Through the deserts of Kazakhstan and Turkmenia

The main goal of the expedition was acquaintance with nature of deserts in Western Turkmenia. Besides, we planned to see the Karagie hollow, Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay and western ridges of Kopetdag. We also had an interest in people life in the former republics of Soviet Union since they became independent.

Books said that best time for expeditions in the region was April. It caused us some problems getting ready for the expedition as weather in March in St. Petersburg was not suitable for bicycle riding. We still did it a few times and other kinds of sport (like cross country skiing) kept us in good shape. We expected that the first part of the route would be waterless and almost uninhabited. We also suspected that there would be problems with availability of food products in Turkmenistan. Thus the second part of getting ready included some studies on how much water and food we need for one day and how much we should carry for each part of the route between the inhabited areas. Our bicycles needed repair and modification that included numerous holds for water bottles.

Our trip started from Mangyshlak railway station in the suburbs of Aktau. Mangyshlak is situated on a plane between Caspian sea and Mangyshlak plateau. There are absolutely no places of interest there, so we filled all our reservoirs with water and took a good asphalt road towards Uzen. The landscape was absolutely flat until the Karagie hollow. Absolutely dry bushes of 20 cm height appeared on both sides of the road from time to time. Natives said that the last time they had snow in December. The soil was dry and cracked. Strong eastern wind blew in our faces. We moved wheel to wheel at a speed of 12-13 k.p.h. Finally a sign read: "The deepest hollow Karagie". A sculpture of two saigaks marked the place. Further we passed a uranium mine that worked for Mangyshlak atomic power station.

I should say that atomic power does not only give light to the area but also the drinking water that is obtained by desalting sea water. Filling the bottles with water from street valves you risk to get non-drinking water, but if you ask people at any house they will let you use their drinking water supplies (though now the volume of drinking water for each person is limited). We usually carried water supply for two days. It was 7.5 liter per person. However it was due to rather cold weather (10-12 degrees Celsius during the day and far below zero at night). For hotter weather we would suggest 9 liters per person per two days.

Karagie hollow is the bottom of former sea. It stretches from north to south for more than 100 kilometers. At the place where the road passed, it was only 15 kilometers wide. The soil there was sandy and clouds of sand blown by the wind caused extra discomfort. At the bottom of the hollow (-116 meters from sea level) there was a salty stream of water. Camel herds grazed there. The eastern side of the hollow was high with a lot of ravines where we hoped to hide from wind at night. The wind in these places calmed down for two hours in the evening but after sunset (approximately at 8 p.m.) started again.

The place of our camp was easy to find. On the road just 500 meters before ascent to the hollow edge there was a sign "Prohlada spring" ("Coolness spring"). The spring happened to be warm (about 25°C) and smelled hydrogen sulfide. Piles of camel manure were around thus eliminating any wish to try the water. We went up the canyon and put a tent up before wind started. To secure it for night we pressed it down with plenty of stones. The advantage of this place was firewood that allowed us to cook supper on open fire. I should say that though firewood is hard to find in these places we still managed to cook on open fire almost each day.

In the morning of April, 2 we progressed further towards Uzen. After we ascended the edge of Karagie hollow we surprisingly saw the same absolutely flat landscape as the day before. We renewed the water supplies at Zhetybay and 7 kilometers later turned on a ground road that went by an oil rig. Soon we crossed the railroad and got to the area where a military division was formerly housed. The radio-rangers and barracks were derelict. Parallel to the railroad stretched a narrow asphalt road. It brought us to the next checkpoint — the Tasbulat Mortuary, where we slept the next night. The mortuary was five meters high six-corner building with a dome on top. In an absolutely flat desert where it was extremely cold at night it was pleasant to lean the tent to the wall thus hiding it at least from wind.

Five ground roads went in southern direction from the tomb. They were rigid with rare bowls of dust and it was possible to move rather fast. Besides we turned sideways to the wind. We planned to make about 75 kilometers across Mangyshlak plateau to Kazakh bay and get to Fetisovo village where we could get drinking water. The roads were always splitting and intersecting with each other. There were almost no checkpoints — just another mortuary 20 kilometers away from Tasbulat and two oil rigs. Climbing the first oil rig we spotted the next one approximately 30 km southeast. Past 10 km we could already see it from the ground. A sign of near by village were camel herds that started to appear approximately 20 km before it.

