Bicycle Touring The World: In Aktau, Kazakhstan

My latest bicycle touring update, cycling around the world in Aktau, Kazakhstan. Country number twenty-two. Thankfully, I didn’t have to sleep down on the deck with my bike. Although I might have had a better night’s sleep had I done so. I found a comfortable settee in the communal lounge and managed to get my head down, sort of! Unfortunately, the ship’s crew kept coming in and putting badly dubbed DVDs on. Until at least 2 am!

Despite the crew’s best effort to get me up, I managed to sort of sleep until nearly eight o’clock. The crew kept coming in making a noise, then, when I didn’t stir, went back out. I knew they were trying to get me up because they were in the room as soon as I did get up. Playing their poorly dubbed American DVDs!

I spent the day watching DVDs and playing table tennis with the crew. And going for walks around the boat, which took all of five minutes!

We docked in Aktau at about 5.30 pm after nearly twenty-eight hours at sea. Once docked, we had to wait for customs to board, which seemed to take forever. After the customs officers had inspected the boat and everybody on it, I thought we would finally get off! But no, we still had to wait. The process must have taken at least two hours, although it felt much longer. They eventually let us off, and I had to pass through customs. The same people who had just inspected my passport on the boat were now at the border! And they still took their time looking through my passport.

Tour Information

It’s been years since I took this ride, but the memories (and the data) are all archived:

• Photos: See my photos on Flickr
• The route: View my journey around the world
• Videos: Check out my YouTube videos
• Tour page: Ride overview

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If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page. For a look at the gear and logistics that keep me on the road, see my “Life at 10mph Guide.”