Today was the day!!! The day we’d set out on yet another 1,800+ road trip. We’re always excited at the onset, but we should have clued in early on that this would be like no trip we’d ever taken before. If the problems with getting our passports would be any indication of the timbre of this journey, then we were in for some rough road ahead (pun very much intended).

12:00 PM came and went. Those elusive passports and visas of ours did not show up. 1:00,.., 2:00…, nope. We gave a call to the courier company, and were told they did not make it onto the first flight; “They’re on the afternoon flight”, we are told. That lands at 4:00. Surely we’d have them by 5:00. Wrong. 6:00? Nope. 6:45 PM they arrive at the door, and like a herd of turtles with ants in their pants we squish into the van and begin our long slog across the wide open steppe.



We had 20 hours in which to do a, what would normally take 16, trek. That would need to include some rest for the lone driver, and of course several pit stops and snack breaks. Could we do it?? What kind of heroic efforts would it take to accomplish something so totally insane?



As the kilometers and hours wore on, it became painfully obvious that this trip was going to take FAR longer than the usual 16 hours. One reason, in fact the main one, was this:


Construction on the new highway that will stretch from Eastern Europe to Western China (funded through a loan by the World Bank) kept shunting us off the existing road that can, at places, cease to be called a road at all. Avoiding the pot holes, or simply bracing oneself for the too frequent, but unavoidable, bone crushing jolts from crashing into them, was the name of the game.

The sun set around 10:30, and we were treated to a gorgeous sunset behind us- a blessing because that meant the sun was not in our eyes the last hours of driving.



From 7:00 until 2:00 AM we drove. When the driver (and passengers) could take no more, we pulled off in a wheat field to find what sleep we could. About the time the sun was casting a rosy glow over the Eastern horizon (the sun will now be in our eyes for several driving hours) the driver got cold and uncomfortable, so got up, and got us going again. We had caught a total of 2 hours of cramp-inducing “rest”




The kids, as usual, are unfazed by this sort of insanity; in fact, it is odd how completely immune to circumstances most adults would consider utterly discomforting and stressful they are. See?



There were a few things occasionally to keep us entertained along the way:

We never get tired of seeing the variety of yurts…



The kids LOVE to count the cars on the passing trains (still!)…



And where the highway briefly ducks into Kyrgyz territory is always an exciting thing…



And who doesn’t love a herd of sheep or cows driven by a bona fide shepherd?



19 hours later, about 2:00, we knew for sure we’d be missing the awards ceremony we were shooting for at Andrew’s school. We texted him to say that we’d make it in time for the picnic afterwards around 4:30- which ended up being just peachy. Andrew didn’t win any awards, so we were totally ok with doing the best we could have done in grueling circumstances. The last stop we made about an hour outside of the city was to “freshen up”. That , is a term I use loosely, since we had slept in the car, not seen water to wash for over 20 hours, and had completely skipped dinner, breakfast and lunch – 3 meals that consisted of cookies, chips, juice boxes and almonds. We put on new clothes from our suitcases, washed our faces with the drinking water, and threw on a layer of deodorant. I mean, who wants to give a stinking first impression to their son’s classmates and their parents having never met most before?!


Just before loading back up, Zachy spied this amazing creature. Prophetic warning of things yet to come?? You be the judge.



Next up… That’s One Small Steppe for (a) Man...