With an early morning wakeup at the desert lake, we had 200 kilometers ahead of us to Almaty. With only busy highways along the obvious direct route, we found a nearby town with a zigzagging back road.
After finding some coffee & ice cream in small shops, we saw locals waiting at the train stations. After a difficult conversation using google translate with the station operator, we found out the train is in 30 minutes for only 6 euros to Almaty. Score!!
Kazakhstan has a great sleeper train network that seems modern yet still has the essence of pre-soviet times.
We arrive in Almaty for 2 nights of rest, which the cosmopolitican city offers plenty of food, coffee & bike repair options. With our bags full to the brim, the mountains were calling for the next stage of our journey, the Kazakh Corner bikepacking route through the Turgen valley.
With a forever changing Thunderstorm weather forecast, we pushed on into the mountains to be greeted to friendly faces & yurts on the rolling valley floor. Some challenging hike-a-bike to make it to the starting point of the valley, ease of camping & mountain vistas were plentiful.
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