03 Aug Another day, another shakedown
August 1st: caught speeding (finally)
About 9am a cop motioned us over asked for our documents, then directed Don to follow him back to the car. I bounded out alongside, to find a man in a dirty shirt and loafers with a full gold grill sitting in the back seat of the cop car holding a radar gun. He pantomimed that the limit was 50 kph and we were at 60. Don apologized and said he didn’t see a sign. Then the gold toothed man shouted “dollars” and made a counting gesture, then pointed at himself. Don shrugged and said I don’t understand, and asked “do you want to take a picture” and made a picture-taking motion. The cop looked at him like he was an idiot, while I piped up in my most chipper voice that we were tourists, that we loved Kazakhstan, and were very sorry about the speed limit problem. After a brief exchange of disgust between the uniformed cop and the gold grill man, they motioned us away. The uniformed cop walked back to the bus with us, where a chorus of hellos and nationalities assaulted him. He gave up completely then, faced with a wall of non-Kaz speaking stupid tourists. Yet another win for the “Big Smiles, No Clue” method of cop interactions.
We made it to the border at last and were able to say goodbye to Kaz for a few days. The Kyrgyzstan border was wonderful by comparison. Friendly and most everyone spoke English! And had a sense of humor. Very flirtatious, too. Both Chris and Caroline got some vintage pickup lines, including Caroline’s paramour saying “your eyes talk to me” in a cute yet cheesy way. One guard followed us across the border to sit in the bus with the ladies and get his picture taken with us. Chris even got his phone number! I think we could have arranged a marriage on the spot. And he was pretty cute!
Traveling through Kyrgyz is so different than Kaz. We stopped for fuel and a family came over to the bus with their little girl to take a picture of her with the bus, and were happy to pose for our pictures, too. Very friendly. And the roads are pretty good so far, as a bonus.
But, man, it is still so hot. The wait to get to the lake continues to be like a ride to a mythical city that will cure us of the oppressive desert heat. Tempers get short after so many hours without a break.
To help pass the time, Will had taken over DJ duties and the current selection is Finnish Polka Rock. And yes, it is as bad as it sounds, but very perky.