Stage 120: From Shelek to Almaty

The next morning, I headed to the nearest gas station on the highway in search of Wi-Fi. And luckily, I was in luck! Although my phone's display had a blackout at that exact moment, I was able to send a few emails as a sign of life using my tablet. The weather finally improved during the drive to Almaty, and we continued straight on the highway. This made the drive somewhat monotonous, but at least I couldn't get lost without a navigation system. Unfortunately, things didn't get better with my phone, quite the opposite. It completely gave up on me due to the rainy days in Kazakhstan. I could only hope for a replacement in Almaty, so I just kept driving on the highway.

30 kilometers before Almaty, I had to pass through a toll station. There was, of course, no price list for cyclists. Payment was only possible at the machines. I asked a worker who was painting a guardrail if I could just drive through, and he just nodded and laughed. Despite surveillance cameras, I was sure that no one would bother me.

In Almaty, things got a bit tricky. The city has two million inhabitants, and finding the city center without navigation was more difficult than expected. Most restaurants also seemed to have no Wi-Fi. A few nice older Russian ladies were able to show me the rough direction. There, I found a Korean restaurant with Wi-Fi that was way too fancy for me. Using my tablet, I finally booked a hostel. The food was actually not within my budget, and I was dirty and unwashed, but no one seemed to notice. When I arrived at the hostel, I finally could communicate again and was well exhausted.

The next day, I wanted to explore the city a bit, hoping that my phone would spontaneously heal itself (spoiler: it didn't). I walked through a large park, where the Zenkov Cathedral and a few crazy propaganda monuments from the First and Second World Wars stood. In general, I noticed how green and western the city was. I felt very comfortable here, and English got me further than in the rest of Kazakhstan. In the evening, I met a nice Russian guy who had fled in his car and was now staying at the same hostel, looking for a job. It wouldn't be the last night that I tasted a few beers with him. Conveniently, there was a specialty store just around the corner!

The next day, I first had to repair my phone. That turned out to be difficult as well, as the first three stores listed on Google turned out to be a disappointment. After asking around, I finally found a store where the owner could speak English. After about 20 minutes of attempted repairs, it was clear that the motherboard was corroded and irreparable. Well, too bad! In the conversation, the owner found out where I was from and how long I had been cycling. He completely escalated and gave me a huge package of dates and sunflower seeds. I also didn't have to pay for the repair attempt, and his wife helped me buy a new phone at the shop next door. Now, that's what I call hospitality! He also offered to start a business with me. I could simply buy a few modern metal detectors in Europe, and then we could sell them profitably in Kazakhstan. There were apparently many untapped gold reserves there that were too deep in the ground for their detectors. Well, we'll see! In any case, the encounter with him greatly boosted my desire to travel in Kazakhstan after a few messed up days. With a functioning phone, I could finally take care of my SIM card and was now fully equipped again. I went through the Green Bazaar, through a few more parks, and finally took the cable car to the Koktebe, the mountain that overlooks Almaty, with an attached park. I stayed in Almaty for another day to rest and taste more beers. After a total of four days, I received a call from Aman, which included an invitation to visit a Uighur family that lived near Almaty. He had been working there for a few days and was now looking forward to seeing me again. Of course, I couldn't miss that opportunity!