Surprisingly we came exactly to Fetisovo village. The shore of Caspian sea suddenly droped 100 meters down here and then stretched for at least a kilometer to the water. Fetisovo was almost uninhabited. Formerly there had been a small resort there. The drinking water was brought in tanks. It was best to get the water from a tank at the customs on the intersection of Fetisovo and Uzen – Bekdash roads. We found a place for the camp on the right side of the road (if looking towards Uzen) by salty stream of water that we used for washing. There was almost no wind and plenty of bushes for firewood there.

The next day we took a good asphalt road that began from the customs control. Asphalt was over in about 40 kilometers and gravel road started. It was almost impossible to ride and even the cars prefered to move on numerous ground roads that went along it. Further on many maps a village of Aksu is shown — it is uninhabited now. The night that we spent on the plain was the coldest of all: there was no firewood or any cover from the wind. The water in bottles turned into solid ice by the morning.

On the fifth of April the air could not get warm for a long time and we continued our way south in warm pants and coats. Gradually landscape became hilly and soil obtained reddish color. The Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan boarder was not marked in any way. Fifteen kilometers before Bekdash the plateau suddenly droped. From high terrace we observed the sea and separate hills that stood down in the valley. Some of them were absolutely black. The most noticeable "Table hill" has a flat summit when observed on one side and a peak when observed on the other. By evening we finished 135 kilometers from Fetisovo to Bekdash. At the city entrance there was another customs where we showed our passports (no visas were necessary). From the customs post one road went to Bekdash center and the other to lake "No 6" salt mine. Few kilometers to the center of Bekdash produced a striking impression. The level of Caspian sea had risen and it flooded the industrial regions of the city. To the right and left of the road there was water and buildings that rose straight out of it. The living quarters were safe.

In the town there was one hotel where we decided to stop and take a shower. One bad thing about deserts is that there is no water for washing there. However there was no hot water at the hotel either. At the market we met Ivan Ephimovich and his wife who were so hospitable that invited us to their house at once. They treated us with wild duck that Ivan Ephimovich had shot over Kara-Bogaz-Gol bay and allowed to use their installation for heating sea water that they used for washing. There were problems with sweet water in the town.

In Soviet times Bekdash was a rich and green city. It still produced good impression though many things had come to collapse. All food was sold according to special cards, currency exchange was forbidden. We could still buy some food at the market and carefully exchange our rubles to local currency there. The prices were low.

The morning of April, 6 we started being clean. This fact was registered by a photograph in front of the hotel with Turkmenbashi saying over the door. At the southern end of the city there was a salt pond. This is a vast area that is flooded with water from Kara-Bogaz-Gol bay, then the canal is closed, the water evaporates and a thick layer of salt stays on the bottom. The salt is collected and next cycle begins. When we came to the lake there was already a layer of salt on the bottom with some water over it. Volodya dipped his hand in the water and got ulcers by the evening.

Kara-Bogaz-Gol bay is separated from the sea by sandy spit. The asphalt road of medium quality stretched over it all the way from Bekdash to Krasnovodsk (now Turkmenbashi). The road was sometimes crossed by sand dunes. The fauna was more various on the spit — Kolya caught a snake, we saw crayfish and numerous birds. In the narrowest place the spit is only 500 meters wide. There we came up to the bay. The water in it was very different from Caspian sea. It was oily due to high level of miniralisation and had intensive green color. The bay connected with the sea by a rather fast salty river only 60 meters wide at the place of the bridge. In its waters we caught shrimp with our hands. Near the bridge there was a police station and lived a man called Tuvak, who was famous in the region for catching and selling sea crayfish. There was a water tank with gross but drinking water. This was the last drinking water till Krasnovodsk (125 km).

We spent a night on the shore of Caspian sea. Sands were covered with bushes there that could be used for firewood, but their species remained unknown as there were no leaves. Hare tracks were all around but we didn’t see them alive. The night due to proximity of sea was rather warm, even the water did not freeze.

One hundred kilometers through Oktumkum desert brought us to Krasnovodsk bay. Maps showed some villages in that area but we just noticed two barracks to the left of the road. There were camels around so we figured out that there were people near by and may be even water. Closer to Krasnovodsk where the road from Kuuli-Mayaki village crossed the mainroad these was another police station. In Turkmenia the police like to check passports at each control station so it is better not to keep them on the bottom of your bags.

Finally we reached the southern edge of Krasnovodsk plateau. The road became hilly and more picturesque. To the left of the road on a hill there was a cemetery and the view from its top gave panorama of Krasnovodsk bay. Besides the bay framed in mountains we saw two huge plants with numerous chimneys and a garbage dump under the hill. On the cemetery there was water in a building that reminded of tea-house. The best place for the tent was to the east from the cemetery on top of the hill. Down the hill where we slept the smoke from plant chimneys was too obvious.

