This is probably not a fair assessment of what Kazakstan is really like as we were only just driving through from Aktau to Beneu and onto the camel track to Uzbekistan.
There was not much in Aktau apart from the ferry terminal and the town centre which was once a thriving holiday destination for the Russians during the Soviet era. Aktau does have a beach on the Caspian Sea coast with an unusual jetty (see picture). Its purpose was not obviouse to me.
On arrival at Aktau, it was early hours in the morning and the Authority was not in full motion. Anyway, after a couple of hours of processing we were through and officially in Kazakstan. But, we still had to wait for them to process Calypso. So, to catch up with some sleep, we slept anywhere/anyway we could.
An attached picture shows I was trying a cool drink by the side of the road. The mini-tanker says "KBAC". I still don't know what it was, but it's cool refreshment on a hot day.
The main highway between Aktau and Beneu was nothing but a slossy dirt road where many trucks were seen bogged.
Beneu is a railway town. Like the highway we just arrived from, most of the roads in the town were not sealed (see picture) making "a night out in town" very difficult.
The next day we took the camel track (most maps don't show this "road" to Uzbekistan). I guess it was originally travelled by caravans and camels, it is called the camel track. Just to add justification to the label, we did see wild camels along the road.
Calypso developed a problem. We had picked up some dirty fuel in Aktau and the fuel system was clogged and Tim had had a frustrating time trying to drain the fuel tank and replace filters in the middle of nowhere - something thing we don't need on such a trip.
Basically, Kazakstan did not give us a very positive impression for a place to visit. As said, it's probably is not a unfair assessment of a very large country where we had only travelled a very small corner of it.
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