December 2017 - Page 2 of 3

Sunday at Turgen Park, Kazakhstan

I went on the bus trip arranged by the travel agent in Kazakhstan, it was one of those serendipitous trips that I seem to have a knack of falling into. After a brisk walk of four blocks, I waited for the bus with many others, in what was a chill wind
The bus arrived on time and filled quickly with those waiting, mostly a lot of young people and several slightly older folks. Headed towards the snowcapped mountains that are such a feature here,it was great seeing them get closer. The tour guide went through the bus checking on everyone, realising I was an English speaker she introduced me to the rest of the passengers, apparently one young lady must have volunteered to translate for me for the rest of the day , and she was most kind, and it was lovely to have a translator on hand.
The entire group of people bent over backwards to help. The tour guide of course, gave the entire commentary in Kazak, which along with Russian are the official languages.
The first stop was to see a ‘Golden ‘Man ‘ replica, it rates highly amongst the Kazakhs, I missed the first photo op of the day by leaving my camera on the bus which had moved to a park much further down the road. The kindness of the young folk meant I had photos taken with promises to email them on to me. The Golden man was on one of the higher points of the park we stopped at, so we wandered down to a water supply from a pristine pool that had been given pipes to channel the water into bottles. Indeed while we were there, a family arrived holding at least 3-4 huge water bottles each, all to be filled. Every one delighted in tasting fresh water as it is only drinkable out of bottles here, and if the source is a bit suspect, like a street seller tampering with the bottles, may cause sickness.
We moved on down the road with the glorious mountains on our right and a river and wilderness to the left. In many ways it reminded me of the South Island in New Zealand.

Reaching the end of the road , everyone planned on seeing a waterfall. Unfortunately not knowing where I was going or doing meant I was inappropriately dressed for hiking and climbing so after giving it a go, I decided safety was more important and returned to the park. There were places to sit and enjoy lunch if you were lucky, it was a very busy place. I was tickled to see a flat deck truck with 2ft sides with a horse tethered on it, fully saddled drive by! Despite the huge numbers of people there were no toilets open for use, and on a Sunday, which I found very strange. So it did necessitate a bush walk after I had asked the guide. where to find the toilets using sign language!
A couple of hours later finds us all parking at a trout fish farm. This is where you catch your fish ,and they cook them. Not a fish eater I sat and watched as they were consumed piece by piece except for the eyes and the bones! I was interested watching the public all gathered around an artificial lake trying to catch the fish. There was almost a gala air about it! A walk showed many other ponds being prepared for the event in the days or weeks to come. The river alongside will have provided the water for the enterprise. A big house on the hill above with many horses, suggests it is probably a profitable one.

I enjoyed lunch(without the food) in the company of some russian and kazakh ladies who had asked if I would like to join them. There were Coca cola tents with chairs and tables beneath them for sitting around. The wind still proving to be a little cool, unfortunately.The men could choose to use the dining arrangements of lying around on carpeted floors of Kazakh built frames for that purpose. I understood the ladies to say only men could use those , women were not allowed. Along with the fishing there were many horses for those who wished to ride, or give the children a ride. I felt the condition of some animals was not as good as it could have been. It was a popular spot to go on a Sunday afternoon and one I certainly did enjoy, more for the atmosphere than the food!
Next it was on to an ostrich farm, that was very interesting for an ex farmer. The owner did insist that I stay and hear all about them, in his language! I tried looking interested for as long as possible, but after twenty minutes I gave up.Certainly the set up was an interesting one, cottage enterprise at its best. He had a few deer as well as the ostriches, round the corner, cages with rabbits. I don’t doubt what their future will be, you don’t let rabbits breed unless there is a pot to fill. Toilet stop again ,but this time surprisingly with a western toilet,thank goodness. There was a huge range of machinery there as well, so either he farms a lot of land or contracts out to other farmers.
While Mr was busy with the stock and telling about the African ostriches , Mrs had been busy cooking for a bus load of tourists, making tea and coffee, all for a price of course, which I didn’t think was unreasonable, There was plenty of Kazakh food there for everyone to eat and as it was close to dinner most took advantage of the genuine home cooking.

