Day 21

Up at 7 this morning to the sight of camels grazing on the horizon near our tents, & got the porridge on. This is great - we're definitely in Kazakhstan! With Aralsk (yesterdays intended destination) still an hours' drive away, we were eager to crack on. Thanks to leg1 for leaving all the kit in good working order – our first night under canvas was plain sailing. Just a few private meetings round the nearest sand dune with the shovel of destiny (we observe the dung beetles having a party!), and everyone's ready to roll.

Fortunately the roads today are passable – a bit less fun than yesterdays' crawling over 2-3ft craters and weaving through sand tracks, but we're now making speedier (if still shaky) progress. For some reason, this part of the road has a glut of suicidal birds, the lead car does it's best to warn them with the horn for both their sake and our windscreens', however the thud count notches higher.

First stop of the day is Aralsk, a dusty town that once sat on the edge of the Aral sea. Now 60km away from the coast (after massive crop irrigation projects upstream in Russia), it provides us with fuel, food and water, and a rare opportunity to mingle with the locals & take some photos. Ellie spots a shop with a fridge in, usully a sure sign of a grocery shop. To our surprise in this small dusty town it's actually a white goods shop, which caused much mirth (groceries opposite & round the corner at the bustling market). The directions from our new friends the checkout girls are not flawless, but getting lost means we stumble across firstly a wedding procession, with much honking of horns and waving, then the old harbour and some rusting hulks. Definite photo op with the locals! After a quick break we're back in the cars, and decide to head straight on to Kyzylorda, giving Zhalanash (a famous ship cemetry near the current coastline) a miss. We've still got a long way to go, and no idea what the road has in store.

A few miles later we get a view of the Aral Sea from the top of a rusting tower, ground floor of which is inhabited by a cow who's not about to give up her shade! Tom goes to investigate a car with it's bonnet open and helps diagnose a cam belt fault for the locals. We pass vehicles in various states of repair along the road, and hitchhikers carrying a multitude of spare components back to their friends. No-one stays broke down for long. It's getting hot now, and when we stop for lunch an hour later, the Discoveries are measuring 38 degrees, the hottest so far. We park up within spitting distance of a bus shelter (in Kazakhstan read horse/cattle/camel shelter, with accompanying cloud of flies) and decide not to share their accommodation. Out comes the tarp again.

Eventually we arrive in Kyzylorda, refuel and are directed towards the centre of town & our hotel. Whilst stopping at lights a local approaches us ad offers to help guide us in. There is a strong Police presence here, the local seems to be known to the Police so we follow to the Hotel. It is fully booked! Little did we know a troupe of cyclists who are cycling from Paris to Peking were also staying in Kyzlorda tonight. The hotel had received our booking request and had done their best by arranging another hotel for us. Our guide points out a local eatery en route for us to try. The next hotel quotes us a price way above our budget. Joe negotiates hard until the manager is called and a discount is agreed. We head off to the eatery, good food and loud music cheer us, despite realising that we have entered another time zone and subsequently lost another hour of sleep.