Kazakhstan (Help!) and Diesel

[firstimeflyer]

Hi there,

This summer ( late July/August) as part of an overland trip to Ulaanbataar and back we're () travelling through kazakhstan... everything has been planned wonderfully up until Astrakhan, and now I could do with all the help I can get! The plan is to enter there head to Atyrau before descending onto the Ustyurt plateau and moving to Aralsk.From there ( and I know it's a bit of a jump and a bit vague!) but will be headed diagonally north through Astana and cross into Russia at Pavlodar...

Aside from any help with the route my main questions are; particularly for the first bit, how far apart are petrol stations where we can find diesel?

and secondly, the trip lasts 11 weeks, hoping to blast to Astrakhan in 2 weeks, bearing in mind are headed to UB via lake baikal and back ( through all the stans ) how long should we aim to spend in KZ? Can we afford to dip into places such as Aralsk or should we motor straight through?

Obviously we are not just moving for the sake of getting somewhere and so as much as we can time will be set aside for the experience. I do absolutely adore the planning, but after spending a couple of days looking at a lovely michelin 730 of Austria I hope you understand if I feel a bit lost when it comes to the stans!



Thanks in advance