Pika na i – monumentalna Bozshira, Kazahstan

Počasi je čas, da zaključim z našo kazahstansko avanturo. Dolina Bozhira na planoti Ustyurt v zahodnem Kazahstanu je bila naša zadnja prava destinacija. Osnovni plan je bil sicer, da odpotujemo potem še naprej v Kirgizstan, in uživamu ob lovcih z orli, a je korona že marca v tistih koncih delala velike neumnosti. Skratka, dolina Bozhira je bila pika na i celotni Kazahstanski avanturi in upam, da me v tiste konce povleče še kdaj. Super je bil vodič Sergey, naravnost neverjetne pa so bila čudesa narave. Zadnjo noč smo preživeli ob mogočnem skalovju, v zatišju pred orkanskim vetrom ter konkretnimi zimskimi temperaturami. Večerno vandranje po dolini in opazovanje vseh teh monolitov, ki smo jih pred tem opazovali z različnih razgledišč je bilo naravnost fenomenalno. Na trenutke se mi je pokrajina zdela podobna “Monument valley” iz zahodne ZDA, a vse skupaj še precej bolj nezemeljsko, prvinsko, praktično nedotaknjeno. Zadnji dan smo potem v peščenem viharju in ob pogledu na nešteto naftnih vrtin počasi potovali proti mestu Aktau in našemu simpatičnemu hotelu. V hotelu je zmagala spet super simpatična hotelska kuharica, prava babica, ki je prav smešno razlagala receptorki, da ni potrebe, da govorijo z nami po angleško, saj zastopimo skoraj vse po rusko. 🙂 🙂 Resnica je sicer malo drugačna, a nastop je očitno tudi važen. 🙂

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It is time to end our Kazakhstan adventure. The Bozhira Valley on the Ustyurt Plateau in western Kazakhstan was our last real destination. The original plan was to continue on to Kyrgyzstan and enjoy hunting with eagles, but the covid situation was already in full shift in those parts of the world already in march. In short, the Bozhira Valley was the highlight of the entire Kazakh adventure and I hope I will come back someday. The guide Sergey was great and the wonders of nature were truly amazing. We spent the last night by the mighty rocks, in the calm before the hurricane wind and winter temperatures. The evening wandering around the valley and observing all these monoliths that we had previously observed from different vantage points was phenomenal. At times, the landscape was similar to the “Monument valley” in the western U.S., but all in all, much more unearthly, primaly, virtually untouched. On the last day, we slowly traveled towards the city of Aktau and to our nice hotel in a sandstorm, while looking at countless oil wells. The hotel was great also because of super nice cook, a real grandmother, who funny explained to the receptionist that there is no need to speak to us in English, as we understand almost everything in Russian. 🙂 🙂 The truth is a little different, but the performance is obviously also important. 🙂