HalfWayThere diary

14/02/08 - Test SMS message

12/07/08 - General preparation stuff

14/07/08 - New riding gear, shakedown ride

18/07/08 - The night before...

19/07/08 - Day 1 - Maidenhead to Metz

20/07/08 - Day 2 - Metz to Regensburg

21/07/08 - Day 3: Regensburg to Bratislava

22/07/08 - Day 4 - Bratislava to Nowy Sacz

23/07/08 - Nowy Sacz to L'viv, Ukraine

24/07/08 - Drying out - a day off in L'viv

25/07/08 - L'viv to Rivne

26/07/08 - Full steam ahead to Kiev

28/07/08 - Wild goose chase in Odessa

29/07/08 - SMS from 447801678467

31/07/08 - SMS from 447801678467

01/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

02/08/08 - The after-effects of proper vodka

03/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

04/08/08 - Day off in Volgograd

05/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

06/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

07/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

08/08/08 - A day of negative progress!

09/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

10/08/08 - Almost got to Aral Sea, but turned

12/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

13/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

14/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

15/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

16/08/08 - Taraz - one more ride to Almaty!

17/08/08 - SMS from 447801678467

21/08/08 - Back at home!

19/04/10 - SMS from 447801678467

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08/08/08

A day of negative progress!

Minus 90 miles - back in Atyrau! I left the oil hostel boys to it at about 7.00 and headed for Muqat's only petrol station, which was luckily just opening up. Having found the hostel by means of taking an old local chap pillion, but foolishly let him go again, I had to struggle to remember the route back. After taking on maximum fuel load - 15 litres in the tank, and both 5-litre cans full as well - I set off to try and find the road to Aqtobe. My plan for the day was to head about 200 miles up the road to Shubaquruq (spelling to be corrected later!), spend the night there and then make Aqtobe the day after. It only took about 40 minutes and directions from 1 local and 1 policeman to find the single main road heading out of this tiny settlement, so the day was off to a good start. (the road had basically been blocked off, and moved somewhere else)

After another hour and only 15 miles progress, I decided to reconsider my plans. The photo on the photos page give some idea as to why - the road is a dirt road and the surface is terrible. The riding was great - it was a lovely cool morning, and large birds of prey (maybe golden eagles - there are supposed to be lots here) kept swooping up from the roadside (probably looking at me as a nice bit of future carrion!). But because of how easy it would have been to come off, and the fact that there wasn't another soul around, I decided to head back to Atyrau and take the northbound road to Ural instead. I would spend tonight there before heading down the main highway to Aqtobe.

The journey back to Atyrau was only about 60 miles on reasonable roads and it passed quickly. Shortly into it, I met 2 other British riders coming the other way - each on a heavily loaded Royal Enfield (very old fashioned bike with woeful suspension, still built in India. Here, a bike is measured by its springs!). 'Does the road get any worse than this?' they asked. I shook my head slowly and tutted in the superior fashion of one who knew that they'd seen nothing yet. 'Well, give it a go if you like, but I'm heading back....'. They had lots of camping gear - it might take them a week to get to Aqtobe but I'm sure they'll be fine.

Back in Atyrau, I decided it would be a good opportunity to pop into the local police station to register my visa before cracking onto Ural. After 2 taxi rides, a long wait with some other visitors (including a hearty and voluble Latvian trucker) and being told to go back at 3.00, I decided that riding was out the window for the day, and to come to the Internet cafe and write this instead.