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Tashkent wasn't all that much to write home about, so I'm not… We left for the border, only to be turned around and told to go to Chinoz and cross there - the Tashkent border has not been open for 4 years! Would've been handy if anyone had mentioned that, but never mind… 70 km later we arrived in the middle of the lunch break. Sandwiched between 5 Mongol Rally teams. This was both good and bad. Firstly the good - one of the team members spoke Russian and helped us fill in the form and get through. The bad part was when the Italian team, the first to go through, handed over an Italy football shirt to the border guard… so now he came looking at the rest of us for "presents"! Fintan told him quite clearly he wasn't getting anything from us. But you can see how easily Westerners have developed the reputation for giving bribes!
This was our longest border crossing at 4 hours. But we got into Kazakhstan and found diesel straight away. Although the nozzle was too wide for the car and the attendant had to try to pour it into the tank with some degree of effort. He more or less filled 105L into the car… I'd say maybe 1L on the car, but at this point we were just happy to have found diesel!
We set off looking for a spot to camp out - our original plan to reach Shymkent being scuppered. Finding a camp spot in southern Kazakhstan is not easy. The land is very fertile and flat. Meaning there are a lot of people around, a lot of agricultural fields, very few trees and bushes - so nowhere to hide! Also, sound travels. We ended up just pulling off the road and setting up because it was getting dark. All through the night we heard the cars travelling passed, dogs barking and donkeys braying. Not the best sleep, but nice to be camping again after so many days in the towns!
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mum love your blog. It's like you're taking us along with you. Thanks.