10/08/08
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Almost got to Aral Sea, but turned
Still in Aqtobe, but 380 miles done today! 5099 miles in total. I planned to take the main M32 route from Aqtobe down to Aral today - should have been a straightforward 400 miles. Before setting off, I asked a taxi driver for his opinion of the road (not that there were many alternatives that he might have been able to suggest). The upshot of 5 minutes discussion with all the other drivers standing around was that the first half was 'super', but the second half? 'Nyet doroga!'. No road? Maybe they just meant it was a bit bumpy. Anyway, fully loaded with fuel, I set off, excited to be heading to the Aral Sea and its ship cemetery. This was one of my most eagerly-awaited parts of the trip.
Well, the taxi drivers' collective wisdom proved to be spot on. The first 180 miles flew past on lovely smooth tarmac, rolling through the steppe. Then all of a sudden - nyet doroga! Oh dear. 300kms of road works coming up. The road turned into a bombsite of ruts and potholes. I moved onto the temporary road - sand and gravel. Slithering all over the place, I covered about 8 miles in 40 minutes. Great fun in a way, but it wasn't going to get me to Aral before nightfall. With no other towns between here and there, nobody else around and no mobile signal, it was clear that this would be a risky venture for a solo motorcyclist. Very disappointing, but the consequences of coming off and breaking a wrist didn't bear thinking about. With a heavy heart I turned around and rode back to Aqtobe.
So what next? There's one more route I can try tomorrow. I'll run it by the taxi drivers, but it'll probably be more of the same, in which case I'll probably head home. It'll be a shame to miss out on the Aral Sea and Turkistan, but better safe than sorry in this game.
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