Day 40 - All the Beautiful Sights!

It was forecast to be a still day, but after being woken up at 2am by the tent bowing in the gusts, the pole creaking alarmingly, knowing the guy lines were neatly tied away from when we pitched in the calm, it was clear that wasn't the case. We had a busy day of natural tourism planned and so road to the first attraction was very welcome and we quickly arrived in a small town where we could get more water. It's known as the Dubai of Kazakhstan, not for it's buildings which are decidedly one storey, but for it's sand dunes! We climbed up and suddenly felt very like we were skiing on the way down (see videos!).

Then it was back onto the bikes and onto a very bumpy road towards our next attraction - the Tirimasu mountain and gorge.

Cycling on what used to be the sea bed under the bright sun, on mud so hard it could be tarmac, yet still somehow grabbed and slowed your wheels was a really cool experience. You really felt like you were on another planet, both looking around at the hills, and down at the surface you cycled across.

We chatted to a group of tour guides waiting for their "tourists" who'd climbed one of the nearby hills and marvelled at both the amount of gear you can carry in and on a 4x4 and their ability to shell and eat roasted sunflower seeds! We decided we wouldn't mind having someone to set up camp and cook dinner each night actually!

We'd heard from multiple people that we could stay at the underground mosque nearby (and our final tourist destination of the day) - Beket Ata. A name I've mispronouced thoroughly enough that their correction is very different, but close enough and with enough context that they can make the correction! Very curious about the option, and keen to be out of the wind, we set off on the last 30km on a perfectly tarmaced road around a frankly incredible ridge with an awesome sunset outlining the flat steppe dropping off 300m to the old seabed. We stopped just short of the mosque to change out of our lycra and into attire appropriate for the custom (long legs and not lycra for me, long arms, legs and head covering for Emma) and then ventured inside, with slight trepidation.

We needn't have worried as we were warmly welcomed by everybody and ushered into a massive room with long dining table. I should explain that the mosque itself, a holy site that is apparently on the level of Muhammad's tomb, is in the cliff below, and above is a modern guesthouse, designed for large numbers of people to eat and sleep in big communal rooms.

On the aforementioned dining table we found piles of bread, plates of meat, bowls of chocolates, bowls of biscuits, and, to our delight, our very own pot of black tea with milk! Sadly we could do little more than basic communication with our neighbours as while I'd downloaded the offline translations, I had forgotten to download the Russian keyboard, but we got by with gestures, similar words and some one-way keywords. Once we'd eaten our fill and drunk our body weight in tea we went to find the toilets. I regret somewhat drinking and eating so much while having no idea how the toilet and washing system works. There's a room of stalls across the courtyard that's cleanliness and appearance is very much at odds with the beautiful building we'd eaten in, and next to it a room with various tanks of water and jugs. I'm not in a rush to mix up the hand and bottom washing jugs and my Russian isn't up to understanding the explanation. We'll call that tomorrow morning's problem!

Of course there are separate rooms to sleep in, but what we didn't expect was when coming in after locking the bikes up, for Emma to be accosted to help sweep the dinner room. I tried to help but was waved away. Different rules here from what we're used to that's for sure.

Mind you, apparently she didn't do a very good job of it, because soon after her brush was confiscated and she was whisked away to be washed, which involved scrubbing hands, arms, feet and face three times. Thoroughly. She said she was told off for not doing it properly and made to do it again by her firm guide/guard. So basically what you have to do to make Emma shower on an average day 😆. I had been jealous of Emma having the woman at dinner around in her sleeping room to help get pillows etc, but I'm glad I escaped that treatment! This evening has been one of the real joys of travelling, experiencing different cultures and customs while trying your best not to cause offence and show your gratitude. (And as a bonus my touring partner is probably the cleanest she's been since the start of the trip!) The sleeping pads are comfortable, everyone is very welcoming, we're very well fed, there's no wind and it's about a billion degrees in here. I expect we'll sleep very well indeed! Food spend today: 1.76 euros