The steppe at Naurzum is the kind of place where the horizon is a straight line in every direction. This is northern Kazakhstan, in Kostanay region, a flat country of feather grass, salt lakes and shimmering heat, and in the middle of it a protected area that holds one of the last stretches of unploughed steppe, together with a pine forest that has no right to be there. The reserve was listed by UNESCO as part of Saryarka, Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan, in 2008.
What makes it special is the birdlife. Naurzum sits on the Central Asian flyway, and in spring and autumn huge numbers of migrating birds stop at the lakes, including flamingos at the southern edge of their range, pelicans, cranes and geese. Rare steppe species such as the Dalmatian pelican and the steppe eagle breed or pass through. If you like watching birds, May is a wonderful month, and the dawn chorus on the lake shores is loud.
For a rider, the interest is in distance and emptiness. Roads on the plain are sometimes tarmac that has seen better decades, and just as often gravel or dirt tracks that become impassable in wet weather. Wind is constant, strong and often sideways, and a fully loaded bike gets pushed around. In summer the heat is dry and serious, and in winter it is bitterly cold, with temperatures well below minus twenty. Spring and early autumn are the best seasons.
Fuel is the thing to plan. There is none at the reserve, and villages in this part of Kazakhstan may be far apart, so carry a reserve and fill up whenever you pass a station. The reserve is protected, and visits usually require registering with the staff and keeping to marked tracks. Go in with a plan, a full tank and enough water, and take time for the stillness, because the sky out here is enormous and the sunsets are slow.