Almaty-Astana-Borovoe 2010 — Toyota Verossa, 2.5 liter, 2002

Leaving with his wife on vacation, there was a desire to go where they had not been before.

So, we arranged a small test for Verossa after 3 years of driving my car in urban conditions. It was decided to go far away, or rather look at the vast Kazakhstan, including the cities of Karaganda, Temirtau, ASTANA (the northern capital) and Schuchinsk/Borovoye.

After preliminary preparation of the car the day before, having refueled under the neck, the departure took place at 06.00 on August 16 from the city of Talgar (Almaty region). Previously, a GPS device was taken on the trip, which repeatedly helped during the trip. After leaving the Almaty-Astana highway, I almost got caught by the radar, my detector worked, but it was too late, apparently the inspector was frightened by the formidable Verossa jaguar style with a bunch of antennas on the roof (I remind you that 2 stationary radio stations were installed in the car and one portable with him).
Then everything went like clockwork until 287 km. from Almaty, the rear bump stop of the right shock absorber did not break through the attachment cup, the pit turned out to be too unexpected and deep (about 30 cm deep and wide all the way), in general, this section of the road from Kurty to Saryshagan has a very bad reputation and terrible quality of the road surface.
And now we are in a stupor what to do, continue the planned trip or return to Almaty and repair the car?! After not a long meeting and weighing all the pros and cons, we decided to go ahead, having previously phoned Rustam (Astana) and Sergey (Balkhash). I confess that driving with a broken rear shock absorber and even with rear-wheel drive on a highway with a bad road is not pleasant. Apparently, due to the presence of LSD, the rear regularly ran away at a large shock absorber stroke, and the car had to be caught.
After a painful 150 km. Lake Balkhash appeared on the course of traffic and the road from a terrible one became just perfect, and so on to Astana (not counting bypasses in two places due to repairs on the road). By increasing the speed from 50 km.h. up to 80 km.h. continued to move up to 587 km. and the city of Balkhash, where, having previously phoned and continuing to communicate, my friends Aleksey and Sergey met me at the radio station. After examining the damage, we proceeded to the service station where truckers are serviced and there, within an hour, the shock absorber was repaired and I was able to continue moving further at a speed of 110 km.h. I want to express a HUGE THANK YOU for such an invaluable help to the guys.
Having refueled and having lunch, we moved on, admiring the pictures of the road. It was already getting dark, as Karaganda appeared. Local radio amateurs met very friendly, the trip was on a great emotional upsurge, then radio amateurs from Temirtau picked up and drove all the way to Osakarovka, and there you can already hear Astana (more about amateur radio at the end of the article).
So, we arrived in Astana at 00.00, having passed the last section from Balkhash without stopping and resting. The total mileage from the parking lot in Talgar to the rented apartment in Astana was 1283 km. which took less than 2 tanks of fuel. The apartment is quite decent for not much money. After sleeping and having breakfast, we went to the city.
Further, I think, there will only be drooling, I liked everything INSANELY. Architecture, a group of friends, the feeling of a new city, etc. etc. So, for the first day, we saw almost the entire right bank: the oceanarium, a giant flag, Khan Shatyr, Baiterek, a mosque, large supermarkets, etc., swept past the pyramid and the Independence Palace, Ak Orda, the futuristic Concert Hall, as well as the new university. Everything is impressive! And what bridges! Class… Then there was a meeting with friends, as many acquaintances from Almaty among them (Auto-environment of the conference Center of Gravity) and grew into a small gathering in an Italian restaurant. I also met with Rustam, where it was decided to go to Borovoe by his car on Friday, August 20th.
The whole next day we spent pokatushki along the left bank, the railway station with a steam locomotive on a pedestal, riding along Yesil on a boat, as well as on excursions around the Pyramid and the Palace of Independence. The pyramid is amazing! opera, museum, meeting room, diagonal elevators, etc. Go, you won't regret it. In the Palace of Independence, it is worth seeing a huge model of Astana until 2030. Striking scope and futurism. Well, it's already evening, everyone seems to have seen it. Pre-put Verossa in the parking lot. Many Astana residents paid attention to such a rare car for their region, even calls were made with the question - are you in Astana on the Verka?! As a result, this person also turned out to be a Verosovod from Astana. The meeting with him took place on the banks of Yesil, he told and showed everything in his car.

