Home again, home again.

Greetings. We are back home after an excellent trip to Thailand. The weather was great, the food was fantastic, and we're thankful for the 'free' swimming lessons provided by Grassy Plains School because Co-La spent every possible moment in the ocean. They usually looked like a couple of raisins by lunch-time because of the salt water, but, unlike the lakes on Highway 16, their lips didn't turn blue due to the near hypothermic temperature.

We'll post some pictures in the next few days. We just wanted to say hi to everyone and let you know that we're OK. We saw the makings of one demonstration in Bangkok, but it was meant to be another peaceful one, so we didn't worry.

Actually, on our last day in Bangkok, the new government passed a law or a bill that allowed all tourists to use taxis and tuk-tuks for virtually free. They wanted to make up for airport closures and the loss of tourist dollars. For about .60 cents we got a tuk-tuk tour of three out of five temples combined with the obligitory stop at two jewelry showrooms and gem 'wholesalers.' It was interesting. The taxi drivers get gas vouchers from the jewelers if they bring a certain amount of tourists to their shops. Our driver did the quick math and realized that if he lured tourists in with the .60 cent promo, he could get more people to the jewelers than he could on an average day, thereby garnering more gas vouchers. So halfway through our tour, he bailed on us. We didn't mind that much; it's kind of funny, really, because it's the smallest bill we never paid.

Tomorrow is New Year's eve. Have fun, everyone. Have a great 2009. We'll 'talk' again soon.
Pax, Dave

Thailand and Tidings

Greetings. Just a short note to answer a few questions we have been receiving (I’m at home accessing free high-speed wireless from the bank across the street, but I can’t get onto Hotmail, so I’ll Blog; who’d a thunk it).

9a (Nina): tell Vicki to calm down, it wasn’t the actual Taj Mahal and we’re a few thousand km away from there.

And the Thailand thing: yes, we are determined to go. If we can just get dropped off somewhere near a road, we’ll take a bus or rent a car and cross the country ourselves. We need to get to Phuket where we booked a very nice hotel for 10 days. They e-mailed us yesterday and said we should send in the remainder of our payment. I said that they will get it when I am standing at their check-in counter. So they gave us an extension of a few days…but wait, Edna just called me into the TV room.

Update: 9:10pm Almaty time, BBC just announced that the airport siege is over and the PM and his Party have been ousted and they are not allowed to practice politics for 5 years (electoral fraud is the charge; bastards) But the people have been heard! We have been following this daily, and the Mumbai thing, on CNN and BBC, so it’s pretty exciting to learn that this one ended (relatively) peacefully. (Several of our American friends here are going to India for Christmas break to check out a new school community that they will be moving to in June).

All of this is excellent learning for the kids. Tonight, Kyla asked why one of her friends is from South Korea and why one is from “just Korea.” So I gave her the short story of the North-South issue (where is Waldo when you need him?) She said “That sounds like grown-ups acting like a bunch of little kids.” (Or maybe I told it wrong.)

Last night at dinner, Cody said “Today I played with Salah, Geon Hyeong, Teun, Kamran, and Muhammad.” He pronounced a Turkish, a Korean, a Dutch kid (I think), and a Kazakh kid’s name so flawlessly perfect, and with so much laize-e-faire, that Edna and I started choking on our food because we couldn’t stop laughing. It didn’t faze him. The irony is that the only other native English speaking kid (Canadian) has probably the worst influence on Cody. I think most of you would be quite surprised to hear how vociferous Cody has become. Or not. But it has nothing to do with me.

The follow-up story (on the ticker-tape) to the Thailand announcement was something about everyone in politics ganging up on Stephen Harper and trying to topple his minority government. And this is a good segue into the conclusion of this entry: believe half of what you see and almost nothing of what you hear when considering today’s media-swill merchants. The one thing that really struck me about the Mumbai attacks, besides the obvious need-less and senseless loss of life, was the clock ticking away behind the reporter as he broadcast live from the burning hotel: we are in the exact same time zone. It really creeped me out. Even 9/11 was 3-4 hours “away,” it seemed to be somewhere else, far away. But Mumbai is “here.” Just messin with ya’, metaphysically.

