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what Noey learned about Kazakhstan
- Older in Altai Bike Expedition, 2006: Leaving Town - Newer in Altai Bike Expedition, 2006: Not there YET
In my world atlas, Kazakhstan is included in a map of Asia and has about as much detail as the one that Jon drew. I can identify the region where the four countries – Mongolia, China, Russia, and Kazakhstan – meet, and know that there are some smallish mountains there called the Altai. Small in this part of the world is relative. The highest peak in the Altai is Belukha Mountain in Siberia. At 4500 meters it is just a bit higher than Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevada of California. So I pulled up the trusty search engine and discovered…. very little actually. “Eastern Kazakhstan uniqueness level very high.” And “rare and endemic animals can be met here.” The World Wildlife Federation declared the Altai-Sayan one of 200 global eco-regions that merit preservation. It is a good place for tourism, but the roads are bad and there is no infrastructure (read: If you had a really good four-wheel drive jeep you could travel about as fast as you can on a bicycle and there would be nothing to eat when you get there). So off we go to get lost smack dab in the middle of the Eurasian continent, half way between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans where “objects of global uniqueness are available.”
Dated: 06/23/2006
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