Day 75. Shonzhy - Zharkent
Desert day today. Unfortunately our hotel didn't do breakfast and the lovely cafe next door wasn't open, so we set off in search of the Charyn Canyon view point as marked on Maps.me.
We found the turn off ok but hesitated when it indicated 24km down a gravel track and there wasn't a sign post to be seen to indicate we were on the right track. So with everything saying don't do it, off we went.
Wasn't all that bad but boy was it isolated, nothing but desert and the occasional abandoned building. The lookout when we got there was really nice, the views were stunning.
We resisted the temptation to descend the narrow track into the canyon, ( we're not really risk takers- yeah right).
So back the 24km on the rough dirt track with only a couple of "I'm sure it was that way" moments.
Our loop led us back to the motorway where we left it yesterday, then a long and hot blast to our destination for the night Zharkent.
Very similar place to last night, just a one horse town but fortunately for us it has a very nice guest house with a/c, wifi, and a cafe on site. We have the honeymoon suite with lovely artwork to add to the romantic ambiance.
I didn't let on to Robyn but I had been a little concerned about our petrol situation, there are no service stations on the motorway and the area is very sparsely populated, we pulled into the gas station here and I got 29.35 litres into my 30 litre tank! and I think she could have squeezed in a bit more.
We found the turn off ok but hesitated when it indicated 24km down a gravel track and there wasn't a sign post to be seen to indicate we were on the right track. So with everything saying don't do it, off we went.
Wasn't all that bad but boy was it isolated, nothing but desert and the occasional abandoned building. The lookout when we got there was really nice, the views were stunning.
We resisted the temptation to descend the narrow track into the canyon, ( we're not really risk takers- yeah right).
So back the 24km on the rough dirt track with only a couple of "I'm sure it was that way" moments.
Know how she feels when it all goes south.
Back to the main road for cold water and ice cream for breakfast. While we were feasting a couple of old trucks pulled up for water for the drivers and also the radiators. They were keen to start a conversation so a couple of Ka Pai Kiwi stickers and we were all best friends.
Our loop led us back to the motorway where we left it yesterday, then a long and hot blast to our destination for the night Zharkent.
Very similar place to last night, just a one horse town but fortunately for us it has a very nice guest house with a/c, wifi, and a cafe on site. We have the honeymoon suite with lovely artwork to add to the romantic ambiance.
I didn't let on to Robyn but I had been a little concerned about our petrol situation, there are no service stations on the motorway and the area is very sparsely populated, we pulled into the gas station here and I got 29.35 litres into my 30 litre tank! and I think she could have squeezed in a bit more.
Be like a second honeymoon, what could any girl ask for eh Robyn!
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly - (Robyn)
DeleteWell mark you bloody lucky you didn't run out of gas (such a Male thing) because if you did you wouldn't be in the honeymoon suite!😂
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more - yes such a male thing, it would have been very bad timing - hot tired and ready to have a cold drink - not run out of petrol. (Robyn)
ReplyDeleteMy calculations worked out perfectly. Precision planning Unknown (Sharon)
ReplyDelete