So, 9a, we’re safe. This is that letter I tried to send you earlier in the week. We’re having fun, and I hope you all enjoy the blog.

We’ll post pictures again, soon. Good night Russ, of the Long-wood clan (I can't get your radio-show on the Internet). Good night, Sue. Good night, Art (good thing I’m going to Thailand without you and 20 years later; they’re probably still looking for you). I haven’t been there before (have I?). Happy Birthday, Mar. And Hank, have a good one on the 12th. Good night, Johnboy.

Pax, Dave

Chimbulak and the Stadium

We drove up to the Chimbulak ski hill a couple of weeks ago. Obviously, it was a beautiful day and it would have been a great day to teach the kids to ski. The road was pretty good but it is extremely steep in sections and the switch backs made the ones in Smithers look pretty lame.
This is what the cabins on the hill looked like. Most of them were this posh--so judging from their appearance there will be no Vanwerkhoven Chalet in Almaty. The ski hill, itself looked pretty good but the bunny slope is closed for the next while. They have it covered in chairlift equipment that is going to put up sometime soon. So, they have changed the bunny slope to the area where Kyla and Cody are standing. If any child is out of control--which is quite likely, considering how these two act on X-country skiis--they will find themselves sitting on top of the hood of a Niva. There is suppose to be another ski hill around here that has a better bunny hill--feels like we are always looking for something and it is so hard to find places b/c their alphabet is different than ours and then to help things get worse--they only have signs in the downtown area--otherwise you are on your own. We found a great set of used skiis and bindings for Dave and some boots for myself and they were a really good price so we thought that we could just buy the rest at the sporting goods store in the city. The cheapest set of skiis here without bindings is around $500.00 and they were nothing to write home about--so off to the rental shop for us.

This past weekend, we stayed around the city and did some shopping and tried to find some sporting goods store--not much luck--but we did find the stadium. There were these statues in front and we thought they were pretty impressive.

Climbing Curbs in Kaz'

Hey, Waldo, do you remember that episode in M*A*S*H where Klinger sends a jeep home through the mail, piece by piece? Don't be too alarmed if oversized parcels start arriving on your doorstep soon.

Behold the mighty-mite "Niva." I've seen a few of them in Canada, but they are all over the place here in Almaty, and I want one. Our Rabbit is in the shop (three weeks later) so the school gave us a loaner for the time being.

All four of us sit in it quite comfortably. Let me re-phrase that--all four of us sit in it. Comfort is not really a feature. But the kids have a great view from their bench in the back, and since there are no seat-belts, they are constantly cruising around back there. Edna said earlier that if we take a corner too quick or hit a major pothole, we sometimes hear a ‘clunk’ from the back. “You OK?” we ask. “Yeah, just my head hitting the glass.”

Wikipedia: The car is very popular in its home country. It is also popular in Canada (though withdrawn from sale in 1997 it still has a cult following) and other regions where the terrain requires a robust and tough car for a reasonable price--many Nivas imported to Australia were rejects from the European Market.

Production began in 1977 and continues today with only minor changes to the engine, rear hatch design, and interior trim levels. (You can stand beside a 77’ and not tell the difference between a 78’ or an 08’. Our friends have one and it looks like crap and it is a 2001).

The original Niva has a maximum speed of around 130 km/h (80 mph), and can cruise at 90 km/h (56 mph) while consuming petrol at a respectable 8.25 litres/100km (28.5 mpg(US)). ( I would NEVER take it past 100km. NEVER.) (Any vehicle that is as wide as it is high and long is already on the verge of rolling like a soccer ball, so don’t tempt it. At any speed.)

