Tales of Kazakhstan on Two Wheels

[MotoNews]

Published in: Rides

It’s noon in the blistering heat. I drop the bike again on the sand track over the Taukum Desert. After some cursing, I recall the warning voices of Marat, the owner of the rental bikes, and several others who told us not to come here. “Every time there’s trouble—people get lost, can’t find fuel, get hurt or break the bikes. Further, there are private hunting reserves in the area that can also cause headaches. It’s best not to go.”

Wise advice, but we decided to go anyway. After all, I’d prepared for the trip. Ran, swam and even did a few sessions of Pilates. All useless now. The only thing that can prepare you to ride a fully loaded motorcycle in the sand is riding it fully loaded in the sand. That’s it. I even suspect that the human body has some muscles that are exclusive to this and therefore impossible to train in any other way.

For the Taukum crossing we chose a “short” track of about 100 kilometers. That’s sand, mind you. And off to either side of the track were thorn-filled wild bushes. A nightmare.

Some may practice mindfulness a few minutes every day. Well, out here you’d have to practice for hours a day. Your full and complete attention is essential to lead laden bikes through these sandy tracks. And if you get distracted you’ll taste sand.

Speaking of distractions, during the first day all we saw were wild horses and camels, but while breaking camp the following morning, Tiago almost put his hand on an inquisitive brown scorpion who’d been busy exploring his backpack. Throughout the second day we had several other encounters with snakes, turtles, lizards, deer, spiders, a fox, and several varieties of insects and birds of small and large wingspans. Other than the sand I don’t understand why it’s called the “desert,” because life certainly thrives here.

That day, running on fumes and with water reserves down to the last few drops, we finally made it through the Taukum crossing and back to good old (if potholed) tarmac. We’d fulfilled most of the pessimistic prophecies: we fell, got lost, got a few bruises and hurt ribs, and we had to make repairs—but we made it!

Continuing on, we found the margins of the mighty Ily River, the largest in Kazakhstan and an important part of the historic Silk Route. We were heading east, toward the border of China, following the Ily’s path along endless miles of steppe. Following the river had been an excellent decision, as it allowed for great campsites by the water, making things much easier: baths, washing dishes, clothes, etc. All welcome comforts when one travels by motorcycle in full autonomy. Following the river, we rode into Kapshagay, a small but lively town that exists to support a strategic dam that creates the massive Kapshagay Reservoir. Due to its strategic importance, the dam is guarded by military forces.

Carrying on east, now riding around the large artificial lake, our goal was to enter the Altyn-Emel National Park directly, without going through the gate city of Bashi (which would imply a large tarmac detour). We were warned that it was not possible, but, wise as always, we decided to try anyway! End result? We had to ride all the way back, and then through the mountains to enter the park through the gate city, as everyone told us to do in the first place. On the one hand it was a bummer, but on the other it gave us a good dose of very scenic off-road miles and wasn’t that what we were there to do, anyway?

Due to the delay we ended up having to spend a night in the mountains, in a very beautiful area (as always), but where several snow and ice patches foresaw a chilly night. On the plus side, at least we had ice for the Kazak vodka we’d purchased in Kapshagay.

Following a shaky night, we headed to Bashi where we finally entered the Altyn-Emel National Park and climbed to the top of the majestic singing dunes as well as rode through miles and miles of absolutely spectacular scenery with amazing colors and “Martian” landscapes. We decided to camp inside the park at yet another amazing place; however, the visit of a large and insanely quick camel spider as well as some strong winds set us to our tents immediately after sunset.

After exploring Altyn-Emel, we headed for the Kazak Grand Canyon, the Charyn Canyon and, after that, for the lake area and mountain range along the border with Kyrgyzstan. The scenery was alpine, and we visited the Kolsai and Kaindy Lakes. Kaindy was our favorite, because it was much more isolated and mostly because of the quirky and extravagant beauty of the dead trees that rise from the crystal-clear lake waters—amazing scenery! Intrigued, we researched the phenomenon and learned that the lake was created during a large earthquake in 1911, and that despite the area being devastated and the trees destroyed, their logs remain standing, providing us with some fascinatingly Instagramable photos.

After the lakes we moved on to the final part of our journey, the crossing of two mountain ranges and the amazing Assy Plateau, heading for an old Russian astronomic observatory before returning to Almaty. After eight days and over 2,000 kilometers, this was one of the most amazing terrains we’d witnessed, with the good old DR650s having to climb steep rocky hills, cross snow patches, rivers and even reaching a peak of 3,000 meters above sea level.

The gang? Six friends with a respectable history of previous adventures together ensured that, despite the daily challenges, all social dynamics remained in high spirits. Even with the constant presence of undesired guests at most of our camps (spiders, snakes, ticks, scorpions, and mosquitos) we’ve always camped in postcard-beautiful locations and enjoyed every moment of it. But, an adventure such as this is made not only of landscapes, bikes and camps, but also the sense of camaraderie that comes with sharing scarce resources and living with constant challenges. It’s constructed of the practice of despoliation, frugality, mindfulness.

It’s made of the sense of riding through an endless plain with wild horses running by our sides, and of the people we meet along the way. We traveled in full autonomy through a country with a very, very low population density, therefore our days boiled down to the basic necessities of water, bread, petrol and the occasional beer. Peaceful, nice, generous… it’s how we describe the Kazaks after this incredible experience.

At a market where we stopped one day, a lady offered us a local chocolate. At another, meat pastries for lunch. At a remote village, I allowed a teenager to jump on the bike so his friend could take a smartphone photo. As a result, he invited us to his home and wanted me to have his wristwatch as a gift. Other encounters also left their mark, like when we were interviewed in the Kazak language by a local YouTuber star full of “bling,” or when a police officer stopped us on a slight speeding violation (90km/h where the limit was 80) and that after a long chat via Google Translator he let us go saying, “How can I punish you when you are my guests and so welcome here?” All these experiences led us to leave with an excellent impression of the country and its people.

As none of us spoke Kazakh or Russian, Google Translator was our best friend (when there was mobile coverage, which was almost never).

At restaurants the situation was always the same: we gestured what could we eat, whereupon someone would start saying stuff we couldn’t understand, and we just said “La! Da…” (yes, in Kazakh and Russian) and then gesturing number six and pointed to the six of us, we’d wait for whatever surprise meal that would show up. We always ate well. And the prices? Between 10€ and 25€ for a group of six!

Europe doesn’t have much of a footprint around here. The country seems to be in transition from the old Soviet influence to one governed more by Chinese power and interests. And there are a few examples of an interesting mix, like old decaying (but still standing) Soviet infrastructure, modernized by Chinese equipment like bakanas streetlights; old, heavy, robust Soviet structures, now modernized by Chinese LED, “plastic fantastic” luminaries; rusting communication towers now adorned with modern Chinese communication devices, etc.

Kazakhstan is a country with a tradition of rural and nomadic activities for millennials. In the recent past it was supported exclusively by oil and mineral exploitation that now sits between Russian and Chinese influence, in a world where oil is losing relevance. It’s therefore trying to change its economic profile and bet on tourism as a way to diversify. And in fact, the natural base is all there; however, from what we saw, there is absolutely no infrastructure yet and that’s great! Just how we like it!

[Editor’s note: The motorcycles in this story were rented from Silk Off Road (Silkoffroad.kz).]

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Renato Braz is Portuguese who enjoys independent travelling, especially when it comes to exploring the corners of the world on two wheels and with good friends. Gypsy style! He’s also passionate about the transition towards a clean energy future and is working on it by helping to stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation in the field of cleantech and sustainable energy. Linkedin: rbraz | Instagram: rbraz80

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