mazing event at BYD Almaty! The photos speak for itself we think.
Day 33 – Almaty city views
lmaty is a very green city. A great way to see this is from a hill overlooking the city. A short cable car-ride from the centre brought us in minutes to this excellent viewing point and little theme park on top of the hill. Unfortunately it was a bit of a hazy day but it’s great to have the snow-capped …
Day 32 – Almaty Development Centre
hile being on the road Maren will conduct 8 interviews with experts on urbanization for the book he is writing about ‘Perspectives on a Globalizing World’. In Almaty I interviewed Mr. Sakenov from the Almaty Development Centre (ADC) about the development and financing of public works in Almaty. This includes, among others, the development of the light-rail system, construction of …
Day 31 – Almaty, bazar and Gorky Park
he smells of fresh cherries and raspberries welcome us at the local bazar (market) only 400 meters away from our hotel. The freshness and healthiness makes me want to buy them all! Even the potatoes are aligned in an organised manner!
Day 30 – Almaty
day full of red-tape. Arrangements for Turkmenistan visa and registration at the Immigration Police in Kazakhstan. Nothing mind-blowing but just something to do to guarantee a safe continuation of the journey. Walking through town was a blast, Almaty is really, really nice!
Day 29 – Charyn Canyon to Almaty
he first night in Kazakhstan was a lonely one. We camped at the Charyn Canyon, the (trying to be) Grand Canyon of Kazakhstan, a 300m-deep canyon into the otherwise flat and barren steppe surrounding it. We realized that outside of villages and cities Kazakhstan is empty, very empty. Thankfully we have everything in our BYD car, from canned food to …
Day 28 – from China to Kazakhstan
ong-awaited for, crossing the China-Kazakhstan border! Our first test if all our paperwork is in order. Our visa, our car papers, our ATA (Chinese Carnet the Passage, which is the bottle neck in the mind blowing amount of paperwork) and of course, the stuff that we take with us. With proudness we can say, we succeeded!
Day 27 – Sayram Lake, China
e woke up in the morning by sun beams coming over the mountains, making the lake look like a mirror while wild horses were grazing in front of the tent. So peaceful and quiet, really amazing. We spend the rest of the day happily without internet and phone reception and were able to focus on daily things like swimming in …
Day 26 – Urumqi to Sayram Lake, China
ur last stretch of Chinese highway! Ever since we arrived in Xinjiang, Kazakhstan felt ‘next door’. But this has been very deceiving, even from Urumqi it is again a full day drive to the border. We made it to Sayram Lake, about one hour drive from the border. This crystal clear lake is surrounded by the towering high and snow-capped …
Day 25 – Urumqi and visit to BYD dealer
nother one of our ‘pit stops’ along the way to the Netherlands at one of the BYD dealers. No, there’s nothing wrong with our car but a regular check-up can’t hurt, and it gives us interesting photos to share with you! In the afternoon we visited Hongshan Park, really a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city …