But there is something quite fun about them. In the morning, you get about half an inch of clutch, because it is cold. Depress the clutch pedal, force the stick in, and you are already moving, with your foot on the floor. The ensuing friction produces heat, and soon the plate expands and you have a relatively normal vehicle.

It comes with a spare tire that is located in the engine bay under the hood, and as with all Ladas, a 21 piece toolkit is also supplied for do-it-yourself roadside repairs. The latter feature is considered a useful and practical feature by off-road fans (and suburbanites as well). Oh, and you know when you have run out of gas because the gauge indicates 5/8’s full. We found out the hard way.

So, check your mailbox. On second thought, maybe I should send it to George or Al’s farm. Lada’s are not AirCare friendly.

Pax, Dave

Snow and Heat in Almaty

We got SNOW!! Not a lot but we got snow. It has been so warm here so it was a little bit of a surprise. They keep telling us that it has been an exceptionally nice fall but now it might change. It isn't a lot of snow but it has really changed the speed of the drivers. They have slowed down and we are quite relieved. They are still crazy but we were worried if they kept going the way they were there were going to be a lot of accidents.

Shopping in the markets isn't quite the same now that it is colder--hanging around in these shipping containers when it is cold and damp is not real nice.

Our car is still broken and who knows when it will be fixed--the mechanics are very laid back , always smiling and definitely on Kaz Time. Right now we have managed to borrow a vehicle from the school for the past 5 days and hopefully we can keep it until they decide to look at the car again. The vehicle we have right now is a Niva--believe me, we are getting the real deal of a Russian vehicle. The kids are bouncing all around in the back seat and there is a belt that is quite loose so it makes this squealing noise all the time. Pedestrians get out of the way before they even turn around to see what is coming their way. I should quit complaining though, we are very thankful that the school has a vehicle that we can borrow. We only made it halfway to school on Monday morning--we had to take a gypsy taxi--we found out later that we had ran out of gas. No one told us that the gas gauge is broken. When the gas light comes on, that means you have 10 more kms. Well, we know now!!

They turned the heat on in the apartment. It still is weird not to have a thermostat in the apartment and to think that the only way we can control the heat in this place is by opening a window or putting on another sweater. I guess when it gets a little colder they will turn the heat a little higher. Should be interesting.

I wish I could put a picture of the kids bouncing around in the Niva it is pretty funny. Sometimes there is a bit of a bang in the back seat and one of us will ask--are you okay back there--Oh, I am fine, just hit my head on the side. I will try to take a picture this week.

Halloween in Almaty

We found Halloween in Almaty. It wasn't easy but there is a gated community right next to the school and many of the people there are ex-pat's and they celebrated Halloween in the compound. When I say compound though--that means we live in the projects. It was great--extremely safe, almost no cars and the houses that were willing to do the Halloween thing were really into it. There is a fence around the whole place with a couple guards at the front gate. Needless to say--we have enough candy to keep us going til Christmas.

Finding costumes wasn't easy though and a little pricey. Finally, an older lady in the market went digging on her top shelf in her container and pulled out a bag with three costumes--thank goodness they fit Kyla and Cody. Being that we don't have much extra here and no sewing machine it was pretty hard to be creative or alter something. Cody wore his knap sack backwards so that he could have the candy put in directly. He was pretty quiet but he did get into the whole scene. As you can see on the last picture--Kyla was a little too much into it!!!

Flying at the Farm.

Multi-culturalism defined: last weekend I met an American with a heavy Latvian accent (if there is such a thing) who told us that there is a local paragliding club in Almaty. He told me to wait on a particular corner any Saturday, at 10am, and look around for jumpers. These kind of people are an easy breed to identify in the wild: chain smokers, fidgety, poorly dressed in ratty, but previously expensive gear. My Latvian contact wasn’t there. And it turns out he’s Lithuanian. And his name isn’t Jag, it’s Ginn. But the group took me in and we drove 25km out of town. It didn’t seem to faze them that I couldn’t speak much Russian: the language of gear, equipment, meteorology, and curse words has been anglicized anyway, so we had a good trip on our way to the hills.