April, 8 we entered the city of Turkmenbashi (former Krasnovodsk). This beautiful city lies in the mountain valley and reminds of Caucuses rather than Middle East. Due to new born totalitarian regime the trains from Turkmenbashi to the other countries (like Uzbekistan) were cancelled. We were afraid that it was a situation around the country and decided to change our route and go to Kizyl-Arvat by train thus shortening the trip to Kopetdag mountains. In Turkmenbashi we did some sightseeing in the center (where a monument to Turkmenbashi — the leader of Turkmen people was situated) and at the market (where Volodya tried almost everything) and boarded the Turkmenbashi – Ashkhabad train. This was the only time we got into a train with no problems.

At night we left the train in Kizyl-Arvat and found the road to Kizyl-Atrek. We passed through this town and stopped behind the bridge. Volodya felt poisoned by that time. We fed him with pills and cooked supper for ourselves. In the morning we all, except for Volodya, found that the place was rather picturesque. There was a stream of water in the canyon, caves near by and piles of lamb sculls all around. Mountains began right behind the tent and the sky was finally covered with clouds. It was pleasant to our sunburnt faces. The morning was devoted to ascending the nameless mountain pass. The wind was extremely strong. When we rarely turned our back to it on road curves it practically pushed us up itself. We did not pay attention to secondary roads that called us right or left and moved along Kizyl-Arvat — Kizyl-Atrek mainroad. There were troubles with water there also. On Hodzhagala crossing there was water at the small roadside cafe. The water in a well ten kilometers south from Hodzhakui crossing was salty. We went ten kilometers more past it and put the tent up under the bridge.

In the morning we found that it was raining. Everything was wet except for our tent. Somehow in the evening we suspected rain and put it not on the dry riverbed but a little higher. Half of the day we spent in leisure. Anton and Kolya brought tortoises, but did not allow me to make soup out of them. Finally we mounted the bikes and went 20 kilometers to Kara-Kala crossing. There was a boarder control station there and the guard did not let us through. To go further we had to write down in our official route-book that we wanted to take exactly this road or that we wanted to get to Kara-Kala. Thus we refilled our reservoirs with water there and went back.

The next morning (April, 11) we turned off the mainroad, went round Hodzhakala, crossed the Adzhidere river by ford near the broken bridge and went east. Through little villages of Ymarat and Kaytuli we came to a wonderful canyon and put up our camp by a stream. The water was drinking in its upper part, but needed boiling. The further we moved east the closer the mountains came up. The next night we slept in a place where the road turned south and the mountain ranges that formed the valley finally met.

On April, 12 we continued to go east. In little villages there was no food but monuments to Turkmenbashi. The food was available only at the markets of large cities. We carried our supplies from Krasnovodsk. The canyon ended with 1905 m summit, a ground road went over it to Desht village. There was still snow up on top and a checkpoint — the dome of derelict communist military base. To the left was a beautiful waterfall and to the right — a minaret with a blue dome. From the top one could see the Iran mountains in the south and Karakum desert in the north. Five kilometers down there was a wonderful camp place with wood, water and a canyon.

Next day we continued our descend past water reservoir. There we made a mistake and turned left approximately 300 meters before it. This road was soon over and we had to struggle through fields until we got back on the mainroad. Down in the valley lay kishlak (mountain village) Nohur. This ancient place seemed squeezed by mountains on all sides and had a lot of old buildings like waterways, minarets and stone hedges to see. There began an asphalt road down to Krasnovodsk – Ashkhabad highway. We got on the highway at Archman village and followed it to Baharden. There was a post office there where we tried to remind your relatives of your existence. However telegrams did not reach St. Petersburg. Fifteen kilometers from Baharden towards Ashkhabad there was Kov-Ata cave with a warm lake inside. Road sign pointed the way there. There was a hotel and a restaurant by the cave and swimming in the lake was very pleasant.

We left the cave and ten kilometers later turned to Karakums, crossed the Karakum canal and slept on its bank. That day we made 112 km which was a maximum for this expedition.

The next day was the end of the trip. We rode 65 kilometers along the highway decorated with Turkmenbashi sayings and portraits to Ashkhabad. The bicycle part of our trip was over at the railway station.

Going back home from Ashkhabad was not easy, it took us six days. First "the owners of the railway station" sold us tickets to Chardzhow (three trains a day). From Chardzhow there were two uzbek trains to Tashkent (Nukus – Tashkent and Urgench – Tashkent). From Tashkent there were two trains a day to Moscow and Kuibyshev.