7th of May 2011
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When I woke up in the morning everything was hazy. In front of the hotel door I found out that this was a sandstorm.
The day before I fought already with the wind and the sand. But now I had within 30 sec the sand in the eyes and mouth, everywhere. I met 2 Chinese “oil men” in the breakfast room. Stationed in Kyzylorda they wanted to go with a guide to the Aral Lake, the long tour approx. 220km.
We wanted to meet at 9:00h in front of the hotel because the tour guide could have told me how to go with my motorbike. When I looked out of the window they were just leaving…at 8:10h on my watch. Did I miss something? Yes, I am already in the next time zone, I didn’t notice; now 4h away from Germany.
I packed my stuff and got my bike ready crunching sand between my teeth. I went in a circle around Aral (the village) and ended up in the mess. As I couldn’t see anyway more than 300m I decided to skip the Aral Lake. Good decision since it took me the whole day to reach Kyzylorda, a 500km tour. Storm, flying sand, road construction works in the desert, all people out there hiding with head clothes, masks and glasses or inside their trucks and heavy machinery.
The wind or better storm came from the east and I headed south, I bent always my head down + held my breath when these monsters, normal trucks and cars passed by on the “other lane” praying that after I would be still on the gravel.
The next morning when I got up I felt so kaputt that I decided to stay in Kyzylorda. I gave my bike a service and as well my helmet (dust+sand between pinlock and screen!), was on the local market (Chinese products everywhere) and ate some sand on the street; this wind is unbelievable. Let’s see what I will get tomorrow on the way to Shimkent.
By the way, mosquitoes ate me yesterday evening even though temperatures go down to 10°C at night. In the daytime it is now about 25°C.
The day before I fought already with the wind and the sand. But now I had within 30 sec the sand in the eyes and mouth, everywhere. I met 2 Chinese “oil men” in the breakfast room. Stationed in Kyzylorda they wanted to go with a guide to the Aral Lake, the long tour approx. 220km.
We wanted to meet at 9:00h in front of the hotel because the tour guide could have told me how to go with my motorbike. When I looked out of the window they were just leaving…at 8:10h on my watch. Did I miss something? Yes, I am already in the next time zone, I didn’t notice; now 4h away from Germany.
I packed my stuff and got my bike ready crunching sand between my teeth. I went in a circle around Aral (the village) and ended up in the mess. As I couldn’t see anyway more than 300m I decided to skip the Aral Lake. Good decision since it took me the whole day to reach Kyzylorda, a 500km tour. Storm, flying sand, road construction works in the desert, all people out there hiding with head clothes, masks and glasses or inside their trucks and heavy machinery.
The wind or better storm came from the east and I headed south, I bent always my head down + held my breath when these monsters, normal trucks and cars passed by on the “other lane” praying that after I would be still on the gravel.
The next morning when I got up I felt so kaputt that I decided to stay in Kyzylorda. I gave my bike a service and as well my helmet (dust+sand between pinlock and screen!), was on the local market (Chinese products everywhere) and ate some sand on the street; this wind is unbelievable. Let’s see what I will get tomorrow on the way to Shimkent.
By the way, mosquitoes ate me yesterday evening even though temperatures go down to 10°C at night. In the daytime it is now about 25°C.
