We crossed the border from Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan and went to the Charyn Canyon. It’s a very beautiful canyon.And it was pretty touristic. There were a lot of other tourists which was not often the case in the stan countries. Here is our walk around the canyon on Komoot.After the canyon we went to Almaty and were pretty surprised how organized everything was there. Getting spare parts for Rosinante was super easy and a lot cheaper than in the EU. Especially in the maze of car city the super small shops are perfectly organized and there were always helpful people.After the city we went to Tamgaly Tas, a big rock climbing area. It was so nice there!There were almost 300 bolted routes and we climbed a lot of them.The maximum temperature in the sun was 56 degrees Celsius and so we only climbed in the morning and evening. In between we jumped and hung around in the nice and cold river right next to the rocks and Rosinante.We spent more than three weeks there. When we first entered, we had to pay about 8 Euros for the entry. When we went to the supermarket, we took the phone of the guard with us so that he could receive new messages. Because in the climbing area there was absolutely no signal at all. From the second visit on, we always paid our entry in beer and Cola.Something I love about this nomadic car life: repairing stuff. It started for me because it’s often not easy to get a replacement. But now I love it.Alien creatures.Every week we went to a nearby lake to relax and have an internet signal. We met Simon a friend of Whoopie who became our friend in Georgia.In Almaty we had stickers for Rosinante printed. A dino for me.And a Rhino for Racki. She had a Rhino on her car Thor as well and I thought it would be nice to keep it that way now that we are traveling together in Rosinante.After a whole lot of research we added an additional leaf spring to Rosinante’s suspension. We payed about 30€ for the work. The prices for most services are much lower in Kazakhstan compared to EU and Georgia.To let her carry as much as this truck 😁Maybe a tyre upgrade as well?In the mountains south of Almaty we met Sarah and Wouter again. We got to know them in Georgia and it was super nice to meet again, spent time together, playing Pandemic and Exploding Kittens, talking, having fun. I love these relationships with friends we met again and again. They feel deeper and it’s nice to not talk about the same stuff again and again like we often do when we meet new people.We wanted to go to another climb area but the road leading there was restricted to electric cars. So we did an awesome hike instead.It was super fun.And the views were awesome. Here is the hike on Komoot.
Racki and I took our friend Zdenko with us from Batumi to the airport in Kutaisi to pick up my friend Serpentine from Germany.
I was super happy that Serpentine visited me again in my new nomadic traveling life. It’s just so cool to hang around with people you know for a long time and Serpentine and I had awesome ideas for her time in Georgia.
Together the four of us went up in the Caucasus mountains to Mestia in Rosinante and Thor.
We found an awesome camp spot and on the next day we went on our first hike up to the Koruldi Lake. The hike was nice and a friend of Zdenko had joined us as well.
The next day we started our multi day hike from Mestia to Ushguli. It was super cool. We had our big backpacks with clothes, food and tents and the weather was perfect. On the way we managed to buy some additional supplies which turned out to be not so easy. There were only a few small shops of the locals where we could buy a few things.
The second day we hiked until a famous river crossing. During the day I felt that tension arose in our group. The hiking pace and styles were pretty different and so we decided to split up and meet again later on the route. Although we found a way that worked, I did not feel so good about the dynamics of our group. But I did not manage to verbalize my concerns that good.
After Racki and I had arrived at the river crossing, we helped a young couple crossing that river. It was pretty tough and the girl, who was standing in the hip-deep, ice cold water was pretty much fucked up, shaking and absolutely grateful that we’d help them.
We stayed next to the river crossing and made the plan to cross it the next morning because in the morning it would be less deep and less hard to cross.
After I woke up on the third day, I wanted to go out of our tent to pee but could not find my shoes! I asked Racki if I had put my shoes on her side of our tent but they were not there as well. Together with Zdenko and Serpentine we searched the whole area but could not find my shoes. They were just gone. Including the socks which were lying on top of them. We thought that maybe the stray dog who had accompanied us last night took them, but we did not find any traces.
So I had lost my nearly new, super awesome (and expensive) La Sportiva hiking and mountaineering boots in the middle of our multi day hike. We never found out where my shoes had gone but started believing that a cow fell in love with a goat and to be able to follow her love in the mountains, she needed my mountaineering boots.
We did not have any spare shoes apart from Serpentine’s Flip Flops. So I took these in combination with my winter socks. Pretty good setup for the next 30 kilometers.
After searching for my shoes and breakfast we managed to cross that river. Even in the morning the water was so fucking cold! I used our gas stove to heat them up again. More and more people came to cross the river. Some did good, some not so good. Zdenko helped a lot by giving them out walking sticks. My feet were just too cold to help them! The locals came with horses and some hikers took that comfortable but more expensive approach.
One of the guys passing the river looked as if he had nearly my size of shoes. And he seemed to have special shoes only for the crossing. So I asked him if he would borrow me his shoes and he agreed! That was a pretty good upgrade: from Flip Flops to “water sneakers”. The soles of them had holes which did not help in muddy parts of the track but my feet never got sweaty in them. We had a nice dinner in a restaurant and found another nice camp spot.
Komoot had an error and deleted our third day.
The next day we continued our hike to our destination: Ushguli. It was a nice village in the mountains, famous for its stone towers.
After some sightseeing and cake we took a taxi back to Mestia. The drive was hilarious. Our drivers were about 24 years old and racing their Delica van over the gravel construction site roads. Deep cliffs on one side, high slate walls on the other. We had a lot of fun and motivated the guys to go faster. But only until we recognized that another guy who we had taken with us had become very silent and was not looking that good anymore.