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For all the geologists/geoscientists out there - no, this is not a reference to GIS! For my Mum - don't worry about it, it's an in joke, you won't understand.
So over the last week we drove through the infamous "Polygon" - the Soviet nuclear testing area... apparently there;s a huge lake, man-made in the fact that its a nuclear explosion crater. It's not on GoogleMaps, so we couldn't locate it... but if you want to visit some of the towns around Semey you need clearance, a guide and a radiation suit. Radiation levels are 200 times background. But in terms of landscape, it is huge! This place is flat and unpopulated. The salt lakes and remnants of them are scattered around, with grasslands in between... nothing for miles... (we have The Who - I Can See For Miles on the iPod!).
We stopped between Almaty and Balkash, outside of Balkash, in Karaganda (in the Cosmonaut Hotel!) and between Karaganda and Semey twice (because the road was so bad we couldn't drive the distance in 2 days!). Camping out again was nice, although cold! Clear skies make for beautiful starry nights, but are very cold. We have started to use our flask, which we've had in the car for 4/5 months and not used! But the tea breaks made a huge difference and improved our moods no end!
The hotel in Karaganda was nice - very expensive for what it is, but we are used to that in Central Asia... at least we got to fill up with water... Water that we are now a bit afraid of, and really would rather ditch!
The road was bad, but we drove passed plenty of waste dumps and outcrops of granite to keep us entertained and guessing... We know, we are sad geologists missing our rocks...
Finally arriving in Semey, after a few nights camping (very cold outside, toasty warm inside the tent thanks to our shyrdak and blankets), we checked into the Semey Hotel and found a good warm place for beers and dinner... tomorrow - Russia!!
- comments
mum So when you get to Mongolia, you'll be glowing in a nice radioactive way!! haha. glad to have the update. What's a shyrdak? I don't think you're sad geologists/ I think that's one of the perks of being a geologist, that you can travel and look at the landscape and explain it. That's cool.
Greg Hi guys, Welcome to the Altai. Home of Temujin. It's a lovely area, but you definitely want to move on before it snows! It will be nice and warm when you arrive in Laos.