Upon arrival, we unloaded 4 hang-gliders, and a half dozen 50lb bags filled with paragliders. More hung-over jumpers trickled in as we were getting set-up. Dimitri, an excellent (and licensed) instructor asked me to assemble one glider while he worked on the other. I hesitated a little. His English was pretty good. He said “I thought you said you were a pilot and a jumper.” To which I responded “Yeah, a hundred years ago, and I wasn’t really good at either task.” He said “Don’t worry. That glider is a hundred years old.” Upon closer inspection, I think the Wright brothers may have borrowed some of the technology on this old bird.

But I went to work, and within an hour we had two workable gliders and about 500lbs of paragliding gear to haul up the hill, the old fashioned way. Dimitri and Denise are two excellent instructors. Very friendly and very willing to help share the excitement of flying.
The glider practise was great fun. I hardly got it two feet off of the ground. But it was heavy and awkward to carry back up the hill, as the one photo shows. My arms, shoulders, ribs, lower back, and legs, are in agony today. We took quite a beating running down the hill, falling and jumping, willing these crates to get airborn.

But the paragliding work was the highlight of the day. It’s surprisingly hard work to get them in the air as well. I’m used to just falling out of a plane while the canopy opens it itself. But these needed to be pulled up behind you at the right time while you start running like someone just lit a match in a meth-lab. And you have to pump your arms up and down to inflate all of the air cells in the canopy. Then hopefully, it steers straight and you get a bit of a glide as you untangle the brake lines from the risers. A few minutes later, start looking for a place to land. Or in my case, slide to a stop in the field full of sheep shit. The Almaty Paragliding Club leases a couple hundred acres off of a local sheep ranch. The picture with the Kazak kid looking at us in our gear is a local shepherd taking a break.

It was a great way to spend the morning and I am going to become a member of their little club. But I need a helmet, some padding, and a scarf because these savages jump in the winter as well. A cup wouldn’t hurt either--their harnesses aren’t, how can I say, ergonomically comfortable.

As I started hitch-hiking home, I looked behind me and noticed how picturesquely and idyllically situated the Muslim graveyard was at the bottom of the gliding hill. Look closely at the exact centre of the photo and you will see my new Kazak friends ready to start running down the hill. Kind of like one-stop-shopping.

Pax, Dave

Burana Update

This really was one of the highlights of the Kyrgyzstan trip. If you are bored enough to read this blog, please do spend the extra time to 'click' on the photos. In this one for example, you will be able to see Edna and Kyla on top of the tower and Cody standing at the base.

All four of us did climb to the top, via a winding tunnel staircase that was only wide enough to let one person move at a time. Half-way up, Kyla had a bit of an anxiety attack because it is very dark and very steep. Her reaction didn't help me--I would have preferred to wait for a National Geographic special, anyway. So we both sort of freaked out, but, and I am loathe to use a cliche, aimed for the light at the end of the tunnel.

900 years old and full of ghosts. We have all been in buildings that are considerably taller than the Burana Tower, but unless you have been on top of an Egyptian pyramid, or say, Stonehenge (which isn't tall), than you might not appreciate what it feels like to stand on bricks mortered together nearly a millenium ago. This thing is older than John McCain!

Pax, Dave

A Short Cut to Almaty?!?!

This first picture shows how nice it was when we left Karakol. Then Dave took a picture of the sign with 350 km written on it--even he knew it was a little too good to be true. Then things changed quickly!!!!

Remind me to never go along with Dave when he thinks that he is really onto a good thing!! We did ask about 5 different people what this road was going to be like and in their acting--they told us it was good and would save us time. Needless, to say it took us 4 hours to do 100 kms and one border crossing. The road was so filled with potholes the size of our car, animals crossing everywhere and then to top it off -- quite a bit of snow and we weren't too ready for that one. The muffler was dragging by the time we finished our four hours and our kids were a little sick from bouncing around so much. The scenery was beautiful but there were moments when that was very hard to appreciate. Didn't help when we met a van that had chains on and I think in those 4 hours we met about 8 vehicles. The border crossing was in the middle of a prairie that was covered in snow and the one office was an old shipping container--the men carried pretty big rifles so it was a little intimidating but it all went smoothly--Thank goodness.

