Almaty, Kazakhstan 10th August

It's been a while, so I'll try and make up for some lost time before we head north today from Almaty and into the emptiness of Kazakhstan.

The Caspian Sea Crossing took three days and two nights in the end.  From turning up at the docks, through the game of cat and mouse trying to get tickets, then finally boarding that night, only to discover we were still in harbour the next morning, and then off across the glass like sea, and another night on board.

Our ship, a 1970's Soviet era rust-bucket, The Merkute 1, came as a bit of a shock when we boarded.  Dingy, unwelcoming and not the cleanest place I've laid my head, but after that initial readjustment that happens so much on this trip, we settled in just fine.  Turns out also it had been used as a floating hotel for the 2012 Eurovision song contest that had been held in Baku.  Suspect it wasn't for the visiting VIPs. In the end we had a great time. Firstly one of the other rally teams organised a pub quiz night for the four teams on board, which we won (natch), and then I improvised a home cinema through my Mac Air and a Bose boom box and we all settled down to watch 'Zombieland'.  Greta stuff in the end and a real adventure.

Here are some pics:

furtive queuing at Baku docks

Max, a hilarious Kazakh lorry driver we befriended, smoking our Marlboro and trying on Rodger's kilt

The team with our fixer Ismael, who came good in the end.

My ensuite. I was lucky, the others had to usual communal facilities.

 There's a kestrel perched above the speaker if you look close enough

 Soviet era decor

 Soviet era wiring

The wards room.  I wangled one of the best cabins

 I love this piece of graphic design

Somewhere on the Caspian

The view in the other direction

My apologies that this has all been a bit rushed, not very reflective and way behind schedule.  Fact is we drive ten hours a day, shovel some food down our necks and then fall asleep.  And the internet is far from regular.  More when I get the chance.  Just under 3,000 miles to go, so some big driving days ahead.