Woke to the sound of lashing rain, no water in the bathroom and a stroppy, drunk (at 8 in the morning) hotel caretaker getting a little punchy with me and trying to squeeze more money out of me for my room. Eventually (with telephone help from Alex) settled on an additional 600 Tenge for parking the bike.

I decided to skip breakfast and head off as I didn’t like the guy’s attitude. I kept hearing him shouting Politzei so thought bugger this and left. I didn’t fancy a day explaining to Five Oh that the man’s a raving alchie.

Abi and Jay mentioned a hotel 1 km from the border, so did the last run to the border to thge Helios Hotel and got myself the De Luxe room for 7,000 Tenge.

The waitress, Ulpan in the bar/restuarant speaks good English and was keen to practice so I spent the afternoon chatting to her and her boss and his family. Lovely people.

Song of the day … Same Old Thing by Albert Collins

Ulpan, Ayashan, Olia and Biken at the Helios Hotel