DAY 4, SHYMKENT – TARAZ – MERKE – CHALDYBAR (300KM)

25^th May 2013

 

I felt so lazy to get up from the very comfortable bed, and only checked out at 10am. I made my way along M39 heading to Taraz. It was not difficult to exit Shymkent as Nurik had explained me the direction yesterday. However, once I exited Shymkent, the wind started to blow fiercely forcing me to slow down. The road was bad too. The view was similar as what I have seen yesterday, with additional of horses on the green steppes. I stopped for a snack and drink while on the way, and was surrounded by locals, who were excited to see a female biker.

   

 

I continued riding. The road condition was bad and lots of construction was going on, so I have to ride slowly. It took me 4.30hrs to reach Taraz. From Taraz to Merke, the road condition was sometimes good and sometimes not so.

Example of a bad patch road

Once I reached Merke, I saw a busy supermarket with lots of people. I stopped my bike and try to find an internet cafe. However, the internet cafe was already closing, so I proceeded with my ride. As the sun is going down, I started to hunt for a nice place to pitch my tent. I found a small trail heading to the mountain and I followed it for about 500m from the main road. The place was very quiet and there was no one that I could see. Perfect.

 

 After pitching my tent, I enjoyed the sunset and the view of snow capped mountain. It was just me, DREAM, the beautiful view and the sound of nature. How serene and peaceful...At times, I could hear the sound of herders calling for their animals. I couldn’t see any of them though. The wind must have brought the sound to me. It was only at 8.30pm when the sun finally disappeared from the horizon and darkness took over.

It gets windy and cold when night falls, so I retired to my sleeping bag earlier. My solar lamp worked well and my tent was bright enough. Lots of things playing in my mind while lullabying myself to sleep. I shoved away the negative thinking. The temperature dropped to 15 degrees in the middle of the night, and to 8 degrees around 2am. I began to feel cold as it was slightly drizzling outside. I felt so lazy to get out from the tent and took my thermal wear which was inside my pannier. I ignored the cold and tried to go back to sleep.

This is my very first time camping outside of Malaysia....and.....alone. Somehow, I didn’t feel lonely...cos I know that Allah is with me, watching and guarding me from above. My feelings? Hard to describe. You have to do it, and do it alone, to know how does it feel.

p/s: A more detailed story about my journey will be told in my upcoming book.....more beautiful pics of course.....STAY TUNED.....