The road to Borovoye is new, the speed limit is 140 km.h., we flew quickly on the new Prado. Beautiful lakes, nature, hilly area. In Shchuchinsk I managed to see Verossa from the 55th region of Russia. We bought ourselves and in the evening we went back, having bought mushrooms and honey at one of the bazaars. Having returned, we went to the farewell meeting of the CT staff.
At 09.30, having moved out of the apartment, refueled, moved towards Karaganda. In one fell swoop, we also reached Balkhash, having already looked at Temirtau and Karaganda in the light of day. Truckers on the radio told where it is better to swim in Balkhash. We found a place after swimming at sunset, ahead of us was the most terrible part of the road. Fortunately, I found a truck on the radio and, by agreement, got on the tail, in such a tandem we drove up to the village of Kanshengel. Thanking the truck driver for the invaluable help, he moved on. There were about 250 km left. to the house. A little later, at another radio station, Almaty radio amateurs picked me up and led me all the way to the city of Talgar. So, at 02.30 on August 22, for my wife and I, the trip along the route Almaty-Astana-Borovoe and back ended.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to all those who safely spent the entire route, as well as to friends in Astana, namely Rustam, Pavel, Denis, Alexey, Sergey, Dima and many others.

On the way, invaluable walkie-talkies and, of course, a GPS device became assistants, which always suggested the correct route in advance, calculated travel time and warned about stationary radars on the road and speed limiters. Well, in a metropolis, in general, a necessary device. Thanks to Sergey (047) for the preloaded maps of Kazakhstan and Astana.
Probably, a separate word should be said about radio stations! Since the car had two communication bands CB and VHF, I tried to use them as efficiently as possible. On the 15th channel of grid C in amplitude modulation, I communicated with truckers, always knowing what was going on according to the situation along the course of movement and warning in their direction about radars and the situation on the road.

I want to say separately about the VHF amateur radio band. I am posting a mini report on contacts in the range of 144.500-146.000Mhz made during the passage of the cities:
1. Karaganda / Temirtau - 17 contacts
un7pbv Beken, un0pa Alexander, un9p Nikolay, un7pbk Vladimir, un8pt Yuri, un9ps Sergey, un8pas Vladimir, un8pi Alex un9pq Valery, un3p Vladimir, un7ppa Abu, un7pv Vladimir, un7phs Anatoly, un7pbg Vladimir, un7pre Boris, un2pc Alexander, un8pkx Sergey
2. Astana – 6 ties
un3z Valery, un7bbj Anatoly (special HUGE THANK YOU!), un7ba Yuri, un7bv Vladimir, un7bb Gennady, un7bfn Evgeniy
3. Shchuchinsk – 3 connections
un1eae Viktor, un1ew Alexey (we met in person), un7ecy Vladimir

Now the figures for the total mileage, gas expenses and mileage, excluding the trip to Borovoye, since Verossa did not participate:
1. 2669 km total mileage at the end of the trip
2. 1283 km Almaty-Astana
3. 112 km Astana
4. 1274 km
5 267.22 liters of fuel
6. The average fuel consumption was 10 liters per 100 km.

Outcome! I wish everyone a mega trip, Astana is a beautiful city, new, worth visiting and seeing, even there was a desire to settle in it and work. Borovoe is a beautiful place not far from Astana, where you can swim, relax and enjoy the crystal clear air. Verossa never let me down during the whole trip, she even endured an emergency with a shock absorber with her head held high, for which MEGA THANKS to her!

ps In the photo near the Mega supermarket, my wife Evgenia and on the cover of the magazine Detki.kz our son Artem! The magazine was found in one of the boutiques of Astana for distribution.