What a day we've had stretching our legs. We took it easy this morning and didn't get going until after eleven. To start the day with some energy, Uncle Joan took me on a proper two-kilometre walk along the water to a Catholic church on the other side of the pond. A delightful stroll for my doggy mornings. Afterwards, we all piled into the car and headed straight for the centre of Karaganda. This city is a sight to behold: everywhere you look there are huge buildings, gigantic monuments, and loads of Soviet-era mosaics. We parked on the main avenue, very close to the Stele of Independence and the central park, and set off to explore. The humans couldn't stop looking up in amazement at the Akimat, the regional government building, which has an imposing brutalist style, and at the reliefs on the surrounding buildings. We also passed by the Eco Museum, which, although it looked closed, had some really cool mosaics on the façade that were worth a good sniff.

We strolled through the immense central park and reached the historic Hotel Chaika. This place is famous because it’s where they used to bring Soviet cosmonauts as soon as they landed in the deep steppe so they could recover, have their first proper bath, and rest after their space walks. Dad Edu and Uncle Joan went inside for a look around to have a nosey while I stood guard at the entrance. Back on the main avenue, we stumbled upon the Miners' Glory monument, which pays tribute to the coal miners, and the monumental Miners' Palace of Culture. We kept racking up the kilometres until we reached Victory Park, where I kept a close eye on the monument with the eternal flame, and we topped it off by arriving at the famous cosmonaut mosaic on the side of a building. After four and a half hours of urban exploration and wearing down my paw pads from all that walking, we returned to the car, but before leaving the city we drove past the monumental statue of Lenin. It is one of the most notable relics of the Soviet era in Kazakhstan.

With our history quota filled, it was time to hit the road. A lot of road. We clocked up over 175 kilometres crossing the middle of the Kazakh steppe. The end-of-day challenge was twofold: finding a good spot to sleep in the middle of nowhere and getting Uncle Joan some mobile data coverage for his human stuff. In the end, our instincts didn't let us down and we found a pretty cool corner near the village of Tendyk. We are camped next to a small river, right in the middle of territory inhabited by free-roaming cows and horses that look at me with curiosity. Not a human soul passes by here, so I have a feeling we're going to sleep wonderfully after such a full day.