Semmey, Astana, flamingos and stars

I crossed the border to Kazachstan a day early. I had one day left on my Russian visa. I was welcomed by the immigration officer and the custom officer. friendly people. crossed both side of the border within 2 hours, a record!

The road on the Kazakh side was not as good as the one on the Russian side. but made good time towards Semmey. An Town know for it its proximity to the Polygon, the next stop after some rest in the city.

Officially you need an Permit for visiting the polygon. the side where in soviet times around 450 nuclear bombs where tested. but I did not encounter any checkpoints or fences so drove there anyway. I guess my dog eat the permit. ones nearing the side in the steppe there some building built using test equipment and to see howe that would stand up towards the blast. necessary to say I didn't make it an long stop and didn't get out of the car. and made sure not to breath a lot of the dust. there is also an abounded (military) city nearby, that housed the bombers that drop the bombs. I mist the airport unfortunately. the museum was off limits unfortuntly.

After I set on towards Astana. turned out to be an very boring long drive from Pavlodar. before that I took the old road that is much more interesting. and still drivable.

Astana is an newly build city, lots of high buildings and I am told a lot is empty. this Is because it not that popular among Kazachs. Especially the people I spoke don't like the name chance to Nur Sultan recently. I stayed in hostel that is located on the 18th floor in a building that looks like the university of Moscow. and had great views over the city.

I heard that between May and September there are flamingos around 130 km south west of Astana, so natural went there. I camped near the office in the steppe where you should arrange your permit. but while making dinner looked up and there the flamingos where in the lake. although quite far away. so can't make good photos. forgot about the permit the next day, and set on driving towards south Kazachstan. via an touristic route, hopefully more interesting than the road towards Astana. that night I also tried to gave an try to make some photos of the stars. have to try again, but made an time-lapse wile I was sleeping in the car. you can see the rotation of the earth and some cars lights coming over the horizon. altho quality could be better.