On the redeye to Almaty

Slept very little on the flight from Istanbul. So when the sun rose above the horizon en route to Almaty, my eyes was as read as the sunrise. We landed on time and taxied to the terminal. First up was the passport control. And what a control it was. The lady behind the counter took my passport. Stared at it for a while. Then she pulled out a magnifying glass. Uh-oh... 

She looked at all the details of the main page. The stiching in the back, the image of me. Then she flipped to one of the visa pages and continued to study it. I rarely get nervous, but now I was thinking what would happen if she wasn't satisfied. All those episodes of "Border Security" on TV had me thinking of me in a small room with a border officer interrogating me about my passport and my trip. In the end, she put away the magnifier and stamped my passport. I was ready for my Kazakhstan adventure.

First things first, I got myself a local sim-card. 40GB for around 8 dollars. They might as well have given me infinite bandwidth. I wouldn't be using 1/10 of that amount anyways. But the price was right, and I would be able to use my phone for maps and translations.

I now wanted to change my Kyrgyz money. I have had them since I was in Kyrgyztan last year. You couldn't exchange them in Uzbekhistan, since the two countries aren't om speaking terms. I felt rich, stuffing 60 000 tenge in my wallet.

Next, taxi to my hotel. Now, as avid readers of my blog knows, taxi drivers are my least favorite peep. They usually overcharge, sometimes insanly, and most of them have no idea were I, and indeed they, are going. But in this case, in the airport, a price list was placed on the exit, and it gave visitors a chance to know -ish how much a ride to the city centre (where my hotel was located) would cost. Maximum 20 dollars. So I expected everyone not to try to extort innocent tourists like me. Boy, was I wrong.

A guy asked me if I wanted taxi. I aksed "price?". "No worry. Meter!" Well...ok then. I was certain they knew that I knew the prices. Given they were displayed inside the terminal building. So I sat in. The driver asked for my hotel. He tried to find it on the GPS. Nothing. I gave him the address. Nothing. In the end, I had to search for him... Then, the driver showed me his phone where a number was running from 1000 tenge. I didn't think much of it. 

He didn't speak much English, but he tried some convo.

Him : "You know Jennifer Lopez?"

Me  : "Well, yeah?"

Him : "She is coming to Kazakhstan!"

Me  : "Oh!"

Him : "Kazakhstan!"

Me  : "That's...nice"

Him : "Here in Almaty, and then Astana! Two times in Kazakhstan!"

Me  : "Impressive!"

Him : "Jennifer Lopez! Two concerts in Kazakhstan!"

Me  : "Mmmm...cool!"

He was smiling with his whole body.

After about half an hour, we finally arrived at my hotel. I got my stuff out of the trunk, and he showed me his app. 4400 shoed on the display. Ok. Not bad! I took out a 5000 note and gave him. He looked puzzled. "No sir. 44 000!" ($90) I burst into laughing. "Are you kidding me? That's nowhere near the correct price!". He pointed to his random app. Which was probably just som counter app of some kind. "I am NOT paying you 44000 for this trip!". "I will call my boss!" He got his boss on the phone and gave it to me. "How much did he charge you?" he asked "44000!" I replied. Silence. "Give the phone back!". I could hear him screaming at the driver. "Ok, give me 20!" he finally said. "I'll give you 10!". "Ok.." He hung up with his boss and took the money. 10000 tenge is about $20. The max price. So... Another proof taxidrivers are the worst.

Since I arrived so early, my room wasn't ready. So the receptionist, not exactly fluent in English, asked me if I could take a walk and come back around noon. I agree and leave my backpack in the hotel storage room.

I walked out and wanted to check out the metro. I had already found that Almaty had a one line metro. Connecting some of the highlights of the city. I checked my map, and found "metro". I walked towards it and only when arriving, did I realize it was actually a large store named "Metro"... In the likes of a WalMart or something.

But at least it had aircon. And with the temperature quickly rising, it was nice after the walk. I also got myself an icecream in the store.

On my way back, I found that the actual metro was in the opposite direction from my hotel...

After half an hour and lots of sweating later, I arrive at one of the metro stations. After going through security, I walk over to the ticket booth. I try ot ask for a card. She give me one ticket. I say "No. A CARD". She puuls out her phone and types into a translator. "Do you want to pay by card?" I shake my head. I found that my phone didn't not have reception down there, so I needed to use sign language. But then she points at something I missed. A metro card displayed prominently in the window... I smiled and nod. I hand over 1000 tenge, and manage to explain, through English, some signlanguage, nodding and smiling, that I would like to use those money to both pay for the card and add some trips to the card. 1000 tenge (about $2) is enough to buy the card and 6 trips on the metro. Like I said in Azerbaijan : Public transport : What isn't there to like?

Beautiful murials between the platforms

Long way down

The whole track, showing where the train is going,
and where you are

It was now about time to check in to my hotel, so I walked back and got that sorted. I unpacked my bags. At this time, the lack of sleep hit me, and I dropped onto the bed. I woke up two hours later. Had s quick shower before I headed out for my first ride on the metro. I had set my eyes on a church I wanted to see. Ascencion Cathedral. Situated in a lovely park. This is an old Russian Orhtodox church. Beautiful. Unfortunately, they didn't want people to take pictures inside. Mostly to not disturb the worshippers present. I try to respect such things. But the outside of the church was magnificent. As one can see from the photos. I also found that the timing was perfect. The sun had just the right angle to bounce off one of the crosses on the roof. It made for the "perfect" photo-op.

As the sun was setting, I took the metro back to the station closest to my hotel. I was now ready for a snack. I found a local "snackbar". I didn't know what to get, but some locals made the decision for me. I watched what they ordered and I ordered the same. Something called samsa. A kinda wrap with meat sauce inside. It was delicious. And cost next to nothing. In a small shop close to my hotel, I bought some water and headed back to my hotel for the night. Slept like a baby.

Murial on the wall of a vocational school

Ragnar

Snoring like a pig