Rest Day 8/11. Thursday June 30.

Rest Day.  8/11.    Usharal

A nice Rest Day in a small place. Not too much to distract one from the priority of resting and relaxing.

With no alarm set for an unearthly hour I spent a while on the balcony watching the orange sunset off to the west.

My mind, not focus sing on covering kilometres today it strays to a number of people at home. My best wishes to the “London Team” who are coming over to do the Ring of Kerry again on Saturday. My regards to you, lads, and go easy on the hydration on Friday night! 

My best wishes to Jim Burke of Kilfeacle who I believe is a faithful follower of this blog. Hope you enjoy the bits I pick up along the way, Jim.

 And Keith Hoare’s wedding up in Galway will be another centre of celebration for the weekend. My congratulations to you both and many happy years together. 

This morning after breakfast I decided to venture out on foot before the mid-day heat kicked in. Even at 10 am it was as hot as I would want any day in a good summer. Within yards of the front door I grabbed for the sunscreen. Later in the day it had crept up to 32C but locals here regard that as normal for this time of the year. January is a different story with the average low at -20C. Aren't we blessed in Ireland not to have those extremes. 

The centre of Usharal is compact and near to the hotel. Even at that hour cars (taxis) were parked in all types of positions, more abandoned than parked. Shops along the Main Street were either food markets or service shops (banks, mobile phones,etc). And sure enough there was an Irish presence on the shelves. About 20 Euro for the large bottle. I wondered where did people get shoes or clothes. I was on the lookout for insoles as I got tar on my own last Sunday (the day of the boiling feet). 

On the way back to the hotel I discovered the market, a large maze of lanes and alleys in a designated area carrying all the clothes, shoes etc that one would want. But no insoles of the type I needed and definitely not in size 46. I’ll manage.

People came and went with the daily shopping of vegetables etc using whatever mode of carriage was handiest. Quite a few bicycle shops also with parts and new bikes on offer.

I’d have liked to get a Kazakhstan tee-shirt to mark our passage through here but none to be seen. Plenty of the western types with Porsche, Ronaldo, Nike etc. The Union Jack is a popular sight here on bikes, tee-shirts etc.

I dropped into a busy hardware shop just outside the market and all the usual brands and machines on the walls and benches. Did pick up a few things that will be handy in the garage at home.......sometime.

Near our hotel in a different direction is a very modern looking Sports Centre and playing pitches with athletics track and open stand but nothing happening  at the time I passed. Nor was there much stirring at the adjacent mosque but a notice for visitors not to enter with shorts.

Did spend a while attending to the bike out behind the hotel but it was just cleaning and oiling and getting ready for the next 5-day stretch southwards to Almaty, the end of Stage 3.

Thank God for a lovely day.