What an interesting day its been in Almaty! A three am wake up by the little boy did not augur well. He eventually settled again, only to be woken to leave the train at five thirty, so not much of a night really. Then to watch the sun rise, and lo and behold there were snow covered mountains in the distance. Over night the scenery had changed from brown endless steppes to the mountains and land that had been invigorated by spring! It was amazing to see, and I was there to capture the first rays of the sun on the mountain tops. The pity is I can’t take photographs that say it!! However one tries doesn’t one?
The blossoming trees were reminicent of China, but these were accompanied by the soft green leaves of other trees. The houses had shifted up a level or two as well, seemingly more modern and with out the long drop toilet at the end of the garden. Many of the city streets are lined with soft green leaved trees and present a welcome that I won’t forget, in fact I did not walk down one without any trees at all. Almaty appears very cosmopolitan and the cafe drinkers sitting at tables outside in sunlight obviously thought so, enjoying their coffee.
Unfortunately, the hotel I am staying in is not yet up with the modern world with WiFi , so I just had to have a large coffee in one of the cafes that advertised WiFi. Again I missed out on my internet fix of the day, alas! The hotel has allowed me to use the old computer they have but I run into no end of problems with it, the least of them being the language one.
I asked about registration(five days to do so here)gave the lady the slip in the passport and she just shook her head?? So either I’m not here long enough or I don’t have to because of the visa type I am unsure. Bit hard to stay within the law if english is not spoken.!
After getting off the train with my new kazak friend’s help with my heavy bags, it was on to the hotel for breakfast and a most welcome shower. No sooner said and done, it was off to check out the nearby markets and a lovely russian orthodox church with the big golden ‘onions’ on top They were celebrating the mass and it was lovely to see and hear,and yes I did remember my scarf this time. After returning to the hotel for lunch and drop off groceries, I set off for the Kok Tobe hill. A taxi costing me a 1000 tenge saved a lot of walking. There is a cable car that takes you up and down, but I chose to walk up slowly and enjoy the views of the mountains and the city at frequent rest stops. I think it would have been well over a kilometer but certainly worth it.
Reaching the top I discovered there are many enterprises in full swing from an animal enclosure, with animals to feed as long as you paid, to the cable car itself. The two main cafes I wanted to use were closed .As in Europe there is a pay for toilet use, I just wish it was for western style toilets. I find the squat toilets very hard on the old body!
I enjoyed wandering around and seeing the views of the mountains along with many others. It was decided that I take the cable car back down, and it finished just where I was hoping it would. The cable car was stable and pleasant to be in, some of them swing too much for my liking,as I have the remnants of a fear of heights. From its base it was easy to walk the tour laid out in the Central Asia lonely planet book, well almost anyway, stopping to ask directions meant blank looks from some people but I’ll try any way . It worked and I did end up in the right direction, fortuitously finding a travel agent who arranged a day trip for tomorrow and let me use the ‘western toilet. I have no idea where she is sending me , but I’m sure it will be lovely
A pleasant wander home, complete with a good map from the agent saw me back at the hotel with more groceries, after managing to lose my room key for the hotel, thats going to cost me, ouch!!!
Finally catching up with sorting scrambled cases, washing done, great having a stretchy washing line and a room big enough to stretch it out in.Now its on to getting everything charged and ready to go again.