Arrival in Aktau and rain

After a flight of just over an hour—Shaun, Cal, and I all enjoyed plenty of legroom in the emergency exit seats (only four out of six were occupied, so we also had lots of space for our arms)—we landed in Aktau, Kazakhstan at 03:40 local time. There wasn’t much going on; our flight was probably the only one arriving at that hour. So passport control went quickly—at least for me—and our luggage arrived on the belt just as fast.

Since I was the first of the three of us to pass passport control, I collected all the luggage and placed it on carts. Then I waited for the other two, wondering why it was taking them so long. It turned out they had both been taken into a small room to explain their reasons for entering Kazakhstan, while I was waved through after just a brief answer at the counter.

After passing customs, we were met by the driver Shaun had arranged through the hotel. Now there was also Cal, which didn’t seem to please the driver, but he accepted it—after all, the van we booked had enough space for all of us and our bikes. During the ride, he claimed to have waited for over an hour and suddenly demanded more than double the agreed price of 5500 Kazakh tenge. Communication was difficult since he didn’t speak English, and I couldn’t really use his phone keyboard (probably Cyrillic), plus I had no internet connection.

If the driver had known that the three of us weren’t even going to the same accommodation, things would have been even more complicated. But one step at a time. We first went to our hotel, and then Cal managed to explain that he was staying somewhere else. In the end, the driver accepted a total of 9000 tenge, and we parted ways with Cal for the moment.

At check-in, a young receptionist who spoke Russian told us that breakfast was from 7 to 10. She didn’t seem to understand the Kazakh I translated with Google, and when I asked how to say “hello” here, she replied with the Russian “Privet.” I joked that we would only have to wait another hour and a half for breakfast—since it was already 5:30 a.m.—but even when I translated it into Russian, she showed no reaction. Later, Shaun told me he had often experienced that Russian women don’t really react to jokes or humor—even if they find something funny, they don’t show it. I’m curious what kind of experiences I’ll have in Central Asia. After all, Anna, the Russian waitress in my favorite café in Tbilisi, was completely different.

When I woke up, it was already 13:30. I had thought that gradually moving east by bike would prevent jet lag, but that didn’t really turn out to be the case—at least it doesn’t feel like it. My sleep rhythm is completely off right now. And it won’t change anytime soon, because in a few days I’ll have to cross into Uzbekistan by train—the only road there is closed—and the scheduled departure is at 04:34 in the morning. I was advised to arrive at the station about three hours early with my bike, so that will be another short night.

Even now, I still find it quite frustrating that I had to fly—that it was the best among several unsatisfying options. At least my bike seems to be in good condition.

It rained almost the entire day today, and it wasn’t very warm either. But the forecast says the rain should stop tomorrow, with temperatures reaching around 15°C.

In the evening, just before it got dark, I went to the beach with Cal—I hadn’t even left the hotel room before that. Afterward, we went to a bar that supposedly had vegan options and met Shaun and his friends Luke and Sophie. They are on an incredible journey—walking from England to Vietnam.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chubbytrekka

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Back at the hotel, I finally unpacked my bike and reassembled everything. Shaun did the same, and we were busy with it until late into the night.