The drive home was equally interesting and very pretty, With the mountains now on my side of the bus they appeared to hang in the hazy sky in all their snow covered glory. In the fields below the fresh green of new shoots growing in the spring weather made beautiful memories, and perhaps a little bout of homesickness for our supposedly clean green NZ.
The traffic terrors while much reduced from Asia, continued on a smaller scale. I was horrified and I suspect the others were as well to see a little ?2yearold wandering onto the fast and busy road. A youngster running at full speed to get to the baby before there was a tragedy, but will never know the outcome, but I do hope it was a good one
Someone changing a tire in the middle of a 3 lane fast highway would just not happen in New Zealand, but the guy was oblivious to the hooting and screeching brakes around him. Add in donkeys pulling carts, potato sellers with their wares,it became an edge of the seat experience .and one I was amazed by, especially to get off the bus in one piece, fifteen minutes later !

Warsaw Walkabout

Next day the usual bright and early start to my day in Warsaw, although it’s generally all about breakfast, as nothing happens in these countries until at least ten in the morning. So breakfast and a surf of the net to start the day, all done sitting in minimal space in the kitchen. The well appointed kitchen with all mod cons is really only big enough for three maybe four people to use at once. The hostel has no real dining room, while a couple of the dorms have table and chairs, mine doesn’t, the lounge equally small so there is little choice to go and eat in comfort.

Catching the metro this time to see the ‘new city’ which is really an extension of the old city! I was focused on seeing the Marie Curie Museum. Fascinated by her since a child, it was a great opportunity to learn more of this amazing women. I felt the 11 zloty entrance fee a little steep compared with other entrance fees, I have paid over the last few weeks.The museum is situated in the actual house that she was born in, although in time, a brief sojourn.
There were displays of her actual belongings, a black dress that indicated she was certainly not a big women.

Many photographs of herself , Pierre and their children. Something I hadn’t realised was that the family has had more Nobel Prizes than any other. one of the daughters also winning one.
Looking at the equipment how she and Pierre actually achieved as much as they did , what would they have done with todays’ advances in technology. It was an interesting wander back in time.

Lunch time meant I had to go back to the pizza hut for a meal, I did so enjoy yesterdays’ meal. After lunch another walk through the old city before heading back to the new city and on to the hostel. Walking through one of the parks, I so love their parks here, with real green trees, and not the NZ natives that litter the parks at home. I am not a fan of native trees unless they are in the natural bush setting.

There was a memorial service to the men who lost their lives in the Battle of Monte Cassino. Band, soldiers, wreaths ,officials and ambassadors from around twelve countries. They were all introduced, New Zealand ambassador, as well but I didn’t see him actually get up, I presumed he was there. I stayed and listened for quite some time, until I got tired of standing and needed to move. A nice service, held in Polish and English so I did know what was being said. At least the Australians had their flag flying, disappointingly I didn’t see ours.
An evening meal at one of the local restaurants made a change from noodles and microwaved meals. I eat out at least once in a city, just get the feel of the ambience of the place. Then back to the hostel to repack ready to move on to Krakow tomorrow.

Marie Curies House — Marie Curie’s House

Auschwitz

I had booked to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps on sunday afternoon so until then I would go and see some of the city of Krakow. The kindly truckie, Russell, who had given me a lift from Russia through to Lithuania had raved about how beautiful this city was. He felt that it was a standout european city.
When morning finally rolled round it was out to see the magnificent sights of the city. Every road had buildings to enjoy, look down the street and there would inevitably be another church or castle! With it being sunday there were services being held in most. At one there were some children being confirmed, and they looked absolutely gorgeous in their white dresses and the boys in their suits.
The next castle I saw was Wawel castle, this I walked right round, down along the banks of the Vistula river. Already busy with boats and boating trips, looking beautiful on a clear warm sunny day.
Buskers on the streets , an unusual combination of cello and recorder caught my attention. They were really very good and I enjoyed listening to them and contributed a little something into their cello case! While taking in one of the sights of Pope John Pauls churches. There are even tours that take in all of the places the former pope was associated with. The country is justifiably proud of such a fine man.
After lunch I headed for the pick up point to go on the Auschwitz tour, past yet another castle in another street! I suspect everyone initially comes to Krakow to see the ‘camps’ but the city enchants. Everyone I have spoken to has said that it was a beautiful city and I totally agree. The lively vibes of the square ,the hordes of people , the music in its many forms all add a character to the city unlike any other I have seen.

