The caravan departs!! (27/6/05 )

(Click here to view the complete list of diary entries) Just a quick update. Last Monday the workers carriage on the railway brought along with it two great friends- Cordell and his partner Cara. I met Cordell during my brief stint at university in Canberra in 1999. In the past week have been setting about preparing for an all together different part of the journey. Borzshan our host was a Kazak of the ‘Kozha’ clan. The Kozha’s trace their ancestry back to Bedouin missionaries who arrived in Kazakhstan in the 14th century. He saw to it that our preparations were laced with generous helpings of ‘Shubat’ (camel milk) and fresh Bes Barmak (a goat slaughtered for the occasion). In short after several days we were finally presented with a camel and some horses for sale. One of these horses threw its owner off and bolted, while the others were calm enough to take a barrage of kids jumping on their backs. The camel was very small by comparison and its humps were a little floppy, but in the end time was running out and so was our patience. Two days ago after much struggling we finally packed the camel, saddled up and rode out of town. Our caravan of five horses and a camel made it about five kilometres before the camel just sat down in the middle of the track ad refused to budge. Fortunately it was raised to its feet eventually and we made a total of 12 kilometres that day. Yesterday we rode under burly grey clouds and among sand dunes glaring back at the sky. We rode all night, collapsing thismorning into camp at sunrise. It is a much more complicated than travelling alone- in many more ways more akin to the way that nomads travel. They would use camels as a rule and never travel solo. Ahead lies a steep learning curve for all of us. It is wonderful to have someone here to share the experience with and to have the chance to relax a little more than usual. One great adventage is that Cordell has brought along his digital camera! (mine is still on repair in Almaty). So look forward to some fresh pics in the photo gallery! Tim. (Click here to view the complete list of diary entries)