C-c-cold it is in Kazakhstan

Although the weather still wasn’t perfect we left Karagandy after one day of break. When leaving the city we were stopped by two Kazakh pinstripe-suited men who wished us all the best and gave us 2.000 Tenge as a present – not bad! 😀

the nice pinstripe-suited guys

With about 18 degrees and chilly tailwind we cycled pretty fast over the hills of Kazakhstan. The road between Karagandy and Balkhash was quite busy although there is actually nothing.

Stefan is obsessed with tanks 😉

In the evening we found a place behind a few bunches of trees but before we could set up the tent we had to wait for a cold rain shower to end. Stefan’s tachometer was indicating 13 degrees but with the ice cold wind which made our fingers freeze it felt so much colder. Therefore we didn’t have a water bottle shower – cleaning tissues had to suffice this time. 😀

posing in the rain

rainboooow

During the night it must have turned even colder as not even the underclothes of merino wool, the inlet and the warm sleeping bag could keep Alexandra warm…

In the morning the weather hadn’t really improved and some rain showers couldn’t be avoided. In return we had a really nice breakfast at a well frequented cafezi. Delicious lagman (a kind of well spiced stew with lots of vegetables, meat and noodles), hot green tea and blinis. During our breakfast we were spoken to by several other guests, including a friendly madam from a wedding party who could even speak German.  And afterwards the whole wedding party was happy about a photo with us – and so were we. 🙂

may I introduce: this is lagman

the madam who spoke German

and the whole gang

After some rain showers but strong tailwind and more than 140 cycled km we put up our tent on a meadow beyond some power poles. Also this time it was too cold for an actual shower, unfortunately…but at least the night wasn’t as cold as the one before, so even Alexandra could get some sleep.