Day 33: Rest day at Aktobe


The Rest day after hectic driving of last four days was a blessing. We decided not to do any sightseeing and just take rest.

We had full rest in the morning. We took breakfast and dinner in the hotel. We went to McDonald’s for lunch. The kids also had gala time in swimming pool in the morning.

The car required little repairs which was carried out in Toyota Service Station here. They also washed the car thoroughly from outside. The Toyota people were kind enough to give all the services to us for free because we are travelling in Toyota vehicle from Singapore to London. This generosity from them is very much appreciated.

Central Asia stretches from Caspian sea in the West to China in the East and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the North. The region consists of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It is also called “the stans” as the countries generally considered within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix – “-stans” meaning the “land of”. We have visited Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in this journey.

Central Asia has historically been closely tied to the nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. The Silk Road connected Muslim lands with the people of Europe, India, and China. From mid-19th Century until almost the end of 20th Century, most of Central Asia was part of the Russian empire and later the Soviet Union, both Slavic-majority countries and the five former Soviet “-stans” are still home to about 7million ethnic Russian and 5 lakhs Ukrainians.

Tomorrow is a long day with about 700 kms. drive with borders crossing. It is very uncertain about time which could be taken on the borders. So, we plan to start early tomorrow morning. 

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