Road trip: Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan - Russia. Part 3. Kazakhstan: Way from Taraz to Aralsk
Part 3 of series about our five-day road trip from Kyrgyzstan to Russia via Kazakhstan. Actual condition of the roads, the weather and terrain, cities and towns, road infrastructure, traffic and other features you meet while traveling through these countries by car.The film begins in the city of Taraz, where we left in the morning on the second day of our trip. There are a lot of gaps in this part of the recording where parts of the road are too similar to each other. If you, on the contrary, are interested just in watching cities, follow the time links.
7:55 Leaving Taraz city through the western arch
23:50 Renewed part of the road
1:10:40 Renewed part of the road
2:10:05 Entering Turkestan city
2:16:00 Passing by block 160 of Turkestan
2:25:20 Trucks delivering spaceship parts to Baikonur Cosmodrome
2:30:20 Entering Kyzylorda region
2:59:20 Entering Kyzylorda city. Repair on highway
3:03:50 Detouring highway repair by Kyzylorda city
3:19:10 Leaving Kyzylorda city
3:35:30 Detouring highway repair by Terenozek village
3:55:55 Camels on the road
4:07:35 Gas station where was no 95 and we used our canisters at the second time
4:37:40 Getting to the motel next to Aralsk (Aral)
The roads of western Kazakhstan are for the most part not conducive to travel. Although over the past year and a half, many of them have been repaired and brought into more or less suitable condition, and in some places in good and even excellent condition. Despite this, you are unlikely to find a place you would like to go to in this part of the country. The landscape is a continuous steppe, sometimes turning into desert. Only a well-prepared hiker can take even a short walk - there is a very strong, piercing and gusty wind here.
This does not mean that Kazakhstan is completely unsuitable for automobile tourism. This is a huge country, and in other areas you will find wonderful natural sites, beautiful cities, and historical monuments. But on the way from Kyrgyzstan to the European part of Russia there are almost no such places. A pleasant exception is the city of Turkestan, the center of the Turkestan region in the south of the country. The road passes through new residential districts of the city with interesting and attractive architecture. Houses and other buildings are surrounded by incredibly spacious parks and squares. However, strong winds also blow on the city streets, even in clear weather.
Before Turkestan, the road bypasses another large city - Shymkent. At the moment it has the status of a city of republican significance. It is not visible from the road, even beyond the camera's angle of view.
And the next large city after Turkestan - Kyzylorda - we had to drive through the streets due to highway repairs. The wind was especially strong there. You will be able to see it. Kyzylorda is a regional center and a fairly typical Kazakh city. In the center there are buildings in a classical style, on the outskirts there are low standard houses and many one-story buildings. We try to drive through the city as quickly as possible, so we see not the most presentable part of it.
After Kyzylorda we continue to bypass the main highway along a narrow auxiliary road on the right. At the end of the detour, we receive a reward for the extra travel time: a herd of camels comes onto the road. Later on the way to Aralsk we come across camels alone and in small groups. But we saw the same large herd only one more time from afar, when it was already starting to get dark.
Between Kyzylorda and Aralsk on our way lies the village of Baikonur. To the left of it is the cosmodrome, which became famous in Soviet times. Currently, it is little used, but along the way we overtook several specialized trucks delivering spaceship parts to the cosmodrome.
Aralsk, which we reached in a day's trip, having droven 1100 km, is a small town in the Kyzylorda region. We chose it for an overnight stay because of its location. As it turned out already during the journey, it was possible to stop for the night in front of Aralsk. There are several motels along the road. But they were not marked on the map, so we did not know about them until we saw them with our own eyes.
The main guests in the motels on our route are semi-truck drivers. As you can see, there are a lot of semi-truks on the roads. We follow one of those routes that goods go through Kazakhstan from China and the Middle East to Russia, and are also transported within Kazakhstan. So gasoline, especially 95 octane, is not the most popular on local roads, and you need to remember this. You could drive 200 km or more without any gasoline stations there, and keeping a reserve of fuel in a can or two could save you literally.
===
Route:
===
Become a Member and you will access to exclusive bonuses.
More details: