July 09, 2016:
Crossing into Kazakhstan was quick and painless. Rode into the city of Atyrau, no much to see along the way, flat and 50+ feet below sea level. Much of the road was tore up, pot holed tarmac.
Welcome to Kazakhstan:
From Kazakhstan July 09-11, 2016

From Kazakhstan July 09-11, 2016

Lunch stop:
From Kazakhstan July 09-11, 2016

July 10, 2016:
We decided to stay another day and take a ride out to see the Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on the planet. However, it eluded us. The lake has receded and other than some canals we never got close to water.
The road ended at a military out post.
From Kazakhstan July 09-11, 2016

Elevation: minus 83 ft
From Kazakhstan July 09-11, 2016

It was Sunday however I found a guy who opened his garage so I could change my oil. Everyone had been very friendly and generous and I didn't feel I needed to ask how much for the use of his garage. Always negotiate a price first. When I was finished asked or rather acted out, how much, he wrote 100$ on a piece of paper. I thought it was some sort of mistake, other than having the $ in the wrong place. Nope, he wanted $100 in USD's. Negotiations began and things didn't get ugly but they got serious. Vernon jumped in as well which helped. I ended up paying the equivalent of $15, that's a lot of money here. Gas is $1.60 a gallon, that's for the good stuff, 95. A beer cost a $1 (half liter bottle) and you can get a meal for $3 including drink.
From Kazakhstan July 09-11, 2016

July 11, 2016
Heading north to Oral, flat scrub desert and hot.
From Kazakhstan July 09-11, 2016

From Kazakhstan July 09-11, 2016

Stopped for some shade and water at a bus stop. Other than as a toilet, I don't think the, bus stop is used very much.
This family stopped and visited for about fifteen minutes. Two of the boys spoke some English, it was nice meeting. They had a gallon of camels milk and they offered some for us to try, terrible stuff. Very nice of them to offer, but it was terrible.
From Kazakhstan July 09-11, 2016

July 12, 2016:
Vernon headed west for the Russian border and I decided to hang out another day and take care of a couple things. Haircut, update the blog and try and get my riding pants repaired, the crotch is blown out. Got the hair cut and blog done, the riding pants might have to wait, I wasn't able to find a shop this morning. Now it's just to hot out there.
Plan now is to ride NE back into Russia and work my way east. Kazakhstan is nice but from what I've seen, there's not much for a moto rider in these parts.