We duly got on the Krakow bus to take us to Auschwitz. It was a good hour’s drive out of the city. For the first fifty minutes the was a film about the camp in English as it happened to start with Italian subtitles. Of course the trip went very fast as things do if you are fully occupied. A fascinating and very sad story that we are all familiar with, but need to be reminded every so often of the devastating history of death to so many people from all corners of Europe.

Through the gates sign of ‘work brings freedom’!
Getting in and sorted, pay for the toilets, I still think this is an absolute cheek when you are already paying for tickets. Audio and earpieces for everyone to be able to listen to the guide. We had specific English, Italian, and Spanish guides to enable all of the tour to listen in their own language. We followed the guide down the metaled, stony roads between brick buildings two storeys high. That surprised me I had always thought the houses were sheds. They were certainly substantial and would have easily fitted in with any suburban street in the country.
We followed the history through the museum seeing personal items , like a room full of human hair shaved from the dead after gassing. Their shoes, cases with names on, most upsetting to me was seeing the clothes and shoes of the children that were so ruthlessly killed. Over 200,000 children lost their lives in this horrific episode in our history, a mere six hundred barely survived , most were twins . They had been used for experiments by the monster Megele.
These houses ended up housing more than a thousand prisoners in their rooms. Sleeping on straw palliases if they were lucky, on concrete floors.
The abject misery of the occupants can only be imagined and then probably not very well. We went down to a basement prison, where people were taken before they were killed or tortured. Some standing cells only. The prisoners could not move. I could not look at these, I found it claustrophobic just being there with the rest of the tour.
We were shown the wall where they were lined up and shot, where people had their hands tied behind their backs then hung up, with the resultant dislocated shoulders, Where yet others were flogged to death. The revolting stories that occured to innocent people guilty of nothing more than being jewish, others of helping someone and were seen doing so.

The summer day we were there was extremely warm, the guide told us the soldiers would have people standing in heat like that for hours and hours. At other times in mid winter in freezing temperatures. A child of ten was made to spend 20 hours standing in winter conditions. Of course the resulting frostbite and distress unbelievable.
From Auschwitz we rejoined the tour and moved on to Birkenau just a few mins away. Here were the huts that I was aware of, most of the wooden ones were gone, with just the chimneys of them remaining, scattered across a huge area. The brick ones still standing with the original three tiered bunks inside.
We walked down alongside the train tracks where the transports delivered the people to the camps.
Called the death road, people were told to go left or right by the flick of a hand from a doctor purely from how they looked. For most of the elderly, young and pregnant women it was death in the gas chambers, while for others imprisonment and a living hell.
We walked down the road to find a memorial to all those that had died and suffered here. Each nation that had victims was represented. They came from as far away as Norway in the North and Italy in the south, some twenty countries. Leaving the memorial there was the remains of the underground gas chambers, blown up and partially destroyed by germans trying to cover up their awful activities.

At this point I found the guide repeating information that she had already told us which spoiled the tour for me, personally.I wandered off and looked inside some of the huts with their bunks , the sloppy building that had been done in a hurry to accommodate so many people. The remains of toilets in a row in the one room, a washing area consisting of what looked like an long animal feed trough. Bottom bunks were on ground level and in wet weather became foul, as well as being the end recipient no doubt of the upper bunk inhabitants bodily functions gone haywire. Truly horrible.

