After crossing the Kazakh border (which was pretty fast and easy by central Asian standards) the map showed a coastal road, but we could not see any water at all. We decided to make a short detour to put our feet into the Caspian Sea.

But there was no water far and wide, except on the map:

We were about to turn around when 3 guys on an old Ural motorcycle showed up and told us to follow them.

About 10 kilometers further we finally arrived at the water. But that only stopped our car, not the Ural:

And where the water got too deep for the Ural there was a boat to continue with:

We spent a few hours with the Kazakh guys swimming, drinking beer,

and eating camel milk kurt (dried camel milk yoghurt).

It was a very nice evening and a welcome diversion after the border crossing frenzy of the days before.