The drive to Almaty took us another 5 hours so it was a long day. After our four hours through the snow we came out to dry and barren land again. This is a picture just past the snow. It was such a nice mosque we had to take a picture and maybe it was the first major sign of civilization after four long hours we just had to take a picture of it!

We had so much to be thankful for, the car made it, the weather was good and we didn't get told to turn around at the border--now that would of been worth a cry!!!

Russian Orthodox Church and Chinese Dungan Mosque

This church had signs everywhere that you were not allowed to take any pictures--so you better count yourself very lucky that you can see this!!!

These were pretty neat buildings. The church was ruined by the Bolsheviks, they destroyed all the domes and then they made it into a night club--after things settled down, they restored it and now it is used as a church again. It is pretty spectacular and pretty decorated in the inside. Right across the road was this abandoned school--it was pretty run down and now they were going to use again to train teachers. We met a teacher outside that spoke a little english but he had a young boy with him who spoke four or five languages and his english was pretty good and he explained a few things to us.

The Chinese mosque is built by a Chinese architect and 20 artists and supposedly it is all wood and they did not use one nail. Not sure we believe that one b/c there are a few more buildings that make that claim but we keep seeing nails sticking out. The other picture is of the tower where they make the call for prayer. You can see the loud speaker, when we first came here we were a little annoyed with the 5:00 am call to worship but now we sleep through it and lots of people really like the sound of the call.

Djety-Oguz Gorge

This was one of the highlights of the trip to Krygyzstan. These was such a beautiful area and this was what all the pictures had shown when writing about Krygyzstan. We left Bishkek and drove for a couple of hours to Lake Issyk-Kul. Issyk-Kul means hot lake b/c it never freezes in the winter. It is the 2nd largest mountainous lake in the world. There are thermal springs and mud bath centers on the lake. We drove the whole length of the lake--another couple of hours-- to a small Russian town called Karakol. It was founded by Russian settlers in 1869. We didn't have to drive too far out of town to these red sandstone rock formations. The first formation--not such a good picture but is resembles a broken heart--I am copying this part--and the legend says that this is the heart of a beautiful woman who died of a broken heart after two suitors killed each other fighting over her. The other two pictures are of the "seven bulls" from which the valley takes it's name.

Most towns still have statues of Lenin. Usually right in the town square--really makes you realize you are in the Former Soviet Union.

Dear Faith, Austin, and Lydia.

This entry is an emotional reflection of our good friend Calvin. It is also an abbreviated version of an e-mail that I just sent to his mom, Lydia, and his wife, Faith, and their son, Austin.

We heard about Calvin’s illness the week before last. I e-mailed him and he responded on Friday with the positive and optimistic approach that he would be able “beat this.” It came as a tremendous shock to learn about last week’s news, then.

The day after he e-mailed us, we left for neighbouring Kyrgyzstan to do some exploring. We met some Aussies at a hostel in the city of Bishkek, on Sunday night. Calvin was clearly on my mind as I related some of our youthful exploits of two decades ago.

Even if I had left here within 5 minutes of learning how bad it went, I wouldn’t have been able to make the service in Dawson Creek and we really appreciate the difficult task many of you performed by informing us, via e-mail.

The friendship that I had with Calvin was enduring, especially, I think, because it was framed around one intense year, 22 years ago.

