Current situation: we already got our Mongolian visas, but still found no couchsurfer. Last night we were picked up from the street by Tatjana, a solitarily Russian woman, who had lived in Germany for 6 years and likes extremely strong black tea.

Episode 2: Babushka

Arys is a ramified river with many small islands and swampland, and because there is no direct path along the riverside, it was impossible to walk there. So we had to use the street. In the blistering heat, our backpacks seemed to be even heavier than normally. Under these circumstances, it was time for a donkey. 

Considering the donkey-prices we had heard in Aralsk (100$), we thought we made a good deal by buying one for 5000Tenge (25EUR) in the nearby village. There the donkeys are normal part of life. Called "jeeps of the region", they are used for transportation as well as as alternative to fairy cycles. Our exemplar didn't look that attractive, but the saleswoman assured it was young, strong and healthy. The backpacks were fixed on the back of the donkey and at the beginning we almost couldn't stop our jeep. 

Not much time had passed, the village was out of sight, when the donkey started slowing down. Was it hungry? Did it need water? Were the backpacks too heavy? 

To be continued...