Today is the day I set off from Almaty. While I don’t have a fixed schedule (apart from being near the Chinese border by 12th October), I have been eager to finish the repairs to my bike and to get onto the road. I have had a lingering fear that further issues would pop up and cause delays to my trip plan.

Morning breakfast al fresco in Almaty

morning shakshuka

Tommy, a mechanic and the only English-speaking staff at Ducati, had suggested that my bike would be ready by lunchtime, so I decided to sleep in and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before showing up at 1PM.

By the time I arrived, my bike was parked in the showroom and already sparkling clean, ready to go…except for the drops of pink liquid on the floor where it stood. There was a leak in the hose which delivers anti-freeze/coolant to the engine. Not good!

A fellow chinese rider, who had gone to and from Europe in 3 months (!). Averaging 500km/day…

And so Sandeep went back to the workshop. While they were fixing this issue, they discovered another puncture in my rear (this one especially bad as the wires that hold the structural integrity of the tires were broken), so I made the decision to change the tyre as well. They happened to have a second hand (not too old; and quite a lot of tread left) Indian tyre that was geared for 50% road, and 50% offroad, which happened to suit the road surface I expect to face better.

All in all, I had the following done:

• Oil and filter changed
• Air filter changed (even though the previous one was basically fine)
• New chain
• New (ish) rear tyre
• New rear suspension bolt
• New hose for the antifreeze
• Fixed mounts to my aux lights
• New bracket to mount my GPS
• New windscreen
• New fork seals and bushings on the forks; and finally
• Some more oil for the forks

Today’s route in blue

By the time I was ready to hit the road, it was 2:30PM. I had vague concepts of a plan (i.e. ride east and figure out where I’m going / staying while en route). I figured that sunset was at 6PM, Kegen (the last town before the border with Kyrgyzstan) was 3 hours away, so I had plenty of time to figure it out and find a place to stay for the evening. Another place I thought I could probably find accommodation would be Charyn Canyon, which is one of the attractions about 60KM before Kegen.

All set for my ride.

And so I hit the road. With the rear suspension bolt fixed, it felt MUCH more manoeuvrable to ride, and after some new engine oil, it felt like riding a new bike (compared to what I last remembered two months ago). Roads were smooth and traffic after leaving Almaty was sparse. The highway was bordered on one side by the Tien Shan mountains, and by a faraway range on the other side. The afternoon sun gave an orange glow to the scene.

Petrol stop!

About an hour into the ride, I started to realise something was a bit off. It was only ~4:30PM, but the sun was already starting to set, and it was beginning to get cold. I had yet to have a plan for where I would stay, so I figured that I would ride straight for Charyn Canyon, where there was a campground (and some glamping sites set up), and ideally I’d find my lodgings for the night there.

As dusk and the evening chill began to set in, I started to feel a bit nervous about the state of play for the evening. I was not looking forward to camping in this weather (and setting up in the dark…)

Finally, at 6PM I approached the canyon. There were two other cars headed along the same route as me, so I was happy to have company. I figured they probably had somewhere booked to stay for the evening, so I could just follow them and stay at whatever accommodation they were staying at (or worst case, camp nearby).

When I got to the visitor centre for the canyon, I realised that it’d be fine; this was a well set up facility with electricity + heating, a few places to eat on-site, and plenty of staff. I booked a tent (quite expensive; $100 for a very basic permanent tent with a bed and heating + electricity, but no bathroom.)

first standing drop of the trip…

Dinner was chips and meat (kind of like fried rice but instead of rice they have chips for carbs. they seem to have this dish everywhere in the developing world, e.g. Peru).

the old chips and meat

Tomorrow I am undecided whether to go to Kolsai Lake, or continue on to Kegen / Karakol. I will sleep on it and figure it out!

Some stats: 221 KMs travelled 25.2L fuel added 4 unique interactions; and 30g coffee consumed.