XWORLD, Stage 4: To the edge of the Himalaya

The fourth stage of the XWORLD Tour 2008/2009 passed through three time zones to the edge of the Himalayas. An account of the journey by the eight female and one male participant who followed the historical Silk Road for more than 3,100 kilometres.

The description of the fourth stage of the XWORLD Tour stated "Individual arrival in Astrakhan". But where is that? Some research on the internet, and we knew a little more: deep in the south of Russia, on the Volga, one of the most important cities of the "Golden Horde" in the Middle Ages. The outward journey takes us - slightly stressfully - from Frankfurt via Moscow to the city which is situated on four hills, eleven islands and is surrounded by thousands of tiny rivers. The landscape around the city is mainly steppe, semi-desert and the Volga delta. An ideal practice area. During the morning we practice in terrain which is difficult in parts. In the afternoon the tour leader allows us a break - a sightseeing tour with a visit to the Kremlin in Astrakhan.

Well-rested, the next morning we start on our first leg to Atyrau in Kasachstan. We make rapid progress along good asphalt roads - but then we lose a lot of time at the border between Russia and Kasachstan. Waiting, waiting, waiting - not because of us, but because of the other vehicles in the queue in front of us. With us, the customs officials only take a quick glance at our documents, and after a hearty handshake we are allowed to proceed. This is something which we will often experience during the next few days. Just like dealing with flat tyres. Shortly after the border, the Land Cruiser with the "Himalayan" motif has a flat tyre for the first time. It's a good thing that the vehicles are equipped with the necessary tools. Slightly exhausted, in the early evening we reach Atyrau, a town on the edge of the Urals.

Day 4 of our tour starts with a drive to the Caspian Sea, where we change our means of transport for a few hours. Two small fishing boats bring us out into the open sea. We enjoy the trip and gather a little strength for the rest of the day. At first, the route is along pot-holed asphalt roads and later along gravel roads with small river fords, until we are near Sagiz, where we camp for the night. It is only during our evening meal together that we become aware that we have now arrived on the Asian continent.

The fifth day starts with a question: Why have they built roads here at all? The asphalt road is in a disastrous condition - one pot-hole after the other, some of them a metre across. We drive the entire route (330 kilometre) "beside the road" on sand and gravel tracks which are four-lanes wide in places. In spite of the good suspension it is very bumpy and extremely dusty. The next day also shows us why four-wheel drive and good suspension is needed for this tour: Once again we drive next to the road, which becomes increasingly bad, and after a strenuous 250 kilometres we arrive at the unpronounceable town of Quandyyaghash, which is only shown on a few maps and cannot even be found in internet (except on the HANSA-FLEX pages).

Day 7. Once again, over 270 kilometres of sand and gravel roads are waiting for us. However, shortly before our destination, the Aral Sea, there is once again good asphalt on which we make good progress and arrive punctually at the ships' graveyard on the former sea bed - the Aral Sea is continually shrinking and the ships simply remain on what used to be the bottom of the sea. The reason is people: too much water is being taken from the rivers which feed it, so that in the foreseeable future, the Aral Sea may no longer exist. Originally there were eleven wrecked ships here, but now there are only three. The ships are laboriously broken up by hand and the steel is sold to China. It is impressive how much effort is put into these wrecks - but it also depresses us to see how man is treating nature.

The next day brings us from the Aral Sea to another town with an almost unpronounceable name - Qyzylorda (also known as Qysylorda). The drive is short and relaxing on a good asphalt road. One notices the better infrastructure in the vicinity of the Russian Cosmodrome in Baikonur (which we were unfortunately not allowed to visit). Instead, on the morning of the 9th day of the XWORLD Tour, we had time to visit the burial mosque of the prophet Hodzha Achmed Jassawi in Qyzylorda, before travelling on to the Zhabagly nature reserve on the hottest day of the tour (34 degrees in the shade in April!) After nine days in the steppes, the first snow-covered 4,000 metre peaks finally appear at the end of the day. Unfortunately, on this day we also had to say goodbye to one of the tour participants, who had to be flown back to Germany with suspected appendicitis.

The next day, the remaining six participants decided to explore the Aksu Canyon in the nature reserve. The journey there is easy with the Land Cruisers, but the three-hour hike in the canyon is somewhat more difficult - and the fact that on the return journey a stone punctured a tyre of the "South Seas" Toyota was something we could have done without. It was a good thing that we didn't have to set anything up on our return, but rather that we could relax in the nature reserve guest house as soon as we arrived.

The last few days pass far too quickly. We travel further east on a good road, stay the night by an idyllically situated river near to the Kyrgyzstan border, before arriving in Kyrgyzstan on the twelfth day (and a third flat tyre - once again the "Himalaya"). The entry into the country is amazingly quick. Immediately across the border the local Bischkek HANSA-FLEX manager is waiting to accompany us to Almaty. On our last day we visit the Osch Bazaar and then fly back home from XWORLD Stage 4 relaxed, a little exhausted, but full of our impressions."