Catching up with the group we were shown the childrens’ sheds, the efforts some of the adults shown on the walls a pictures, made to create a distraction for the kids. Drawings beautifully done, glassed over to protect them from damage. The sanitary blocks were next ,and here in two long rows were toilet long drops, I didn’t count them but there must have been over a hundred. Side by side, being allowed to go just twice a day, then herded like animals to sit next to others while having to go to the toilet. Probably shot for not following the rules as well. The washing facilities the same, it was only about getting the numbers through the system.
Trying to comprehend the horror impossible, one could not help but shed silent tears ,hoping it would never happen again. If we don’t learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. A famous saying I think by George Santanya.

After a full day of walking and sightseeing we headed back to Krackow, in contemplative silence. The film was shown again to allow spanish speakers to understand what had been previously said.
Having seen the places involved it was both enlightening and frightening that something like that could ever happen in the first place.

Wieliczka Salt mines

Having done the trip out to Auschwitz , the other must see for me was that of the Wieliczka salt mines. Until I started planning for this trip I had never heard of these mines. Once I had my attention drawn to them it became a must see. The longevity of the mines, first started in the thirteenth century, it was still producing salt in 2007. The sculptures in salt all too much to pass.

Leaving at 10.15am left time for a leisurely breakfast and Wifi fix. Then off to the square to meet the bus for the tour of the Wieliczka salt mines. About ten or twelve of us boarded the small bus, and in the capable hands of our driver and guide we set off to the salt mines becoming part of the million or so visitors that visit every year.
Half an hour away from Krakow it was an easy drive and covered much the same route that I had seen the previous day . I don’t know what I expected but a plain building surrounded by the inevitable souvenirs and coffee shops was not what I expected of a salt mine well over 700 years old. The driver dropped us at the main gate to save walking too far in the heat that was rising by the hour. Time for a toilet stop, then we were collected by our respective guides to go down the mine, one English speaking, one Polish.
We had been warned there would be a lot of steps to go down, over 800 in actual fact! Not all in one go, as we would go down some , see a sculpture or point of interest walk along a passageway and then do the same again. I could feel my claustrophobia sitting there waiting to take over. The thought that we were going deeper and deeper was not a good feeling. Our guide
telling us he had been down the mines over 3000 times and hadn’t lost anyone yet, for me was not the best thing to say. It is always there is a first time for everything, and why not today! The temperature a constant 14-15 degrees was very pleasant, although cool, it wasn’t a problem
As we passed the various statues and displays all carved out of salt , you could not help but wonder about the skills and patience of the miners. The guide kept us amused and interested as he told the tales and history of the mines along the over 2.5 kms of mine alleyways, steps and caverns. I didn’t suffer with my phobia at all as there was too much else to take in.

We passed lakes of salty water with a ph that would not let you dive into the water and come up again. He told of a tale of a boating accident that was just that, not particularly deep water but of a density very dangerous to the people that fell out of the boat. A man selling photo permits for 10 zloty, I felt was a rip off merchant, and didn’t buy one, some did. The chapel was a beautiful sight, with its salt carved religious figures. The nativity scene with its translucent baby Jesus, the figures look dark and gray, but putting a light through them gives an eerie glow. The last supper from the painting by Michelangelo magnificent. The chandeliers and the way they looked, could have been the real thing, only all done with salt crystals……stunning.

Certainly from the chapel on the carvings were a delight. On to the hall to find shops and more beauty in salt, surrounded by the excited chatter of hordes of school children. From here we were treated to another lake this one from
the recent history and construction. Lights to suit the music that was added to create a wonderful spectacle of a still , shimmering salty water lake.

From here we were guided to the waiting lifts, staying first in the underground reception area that included Wifi and a mobile signal for all those that had suffered from not being connected.
Then on to the lifts. These held nine people each , just cages with small holed sheets of metal making the walls secure. This for me was the worst hurdle to get over, the lifts were stacked in a group of four apparently. The trip to the surface was a mercifully fast 51 seconds. I couldn’t have stood much longer being cooped up like that.
Finishing off the day with more steps before going out into the very warm day with the welcome sight of the sun!