Chuck’s travel notes on the journey between the Russian Altai Mountains and Kazakhstan… and his quest for King’s Ginger substitutes.
Our itinerary as we crossed the border
Days 10 & 11
Prime riverside real estate in the foothills of Altai mountains
- Location: 4km outside of Artybash in the foothills of Altai mountains, Russia
- Terrain: Prime riverside real estate. So nice we decided to stay put for two days
- What’s cooking? Lemon and herb grilled chicken and stir fried veg (day 1) sausage borsch (day 2)
- Weather: glorious during the day, thunderstorms in the afternoon and rain at night
- Insect level: 1
- Morale: sky high until the morning of departure due to big box theft during the night
- King’s ginger required? Yes but substituted with large quantities of pre-breakfast vodka supplied by neighbouring Russian policeman, Nikolai
Day 12
After the rain
- Location: 20km from the Russian/Kazakh border outside the town of Rubtsovsk
- Terrain: tree-lined rocky dirt track
- What’s cooking? Very peppery borsch
- Weather: torrential rain followed by glorious golden hour
- Insect level: 5
- Morale: low
- King’s ginger required? It wouldn’t have done any good anyway
Day 13
Morale was high as we reached Kazakhstan
- Location: half way between Semey and Pavlodar, Kazakstan, just off the m38 road
- Terrain: riverside forest ( the only forest for hundreds of kilometres)
- What’s cooking? Sausage borsch risotto (not as bad as it sounds or looked)
- Weather: glorious
- Insect level: 2
- Morale: high
- King’s ginger required? No
Day 14 and 15
The tractor in the background rescued Betty from a well
- Location: 5km outside of Ementau between Pavlodar and Astana on the A17
- Terrain: Outside a yurt on the steppe (we stayed put for two days again socialising with Kazakh farmers)
- What’s cooking? Marmot in mayonnaise (day 1) and Freshly slaughtered mutton shashlick, and its boiled ass fat (day 2)
- Weather: clear skies (day 1) drizzle (day 2)
- Insect level: 1
- Morale: rock bottom (Betty stuck in a well) to sky high (rescued by Kazakh farmer, Marat, and his tractor)
- King’s ginger required? Yes but substituted with vodka
The Grand Adventure: Tokyo to Cape Town 