Cycling Day 6 - Taraz to Turar Rysqulov

Even though I got back home this morning at 3am after partying and singing karaoke all night. I managed to ride out at 7, but I’ve felt stronger.

Large solar plant out on the plains

It was very hot in the morning as I climbed my first 1000 foot hill. I rode into a village, looking for a water feature, since the map showed it was situated directly on the lake. Unfortunately, there was no lake access, so I rode some nice backroads a but further into Bauryzhan Momyshuly and had some lunch, plov is currently my favorite: rice with lamb. 

I wasn’t exactly in a restaurant, it was more of an event space. I started dozing after eating, I was so exhausted. I didn’t get the same vibe as I had from some previous establishments, I think they wanted me to finish and leave. I left, and went to look for a place to lie down, but this was just a village and I didn’t see any parks or any suitable place where I could nap in the afternoon heat. 

So I went to a small market and got a bottle of cold water and then just laid down and passed out in front of the store. Which wasn’t ideal because it was kind of on the Main Street so people were pulling into the parking lot and going into the store. Not stepping over me, but definitely unusual to see. 

Then a man came up to me and started asking me the typical questions about my trip. When I told him I was American, he asked if I was a spy 😂 🧐, that was a new one. I gestured to my bike and said, sure - I’ve got all my spy equipment with me in there. He then said he had a room and I could go with him if I needed to sleep. So I said sure, I could stand to nap for a couple of hours but that I still intended to ride out later. He loaded my bike into the back of his Lada (a tiny old Russian car from the USSR). The bike didn’t really fit, just the back wheel and the rest of it stuck out of the trunk. He didn’t live very far, but we went to his rural compound of his that was mostly under construction. Some of the workers who were building a house there came and we ate Kazakh pelmeni soup with lamb, watermelon and honeydew. He said I could spend the night but I wanted to get a little closer to where I’m headed for tomorrow, Shymkent. I said I was planning on riding another 50km or so. He actually offered to drive me the 50km, but I couldn’t imagine putting someone out like that, as generous of an offer as that was. He just drove me back to the main road and dropped me off. We stopped along the way to see the namesake monument for the town - Bauryzhan Momyshuly who is known for his military achievement of allying Kazakhstan with Cuba and Fidel Castro.

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Stopping at the statue of Bauryzhan Momyshuly on our way out 

I left the Jambyl Region and entered the Turkistan region. There was an immediate difference - the vast, desolate plains of Jambyl gave way to rolling hills and forests. This was one of my favorite rides of the tour so far. There was very little traffic and I was out on some country roads, riding through small villages dotted with fruit sellers, many waving to me as I passed by.

Entering Turkistan

I rode until close to sunset. I was too exhausted to figure out a place to camp and one village I rode through what looked to be a hotel, they even had a pool in front. I asked for a room and paid 5000 Tenge (about $11). The room was fairly large with a queen sized bed, seating area and desk, and a private shower. That, along with the pool which I used to cool off, was well worth the money. I had some shashlik for dinner and was in bed

I rode past this sign for the village of Aw Biik. I noticed the very reminiscent Zia symbol (although the New Mexican flag has 4 lines for the sun instead of 3). This cowboy asked what I was doing so I showed him the New Mexican flag, to his delight. Here he is texting his friends about the similarities in the symbols.

Shashlik for dinner