Crossing the desert

The route from western Kazakhstan into Uzbekistan has the reputation for being the worst road in the road. Not only is just a dirt track in places, but also passing trucks kick up clouds of dust, the headwind is infamous and there are few places to get food or water on this 600 mile stretch.
It does have its plus points though, the wildlife for one. Camels stare at my bike and me as if we're weird. Wild ponies somehow manage without water, eagles patrol the sky and gerbils scuttle down burrows as I psss by. The headwind was real torture - blasting me all day long with no shelter, no respite - my average speed some days was under 9 mph. A lot of the old road had been replaced with smooth, fast empty tarmac.
Due to the lack of foodstops I carried plenty of snacks and meals. Once, after almost two days with no shops my snack supply ran out, fortunately a town was on the horizon. There was an army checkpoint at the turnoff but they wouldn't let me go to the town. The soldier said there was a cafe 5 km further down the road. There was, so I didn't have to break into my emergency rations.It turned out that that there is a maximum security prison at that town, it's put in the middle of the desert so escapees would probably die - it is that isolated.
I am glad I didn't know about the prison when I was wild camping. It was blissfully quiet with no farmers or other people to worry about. The culvets (drains) under the road are a traditional place for desert cyclists to seek shelter. I tried a couple, in the evenings it was relaxing to lie back on the sun-warmed concrete and look at the stars.
Now I am in Nukus (Uzbekistan) for a couple of rest days. It has a big museum/art gallery and huge food market. Next I will ride to Kyrgyzstan via the old cities of Bukhara, Tashkent and Sanarkand.

Most of the route was traffic free, but that doesn't make a good picture.

Lots of wild ponies and camels in the Kazak desert

The camels were quite shy

Clean out culverts before you camp , i found a dead scorpion in one.