We decided that we had seen enough of the city and that we wanted to get into nature. Almaty is surrounded by amazing mountain ranges and we were keen to see if we could get closer to them.
We arranged for drivers to pick us up at 11am to take us to the mountains, and enjoyed a relaxing morning until then. The girls stayed with grandma and grandpa and Erik at the hotel and had breakfast there, and Dave and I walked over to Big Apple for another great breakfast and coffee. We researched our next stop, Tashkent where we would be meeting Robert, Brian and Emily. They had had weddings to attend and had to fly in later than us.
We packed up and left our luggage at the hotel. The hotel arranged for us to be picked up again at 3:30pm with our luggage and then take us to the airport to fly to Tashkent.
We weren’t really sure where we were going, but as we drove upward, we realized that we were getting closer to mountains and the air was getting gloriously cooler!
We appeared to be at a ski resort and bought tickets to the gondola. We had the option to go up one gondola or all three, and we decided to go right to the top.
It was a beautiful ride. The first gondola was about 25mins and albeit a little on the warm side, the scenery was breathtaking. As we disembarked, we were at what felt like a mini whistler landing. It had beautiful patios and you could rent horses or quads or take the second gondola up. We understood that this level was the best for food, so we agreed to go all the way up and then come back down to this level to have a bite to eat before downloading.
The next two rises were shorter, but it was getting cooler. Kazakhstan actually gets similar temperatures to Canada in the winter, so you could see how this would be a great spot for winter sports.
When we reached the top it was cold and windy. It was such a reprieve from the heat we had been feeling for days. We explored the small area which had a yurt with two huskies outside and took some photos of Almaty below. It was cool to see a sign pointing out the direction and distance of two Canadian ski mountains, Whistler and Jasper. A little nod to our home country!
The altitude was 3200m and that combined with the cold had me ready to head back down.
Once we got to the first stage again we found a great patio and ordered drinks and lunch. It was picturesque and we decided that we should head down at about 2:45 to give us time to meet our drivers.
We had noticed on our way up a man with an enormous eagle that you could have sit on your arm. Fiona was keen to give this a shot and during lunch she headed over to give this a go. They loved having this adorable Canadian girl hold this giant bird. They cleared everyone out of the way and we got some great photos. She didn’t even flinch when the bird opened its wings around her head. I’m not sure I would have been as calm!
Near the end of lunch I went to the bathroom and as I was washing my hands the lights in the bathroom flickered and then went out. The whole restaurant had been plunged into darkness. I didn’t think much of it. The restaurant was empty anyways as everyone was sitting outside. The interior of the restaurant was spectacular by the way. Decorated like an old chalet. It was really done nicely.
When I went back outside to sit down. It became apparent that actually the power for the whole resort had gone out. The gondola had quit running. We could hear them trying to start a generator and then all of a sudden there was smoke everywhere. Erik and Dave ran over as they yelled fire and I was really nervous that something major was going down. Way to keep your cool guys! It turns out there was no fire, but the power was off and they were using the generator to get people that were on the gondola currently, off. They were not letting anyone else ride it. Now, we didn’t get all this info for awhile as we couldn’t understand all the talk that was happening. It made me realize how hard it would be in an emergency situation if you didn’t understand the language.
Our waiter told us in broken english that it would be about 10mins and we figured we were still ok for time as long as we left by 3pm at the latest. As time wore on though, and we had difficulty paying our bill as the credit card machines were down and the wifi was down, it became apparent that we might be getting into some trouble. We asked if a taxi could be called, you could drive all the way up, but we were told that it would take a long time as so many people were ahead of us that already had figured out what was going on. We needed to get moving, and we needed to move now. We had been using my google translate app to figure out how to pay the bill and I told our waiter that we had a plane to catch. He said it would take an hour to get down on foot. We could probably still make our flight. So we had him show us the way to the road.
The road was incredibly steep, the kind of steep where you are actively holding yourself back from falling forward. It was hard on the knees and it was hot on the asphalt road. We soon realized the distance in front of us. There was no way this would be an hour walk. Bruce took off in front of us and the rest of us moved along as best we could. It was hard going and the girls were feeling the heat and exertion of the incline.