Certainly I knew him before we went to Australia, but I sometimes think my first marriage took place when I was 19--we spent more time together than newly weds would have. We relied on each other fairly heavily. When we ran out of money in the islands, it was Calvin’s idea to use our last few bucks to buy a fishing rod so we could catch Yellow Travelli. On the top ten list of meals that I have had, eating fresh fish on an abandoned, rickety old dock in the tropics with my ingenious friend ranks among the highest. When we ran out of money in the city, it might have been my idea to take up an invitation from the Hare Krishnas and join them for a free dinner every evening, but it was Calvin’s idea to go into their temple kitchen and help do the dishes afterward.

When we were in Queensland, we would separate occasionally because it was easier to hitchhike. We agreed to go to the post-office of whatever town we were travelling through, at noon, and wait around to see if the other would show up. I spent many sunny afternoons waiting on the steps of post offices, eagerly scanning the sidewalks, looking for Calvin. Although I missed him for a few days at a time, the part of the reunion that I anticipated was hearing about what he had been doing and what he had seen. We enjoyed a particularly good laugh when we realized we didn’t need each other to get into trouble--he told me that he smelt pizza late one night so he followed his nose and found the back door of an open pizza joint.

Hoping to get some sort of freebie, or at least work off a meal, he poked his head in and said “hello.” No one responded. He stepped in. There was no one in the kitchen area. Or in the seating area. He checked the front door. It was locked. The staff had left for the day and they simply forgot to lock the back door. Kind of like the three bears story, no one was home.

Calvin checked the fridge, found some pizza and nuked it. The coffee was still warm, and the price was right, so he had a cup of that as well. Then he went out to the seating area to find a newspaper or something, and that is where the breakfast staff found him in the morning, sound asleep. Again, kind of like the three bears story, except that you know Calvin did the dishes first.
I am currently living in Kazahkstan with my wife and kids, so I am unable to attend the service celebrating Calvin's life. I am also unable to access an old box of photos that depicts two malnourished but very happy teenagers having their first real adventure in life. But a lasting memory I have of Calvin is his image walking away from me on the side of the road in a near desert setting. He went ahead to start hitchhiking. He left me there with so much indifference that I thought he was happy to get rid of me for a few days. He just walked away with his frying pan swinging around on the outside of his duffle bag. I had never really felt lonely in my life, but it did make me realize what being alone was like.

The next time I saw him, he was sitting on the end of a dock on Magnetic Island, jeans rolled up, holding a fishing rod, Huckleberry Finn style, except for the Corey Hart sunglasses. We were quite happy to see each other. We exchanged a few stories and then he said something like "It felt real shitty to watch you drive past me standing on the side of the road." But I didn't see him, I just assumed he was always ahead of me. More than that, I couldn't believe he had an emotion about being alone, and I told him that. He said when he left me, he felt worse than that feeling you get when you ask a girl to dance and she says "no." I told him he wouldn`t be sleeping in my tent for a while.

And that's a good way to end this short essay describing my lifelong relationship with Calvin, or rather, his friendship with all of us--we should truly value that, whether we saw him daily or bi-annually, he was a solid friend with a deep and reserved, yet thoughtful, appreciation of friendship.

CBC and other agencies are posting hundreds of letters and comments from people all over Western Canada. I thought one or two from central Asia would add to the ‘dimension’ of Calvin’s reputation.

I hope to speak with you in person some time soon.

Pax, Dave

Burana Tower

One of the highlights of the trip. I will copy what the guide book says about this area.

"The legend says that a father built a minaret to save his daughter from the predicted death but it didn't help... The Burana Tower was the site of the Balasagun city, the center of Karakhanid culture of the X-XV centuries. That is a place of unique mixture of Buddhism culture together with Christian and Muslim inheritance. The tower's minaret (Burana from Turkish munara--minaret) is one of the oldest of its kind in Central Asia. The mineret was built in the 11th century."

