Almaty would have been another stopover to meet a friend (who is now in Italy). Ultimately, I had planned too tightly to stay there for more than one night, as I needed three trains to Bukhara instead of one, and three day trains instead of one night train.
After maybe two hours of driving, we made our first stop, and then again at 11:00 PM, each time for at least 20 minutes. Then from 1:30 AM to 5:00 AM, we parked with the doors open, with the temperature down to just 12°C. I had no idea where they had gone or when they would be back, and most of those who had stayed on the bus were asleep. Then another drive with a short break, then an hour’s break (breakfast?), and after another five minutes of driving, another hour with no clear agenda.
I never know why or how long we parked and didn’t go to the bathroom because I would be too nervous if I didn’t know where the driver was and when we were leaving.
Finally, border control in Korgas. The Chinese official asked me which cities I’d visited and even wanted to see photos. But then he let me go, and since I was still one of the first on the bus, I dared to go to the bathroom, now knowing that I could last 19 hours, at least when drinking too little.
This sensitive topic is another, yet down-to-earth, reason to stop traveling. (my list gets longer with every day of travelling!)
The border control took almost three hours in total. But just as I was hoping we would drive the remaining ~340 km straight away, I realized that these stops kept happening, and were beyond my patience. The last three stops were for people who wanted to leave earlier but needed to retrieve their luggage from the cargo hold, which, in turn, took more time than I could bear. (But that’s just FYI—no one had to noticed, of course.)
horse riders guarding sheep
We arrived at the Sayran bus station at 8:00 PM, and I was able to walk to the hotel. It’s a simple hotel, but it’s located right between the bus station and the train station, so both are within walking distance.
By the way: Due to the time difference between China and Kazakhstan, it wasn’t 8:00 PM, but 5:00 PM. I believe this is the only land border crossing with a three-hour time difference (Afghanistan and China are 3.5 hours apart, the other borders are closer).