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!!!

Market Celebs'

Going to the market here is educational, entertaining, and good for your morale, as a Canadian.

In earlier entries, we explained that there is some sort of curb-side economy every 50 metres, or so, within our immediate neighbourhood. It's great: we buy fresh fruit at one, meat and bread from another, etc. The watermelon vendors had another successful summer, and have since moved on to the next enterprise.

But the actual "Market" is quite another event. We usually try to get to an actual market once every Saturday. We described the 'Baraholka', a 5km long, multi-alleyed, maze of shops that stocks just about everything you can think of--most of it of acquired dubiously. I'm sure you could buy a coffin at the Baraholka. And you could probably get a deal on a used one. Because it is so big, we don't go there too often. There is a crew of 'blue-shirts' there that help you park your car. For about .40 cents, they will keep an eye on your car while you shop, and they will help you back out when you leave. Sound trivial? It's not! They provide a vital service. Got a small car? Leave it unlocked and in neutral while you shop. That way, they can double park or triple park you and simply jump in and roll your car around so they can get the other cars out when you're not around. It works.

But our favourite market is near our school. The pictures in this posting were taken there last weekend. Friendly, managable, relatively clean. The prices are a little better than anywhere else and the people are great. We were there three weeks prior to our return visit last Saturday, and several vendors remembered us. Usually, when people look happy to see us, or are a little too determined to help, I pessimistically think it is because we are "Western ATM machines on foot." Last week, Edna couldn't barter with one of the vendors at the Baraholka because, he muttered to his compatriot, in Russian, "She is Western; she is rich, she can pay full price." Life in the West is envied by a lot of people in this world.

But, back to our friendly market. After we concluded our deal for fresh dried fruit and nuts, Edna and the boys in the picture kind of remembered each other. He seemed to say "Weren't you Americans here before?" To which we always respond "Nyet Ameri-kans. Cah-na-dee-ens." They flipped! You'd think we were the first Canadians they'd ever met! Or that we were going to use Pez dispensers to start handing out complimentary Canadian Passports. They ran around trying to find someone with a camera. Then other merchants started getting into it. They gave the kids bags of chips and wanted to pose with them. It doesn't hurt that Cody and Kyla are cute as heck, but the whole thing started getting a little embarassing. (But truly: how do parents with ugly kids cope?).

The first time we went to this place, one or two young guys came up and said "How are you? I speak the English." You soon realize that this is about all they know. But they're quite proud to try to speak, and really, have you ever gone up to someone who speaks only Russian and said "kahk vih pahzheh vaheetyeh?" I admire them and they're quite happy to be seen 'talking' with you.

Edna and I both admit we played the 'Canadian-card' when we travelled when we were younger, but somehow this seems different--probably because I'm older (but surprisingly (or not) still very immature).

These pictures are 'clickable.' Enjoy them. Have a good week. It's always good to hear from you.
Pax, Dave

Now, of course, I have to add my two bits. Just wanted to let you know why we had the kids so decked out in Canadian clothing. We had an international brunch at the school on Saturday. They had tables set up on the soccer field and every country represented at the school had a table and people brought food from their home. We attended this and came out dressed for the occasion. I think we may have overdone it but we definitely represented Canada proudly. Dave wore his hockey jersey and I had a bright red Canada t-shirt--it was too hot to wear my Canada sweat shirt--and we had tatoos on our faces too. After this there was a two hour open house at the school so I went home with Kyla and Cody on the city bus. We were treated like celebrities with our tatoos. Everyone was checking us out and trying out their two lines of english on us. Needless to say--when I got home I removed my tattoo quickly but the kids weren't going to do the same. They loved it and that is why we received so much attention at the market. It was fun to see how well received we were--even if they looked at us as full price customers!!!

A Former Soviet Theater/Park

This park is quite close to our place. We drove by it many times wondering what it was. It is a theater and they still perform here--would be fun to go even if we couldn't understand anything. Once again the buildings are pretty massive and concrete and of course at the very top is a picture of yours truly--Lenin. Do you like the picture of the old couple hanging out at the park--I threatened Dave that if we stayed here too long that could be us in a couple of years. The fountain looks quite nice on the picture but close up that was not the case--fair amount of garbage--but that is the case in most places here--getting used to the garbage. If it is clean--we talk about that.

There were two young guys wandering around when we were at this park so I approached them wanting to know if this theater was still active and hoping that they might speak a little english. They spoke fluently--they had just spent a month in North Carolina on a work/school exchange. They weren't overly impressed with North Carolina--b/t the prejudice and then the obesity--it wasn't the place for them. Kazakhs have the best metabolism I have ever seen. Not many overweight Kazakhs and they eat alot of bread--carbs, and lots of greasy meat but it works for them.