We couldn’t get any cel reception to call the hotel to ask our drivers to pick us up - so we just trekked along. As the realization of the time, distance and heat set in, which didn’t take long! We realized we needed to get a body into the taxis going down the hill. If we could get one of us into one of the cars going down then we could bring a car back up to get the rest of us.
We started to flag down cars. Dave was behind us with the girls and he got someone to stop. We saw him getting them all inside. They grabbed my mom next and then drove up to Erik and me. I want sure there would be room for us too, but when I opened the door, our waiter from the restaurant was smiling at us! What a saviour. We can only assume that he had found someone to come and get us given our plight. It was hot and we were crammed like sardines, but we were now cruising done the hill and would make our flight! All we had to do now was find Bruce. As we drove further and further down, we realized that he must have also hitched a ride as he was nowhere in sight and he couldn’t possibly have gotten this far in front of us. As we neared the bottom we finally spotted him!
We got to our drivers who were blissfully unaware of the trials we had had with the gondola. Ironically as we were loading into their cars, I looked up and wouldn’t you know it, the darn gondola was running again. Jeez!
Off we rode towards the airport. And you think our adventure would be over? But oh no! Our driver got it in his head that he needed to drive like a madman or we would miss our flight. Erik was in the front seat of our car and maybe he was giving off some kind of youthful vibes because he also put on loud dance and rap music, which was incredibly inappropriate to my old ears, but Cadence kept saying “I know this song” so we went with it.
As he swerved through traffic, straddles the middle of the lines and off-roaded down the dirt shoulder is the highway, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cringe in fear. We arrived in one piece so I’m thankful for that. We unloaded our bags and got inside and it want long before the second car arrived with the rest of the group. Apparently he drove cautiously and only arrived moments later!
We got checked in and sat in the very hot and very busy terminal waiting for our flight to be called. I am often a little nervous of regional airlines in foreign countries and we joked about how old the planes would be. We were pleasantly surprised. Uzbekistan Air has been great. The planes are well taken care of and the landings have been smooth.
Upon arrival into Tashkent the customs process was smooth. People seem to get a kick out of us travelling to their country with our kids. The border agents were no exception and smiled and laughed and welcomed us to Uzbekistan.
The heat of the evening struck us as we exited the terminal. It is definitely way hotter here! With the time change it’s about 7:30pm here. We are now officially on the other side of the world. A full 12 hours from home!
We had organized drivers from our hostel to pick us up at the airport but either we were early or they were late and nobody was there. The local taxi drivers were haggling with us to drive us and were offering $10usd but our hostel was coming for $5usd and so darn it, we were going to wait for that!
Little Fiona needed to find a bathroom and once we left the terminal they wouldn’t let us back in, so she and I walked a very long ways to find a closed bathroom, and even further to find an open one that wanted money. Thankfully the lady was feeling generous as I had no money! I’ll have to remember to keep some Soms on me in the future. I should know better as most public washrooms want payment.
Our drivers finally arrived in quite honestly the smallest cars I’ve ever seen. Apparently Chevrolet has a monopoly here so these little Chevy cars are everywhere. The driver and owner of the hostel told us that if you want to own something other than a Chevy, you need to pay double. It was funny to see most people driving the same two types of cars. Having something else makes you really stand out.
We got to our hostel and they had no record of our booking. Sweet! We had done most of our bookings with Bookings.com but this one we had done through Hostel World and apparently they don’t send much business through. Thankfully it was low season so there was space. I guess not that many people like to travel in 45° heat! Lol! We got settled in and waited for Brian, Robert and Emily to arrive.
It had been a long day and I wasn’t sure that any of us would be up for going out when they arrived, but we all mustered up what we had left and ended up in a very traditional Uzbek restaurant with no english menu. Somehow food and beers were ordered and everyone survived. Little Fi fell fast asleep and had to be carried back to the hostel. It still feels like 38° outside which it probably is, but the walk home along the River with the Minor Mosque in the background is beautiful.
We’ve made it to Uzbekistan and we are excited to explore tomorrow.
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