Wolves and Mosquitoes.

I have been out of touch for the last three weeks due to the fact that we have been camping and I have been unable to charge my laptop, so the following posts will bring news up to date. I have also just discovered that it appears I can now edit my blog from Kazakhstan. However, in checking my blog it also appears that one of the blogs I emailed home was never published, so here it is, slightly belated.

Monday 23rd August

Here I am having just crossed the Ili river, and the smile says it all - I am on the move again! My hat brim is tied to my saddle due to a stiff wind which preceded a rainy afternoon, but it was pleasantly cool for a change, which was a relief. Alimjan is peeking over the horse.

We stopped a little further on for lunch at the Kazakh house below - the sturdy fencing is to protect their sheep from the ravenous wolves which prowl the area. The ravenous horse is tucking into a feed of maize in the yard, while we were fed and watered, or rather 'chaied' inside.The humble exteriors of these houses invariably belie the sumptuous furnishings inside. Below is the luxurious dining room where we tucked into tasty bowls of laghman (noodles topped with spicy meat and vegetables) before a little siesta on the couches in the living room.

Alimjan pushed me to continue to the next small town of Taramgasu, with dire warnings of the monstrous mosquitoes which apparently prowl the swampy banks of the Ili, his exhortations being echoed by Kanat, who needed little persuasion after his insect ridden night in Koktal.

I ended up driving cattle along the road with a cheerfully talkative Kazakh herdsman who came galloping full tilt up the road to check me out - I managed a surprisingly informative conversation with my few words of Russian.