Wandering CrankWandering Crank

Biking the World one crank at a time

Remnants of the South Aral Sea

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , ,

Very quickly the road deteriorates into a bad mud track.  Even 4x4s have to slow right down.  We are enveloped in dust, rattled around by the endless potholes.  After about 10km of this we scoot across to an area where it looks like there is a road under construction, it was.  We even joined the workers for lunch in the shade of a vehicle.  They welcomed us and we shared our dates with them; always remember to bring a gift.  Despite the wind, against us again, we had an easy afternoon cruising along compacted gravel.

On looking for a place to camp out of the wind, we asked at the workers’ camp if we could pitch our tents next to a wall.  We were taken aback when they spoke fluent English.  Nilufar was the translator for the Chinese and International teams.  Nilufar spoke with the deputy engineer, Muhammad, for the project and we found ourselves whisked into the executive worker’s hut and given a room with a warm shower, functioning toilet, kitchen and even a gym!  Muhammed, from Pakistan, also offered to cook.

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The steppe and Uzbekistan awaits

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , ,

We set off with the intention of using as much time with the reduced wind as possible; however, this didn’t happen with a puncture of Julia’s bike.  We knew the wind would pick up in the afternoon and there was a good chance of rain in the evening.  Cycling across the steppe was a mixture of good compacted and churned-up mud track.  We carried water and food for two days.  We came across no one on the steppe.   Only camels, horses, destroyed buildings and abandoned trig points.

We found some cover from the winds in a destroyed building and started cooking immediately.  There were some creatures here that could do us some harm, but luckily we were too early for them.  We just about finished and dished out as the rain started.  We sat in our tents eating our food. A miserable end to the day. The rain had turned the mud track into a bit of a nightmare with the mud now sticking to our tyres and in Julia’s case, clogging up the fenders and forcing her to stop.

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The grandfathers of pilgrimage

by Nathan Molyneaux on category ,

Hosted in Zhanaozen

Zhanaozen is a small but pleasant city for a rest, and our hosts Zhanibek and Aliya were excellent at showing us the highlights and introducing us to the food and culture of Kazakhstan.  They had made the national dish of Beshbarmak, lasagne sheets with horse meat, fried onions and some choice beef cuts.  It was tasty and a lovely surprise.  It was my first time eating horse meat and it reminded me of a good beef cut, maybe a little tougher.

After the meal they took us around the town at night to view the highlights; however, we also noted how many of the children were still out and playing so late at night.  We later found out that Kazakhstan has a shift system for schools.  Children might go to school in the morning, afternoon or evening.  An issue caused by too few teachers and a quickly expanding population.

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Kutaisi, Aktau and the road to Zhanaozen

by Nathan Molyneaux on category ,

The journey to Kutaisi was not the most enjoyable.  It was a main road full of cars and trucks but lots of places to stop and grab a coffee, or a bite to eat and have a quick chat with the locals.  Kutaisi was a busy city.  I was spending three nights there, the first in a hostel and the other two hosted by Paul from the US, an English teacher at the university.  I discussed the problem of getting bike boxes and he mentioned other guests who had the same problem.  The bike stores were all out.  A solution was to visit the appliance stores and hope they had one.  Eventually, I found one that did. A fridge freezer box.

In the evening we met with a couple of Paul’s friends to play Scrabble.  It was disastrous for me; Scrabble is not a game for me.  Not enough strategy.  It was a fun evening all the same.  My last day was used creating a box for the bike and trying to stay within the baggage limits.  I failed! 

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The restart and Shromantic Gardens

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , ,

Getting off the sofa in the first place is quite often the hardest part of an adventure, but doing it again knowing it will be cold and wet makes me regret pausing my journey!  Although being at home with parents all day pushes you out the door.  But I did start again and am happy that I did.  Why did I stop?

After a quick flight to Istanbul with the bike and a new saddle, hopefully less pain this time, I found myself a quick hotel for the night.  The next day, knowing crossing the mountains would be very cold in March I decided for a coach over to Trabzon.

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