20 October we continued our way back towards Aralsk, with stops in Turkistan for the splendid Hodscha Ahmet Jassawi Mausoleum and in Baikonur for sightseeing the rubbish surrounding, where we arrived in the evening. No place for a long visit!

The two-days trip from Aralsk via Aktobe to Atyrau at the Caspian Sea on 21 & 22 October 2004 we will never forget: The entire route was a martyrdom for machines and persons! For around 1000 km we had to drive more than 30 hours, we do not recommend any immitation! Nowbody is doing that trip, so we met on the 440 km between Aktobe and Makat perhaps 20 cars and around 300 camels. Most of the track was beside the road, but sometimes, specially around Makat, the rainy weather did not allow us to use the desert and we had to stay on the completely broken “asphalt”.

The cars did their job well, only the battery of the Nissan broke away and cut the ignition cable,  but that could be fixed again in the stormy & cold weather by Moritz and Ueli.

23 October our aim was Veshenskaya behind Volgograd to visit Sascha and the Sholokhov Museum. But unfortunately after doing the costoms at the Kazakh border, a red-coloured puddle under the Toyota indicated the death of the car’s radiator. After 3,5 hours mad and costly procedures at the Russian frontier the Nissan had to tow off the Toyota all 70 km to Astrakhan to a garage: But weekend in Russia is strict and not like in China, they told us to wait until Monday for repair. We had to change the program and cancel the visit in Veshenskaya, we were looking forward so long.

The evening we asked the Lonely Planet for a tip to have a good dinner and ended in the Podkova Grill: Unbelievable prices for not much show the new class in Russia, taking no care of money. Beer of german or mineral water of french orgin was the only available, 7 € for a beer and 4 € for a tiny Perrier.

Today is Sunday and the weather was fine. We walked through the streets of old Astrakhan, where the flair of the zaristic times is still to recognize, but in decay. In the Kremlin, the Assumption Cathedral has been already restored, together with a bell-tower beside, where a really strong sexton stroke two bells with hammers 15 minutes long! Tonight we are looking for a portion of the famous Astrakhan caviar in our Hotel Lotos, which is situated at the riverside of the Volga…

(GA)