Artem left in the morning, and my day was dedicated to planning how I would get to Zhitikara. There were no bus tickets available, and the train wasn't suitable either because it goes through Russian territory, where border guards inspect documents. In the Telegram chats, there were already reports of cases where people were removed from the train. I didn't want to take any risks, so the only option left was to find a car through Telegram channels heading in the direction I needed.
The whole day was spent searching for a car because everyone was traveling to Almaty and didn't want to take passengers halfway. The price for such a service was astronomical, of course. However, I managed to find a car for tomorrow to the city of Aktobe, which was 470 km away from Uralsk, for one and a half thousand rubles. It was the best price available at that time and in the direction I needed, from where I could try to find a bus to Zhitikara. So, I didn't waste any time and started packing my things in the evening, making sure not to forget anything.
Morning came, and I was ready for the next stage of my journey. By 10 o'clock in the morning, the car arrived, I said goodbye to Dasha, and set off on my way to a new city called Aktobe. While I was in the car, I had time to search for accommodation. I didn't know where I would stay or if I would find anything for the night because even a week after the announcement of partial mobilization, there was utter chaos in the chats, and housing prices remained astronomical. After a few hours of unsuccessful searching for accommodation, I finally received a long-awaited message from some guy.
Hello, can I help you?
Hello, is it about accommodation?
Yes.
Is it in Aktobe? What's the price?
Are you a girl or a young man?
I'm a guy, alone.
How should I address you?
My name is Alex, and what's your name?
I'm Timas. You can call me Tim for short. We have a two-bedroom apartment. We're students. There are three of us, and we can arrange ourselves in the living room while you'll have the bedroom. There's a double sofa in the room. If you want, there's a bathroom you can use. We'll also provide food and drinks, don't worry. As for the price, I don't know. Let's talk about it in terms of what you're willing to give, whatever you can afford. I just want to help people.