Trying to find this place was another challenge. We missed the last turn off and went about 10-15 km the wrong way and there was no one to ask. We finally saw this old LADA coming down the road so Dave go out and flagged down the car. It was quite an elderly man driving the car and of course he spoke no english but he had a middle age lady in the back seat with her nose all bandaged up and lots of iodine on the bandage and they looked like they were on their way to the hospital but she spoke english. It was quite the scene and they tried to explain to us where to turn but finally just told us to follow them and they would show us where to turn. Then to top things off the old LADA took a long time to get started -- we were getting a little worried of how bad of situation we were making for these people. But the car finally started and they showed us the turn off and we say thank-you to the friendly people of Krygyzstan!

Ala-Archa National Nature Park

They don't take care of parks like they do in Canada. This was not a bridge for kids.

The other picture is some old Soviet buildings--looked like some old farm but you can still see the look-out tower for guarding the place--kind of makes the imagination go of what the place used to look like.


The babushkas selling flowers on the way to the park.

This tree was in the park--it is a wishing tree. They make a wish and tie a piece of fabric to the tree for good luck and they say it is bad luck to take anything down--which really helps with the littering problem. We would hate to clean this place up!! National Park and there was still garbage laying around.

We set out early in the morning looking for this park. No signs for it--just have to ask the locals. We had to drive past the "President's Residence" to get there. If the fence around the place is any indication of what the place is like--he is doing alright--to bad about the rest of the people. Things were quite cheap in Kyrgyzstan compared to Almaty. The markets were way cheaper and eating out was really reasonable but the people were not rich and that was obvious. They were friendlier and way quicker to help us than in Almaty so that was great. They have the whole city on a grid and different hours for each section have the power out every day. The place we stayed at had the power out at all hours -- it was a youth hostel and not in the best area of town. The one restaurant we liked going to had the power out every day from 2:00 pm to 11:00 pm--not real convenient. Most places had generators but it was very dark in the city when the lights went out. The traffic light must of run on batteries but the street were very dark.

Going to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

This first picture is of a Muslim grave yard. We took some other pictures further into Kyrgyzstan that were even more elaborate.

We got lost quite often--seeing that not much is labelled and if it is--we can't read the signs. This cyrillic alphabet is pretty tough to learn. So Dave is acting out some place we would like to see to the men at the fruit stand--that time he was successful.

Last Saturday, we left for Bishkek Krygyzstan. We had a week off of school for the fall break so we decided to make the most of our break. We had to apply for a visa for this visit and I wish that we could take pictures of the border crossing but I didn't think taking out my camera at those tense moments would be a good idea. The guards didn't seem too friendly or open to picture taking. When we went through the border crossing, we first had to go through the Kazakhstan office to check out of the country, then we had to go through a neutral area and then into the office on the Krygyrzstan side. Dave thought it was to our advantage that some girl was trying to get through with someone else's ID. She was a local but the guards were pretty mad and by the time Dave left she was past getting mad at them and now was looking scared. It was a good distraction for the guards.

The country side was beautiful and very open. Huge fields but lots of rocks so I think making hay is always a challenge. The highway from Bishkek to Almaty is the best in the whole area. IT is 237 km and it is the only highway that you can drive 100 km/hour without the fear of hitting a huge pothole--but then again there are always police on every corner--but we had a great trip and only got pulled over twice and he just looked at our insurance and sent us on our way.

Apple Orchards in Almaty

A couple of Sundays ago we drove out of the city--about 20 minutes and found a huge apple orchard. It is from the former Soviet years when this was farmed for the state. B/c no one owns it, people come out in the fall and pick the apples and sell them on the side of the road. It was pretty nice in there and very quiet besides the cows and goats running around--free range--we thought Grassy was bad with cows wandering on the road but Kazakhstan is free range in the both the city and the outskirts.

We would of taken more pictures but we decided to use the self timer and it drained the battery after just two pictures. Dave had a comment about a "Whole lot of Ugly" and that is why the camera died.

The other picture is so typical of the area. Beautiful homes on the slope with great views of the valley, city down below and mountains on the other side but I guess it is too far to the dump or maybe convenience is what it is all about--Let's just dump the garbage down the hill!!!