Roadside repair and help
Had a slow start today - felt the beers from last night. So after breaky sat in the hotel bar which had wi-fi and updated my journal. Have to come up with a better way. At the moment I most of the time write it by hand and then type it, which is double the work. However I often feel more comfortable to sit in a cafe with a notebook instead of presenting myself as the yuppie westerner with a laptop…
So anyway set off for my drive across the steppe. Started to look for a campsite at 6pm when after a cigarette stop I could hear the chain jumping on the rear sprocket and a mile or so down the road it happened, it came of the sprocket. Luckily it didn’t lock up the rear wheel. So two options a) try to get it free and put it back on after taking out a couple of links or b) fit new sprockets and chain. Decided for option b) even though I possibly could have squeezed out another couple of thousand miles. Front and rear sprockets were actually quickly fitted.
A car stopped and father and son got out. I explained what happened in sign language. Its amazing the hands on attitude of the Kazakhs. Nearly ripping the tools out of my hands they started to help. Had some difficulty with the new chain (the one from Turkey) which was too long so had to take out a few links. Took nearly 2 hours and in between the dad had asked where I was going and I said Uralsk but that it was too late now and I would just camp somewhere. No, I should come with them and I could stay at their house. Which turned out to be still 90 miles away.
Arrived at the house quiet late, like 10:30pm or so. I think the wife wasn’t really impressed with her husband and I tried to cause the least amount of upset. Got some soup, bread and tea. After that the dad got out a bottle of vodka which we finished before getting to bed on the living room floor. I don’t really know how we managed to communicate with a mix of signs, my 5 words of Russian and a words of English and german that the family knew between them.
Day 32
17. May 2009
Start: Atyrau, Kazakhstan
End: Kohim, Kazakhstan
Miles today: 287
Miles total: 4607
Odometer: 10863