iPad, everything can be found in Almaty.

In Almaty we tried couchsurfing for the very first time. Brock was our host and offered us his comfy couch for 5 days. We had the best shower of our journey at this place. It was one of these showers where water comes from all directions, with romantic light etc. Brock is a teacher from the U.S. who has been living in Almaty since 2 years. We met his friends and colleagues at several occasions and had a great time. It was very interesting hearing stories about Kazakhstan from 'local' foreigners. At one of the gatherings we were surprised by Raphael, a French cyclist who we had met back in Tashkent, who surfed the couch of one of Brock's colleague. The world is so small. Another colleague, a Kazakh woman, was very interested in our trip and asked many questions. It was funny to hear that she had the same questions and concerns that we had had as well. "Where do you sleep? What do you eat? What do you do if your bicycle breaks down? Have you met any bad people?" All the questions and concerns get answered automatically when you start to be on the road. She also asked for our honest opinion about Kazakh people compared to the other Central Asian people. We told her that Kazakh people are rather shy, not as enthusiastic and excited to see cyclists. They also do not invite people spontaneously for tea. She confirmed our image of the Kazakh people. There is even the Kazakh saying 'Don't behave like an Uzbek'. Kazakh hear this when they get too enthusiastic for example.

The city itself does not have too many sights. We saw the Green Market, Panfilov Park with its wooden and colourful church. The most striking sight are the mountains just behind the city's limits. The view on the mountains from everywhere in the city is stunning. If you believe that Nice has nearby mountains, you should come to Almaty.

In Almaty it was high time for a hair cut. I hesitated as I didn't know how to explain what I wanted. The easy solution was my passport photo. The guy did an excellent job. It was probably the best hair cut I have ever had. No communication needed, just bring your passport photo!

On our way to Almaty we had contacted Tas, an Australian pilot based in Almaty and enthusiastic outdoor person. We had dinner together with him and his colleague Dave, another Australian pilot. Tas wanted us to stay longer in Almaty so that he could show us Almaty's outdoor places. We would have loved to go hiking and cycling with him but after being already in Almaty for a week, we felt it was time to move on.

When we had arrived in Almaty the week before, it had been summer. This changed quickly during the week we stayed in Almaty. It was getting chilly and we swapped our shoes, no more sandals. The fresh autumn air was a welcomed change after the hot summer in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

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Snapshot: Kazakh grassland

We cycled a long time through Kazakh grassland. 50 km outside of Almaty on our way to China we camped one night in this special 'grass' field - but as tired as we were from cycling we didn't notice until the next morning.

Pay attention to the police car in the background.

Snapshot: gypsy cab

When we entered Kazakhstan we noticed that many people stand at the roadside with an extended arm in order to flag down so called gypsy cabs. Ordinary cars stop, quick negotiation follow and either they get the ride or they wait for the next car.

In Almaty we tried it ourselves. One occasion was when we got lost after we had used the wrong tram. It was very easy and we didn't wait long. within 10 seconds the first car stopped. Everybody uses this system. So we saw only a few official taxis.

Snapshot: cars in Kazakhstan

One thing that you can't miss as a cyclist are cars. So many cars pass us so that we notice some interesting things.

In an earlier post we mentioned that Kazakhs love German car makes. But even more interesting is that many German cars and lorries did actually run in Germany. Even some Almaty tram wagons are from Leipzig. Many cars and lorries still have the German country code sticker "D" or the 3-colour 'environment' stickers. Many still have German advertisement. There are so many of them here in Kazakhstan. I wonder how many officially scrapped (according to the rules of the so called Umweltprämie) German cars have made it in one piece to other countries.

When it comes to buses we saw many from France, the Netherlands and Belgium. And dear Saarländer, there was even a bus from Saarland in Shymkent. 

Some cars have yellow number plates. When you see those, the probability that the driver is a foreigner is very high. Yellow number plates are assigned to cars belonging to foreign companies. Not sure whether this is an advantage in Central Asia.

Shimbulak

If you haven't been to the mountains, you haven't been to Almaty! So we went to Shymbulak, a ski resort that is only 25 km far from the city. We were a bit unlucky. The whole ski resort is a big construction site at the moment as they are building new building and roads for the Asian Winter Games 2011 in Astana and Almaty. When we reached the top, we had about 20 minutes more or less good visibility. A bit later we were inside the cold clouds. Still it's a fantastic place! Perfect for outdoor activities.

 

We need food! The long ride from Shymkent to Almaty

Total distance: 3864 km
Shymkent - Taraz - Merke - Korday - Almaty

Rolling hills

2 days in Shymkent were enough to see the city's highlights. One thing that we noticed immediately were the different faces in Shymkent. We saw many people with a Chinese face, others were more nomadic looking and again others looked like Russians. While we were walking around, we did not catch eyes like in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. We could have been locals too.

We did get registered easily at the immigration office on Tuesday. No problems at all. There is one strange thing with German passports though. Whenever people look at our passports, they look helplessly because it's not written on the front where we are from. Swiss passports for example do mention 'Switzerland' on the front but German passports show only 'Bundesrepublik Deutschland'.

Before we left Shymkent we took advantage of the post office and sent a parcel back home. We are not sure what the French influence on the Kazakh post is or was, but our parcel got stamped with 'petit paquet' and 'recommandé'.

Japanese's front tyre

On our way from Shymkent to Almaty we met the first non-European and non-Australian cyclists. One Thai guy was on his way to Uzbekistan. But truly the craziest cyclist we have met so far was a Japanese. We saw a rolling something, him on his bicycle, coming towards us on the other side. From far he looked like a someone with 2 m of baggage behind him. He only introduced himself as "Hello, I am Japanese". Well, ok, Japanese has been on the road since 2003 and has cycled nearly the whole world. He told us that in the Sahara he carried 40 l water, i.e. 40 kg additional weight! He was on the way to Monaco and had pedaled 97000 (ninety-seven thousand!) km! Have a look at his front tyre - if you can still call it tyre. He was already riding on the Schwalbe Marathon Plus interior protection layer. By the way, we (Sarah with her Schwalbe Marathon tyres) have had only two punctures so far - both on the same day because we had lunch in a field full of thorns. Well, we learned a lesson from that ;-) All cyclists who we met picked Schwalbe tyres. Locals love to touch our tyres and are surprised how hard they are. One Kazakh pointed at our tyres and asked "Germanski?'"... "Da! Germanski" we replied. He smiled, was satisfied and explained with gestures how Chinese tyres would explode after only a few kilometers.

We made a stopover in Taraz and stayed at Hotel Taraz, our only hotel and shower during the 9 days from Shymkent to Almaty. Sarah dared to get a haircut in Taraz. For less than 4 € and without any Russian she managed pretty well, don't you think? In Taraz we met a German retired couple in their German camper-van. They drove from Germany via Russia and Mongolia to China and were on their way back home through Central Asia. It was an organised tour with many German camper-vans but still quite an adventure.

When Cat and Adam had cycled from Almaty to Shymkent they had headwind. Knowing that we hoped to have good tailwind, as we were going exactly in the opposite direction. But the day we cycled out of Taraz there was such a strong headwind that we gave up after only 30 km. It was a real fight to cycle at only 6 km/h. So it was useless to continue. Our frustration was high. This was probably our shortest day on our bicycles so far.

Our idea to enter Kyrgyzstan from the north won't be feasible anymore. Our visa runs out on 15th September, not enough time to discover some parts of the country. Still we were in Kyrgyzstan for about two hours. One stretch of the way led through Kyrgyz territory three times. The Kyrgyz border guards - or were they Kazakh? - at one watchtower tried to stop us but we only greeted friendly and rolled away quickly. We didn't feel like getting into trouble and we heard stories of a cyclist who was sent back by the guards on that road. In Kazakhstan, however, we got stopped by police for the first time in Central Asia. They didn't want to see our passports. Their only interest was, as usual, where we are from ... "Germania. Ah, Guten Tag! Good-bye!" and we could continue.

We were lucky with the weather (sometimes still over 40°C) and the landscape was beautiful. The vast steppe, a herd of sheeps here and there, the proud Kazakh men on their horses, and the huge and impressive mountains always to our right. We actually find the Kazakh people to be really nice! It happened more than one time that after we had set up our tent in the evening, a rider on his horse came by, bringing his sheep home for the night. They stopped said hello, asked if we had enough water and if everything was alright, refused our offer of a cup of tea, wished us a good night and were gone again. We guess that this must be their nomadic roots. In the end we are not so much different from them, nomads as well - just on bicycles instead of horses.

It was easy to find a good place to camp in the evening. We were never far away from the main road but always hidden by rolling hills, trees or high steppe grass. The rolling hills in the evening and morning sun were amazing. The only creatures that woke us up were either mice looking for food inside our tent or horses.

The main reason why we got rabies vaccination is dogs in Kazakhstan. Many dogs along the road love to chase cyclists. We usually carry stones ready in our pockets. When we met chasing and barking dogs, we stopped and shouted back. A human, deep "wroaaaaaaaaar" can be scary too, we can tell you! Actually we never had to throw a stone. Imagine that, us on our bicycles barking back at dogs :)

The last kilometers to Almaty were painful. Although the road was good, we didn't know anymore how to sit on the saddle. Wrists, neck, back, legs, ass: everything hurt. When we found the Hotel Manas, we enjoyed a long and refreshing shower. A lot of dirt, layers of dust, came off our bodies.

Here we are, in Almaty, extremely exhausted after 9 days and 700 km of cycling but totally happy to relax in a big and modern city with all its advantages: good food and a shower! It feels like paradise!

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