Bruce and Wendy had gone to get the boxed lunches late last night and it had apparently really thrown them off just before closing. They were able to make us 11 boxed lunches...which was great - so we were set for the day.
We left the city and wound through the coutryside. I had expected that the roads wouldn't be great on this side of the border, as they hadn't been great along the lake towards Karakol, but I was quite shocked that they were as bad as they were. There were sections that were gravol and generally the pavement was pitted and winding. This made the going very slow. I couldn't comprehend why the drive to Almaty could take upwards of 9 hours, but it was becoming quickly apparent.
We sat back and enjoyed the scenery though. It was some of the most beautiful countryside I'd ever seen. The fields and mountains were green, and there were small Yurt camps tucked into the valleys. We passed horses and cattle and bee farms which huge containers of honey setup out front of delicious looking honey. Too bad we couldn't bring some of that home!
As the hours past we knew we were getting closer to the border and the landscape started to stretch out around us and give way to broader fields and less vegetation.
In my mind, this border crossing would be a breeze, and it turns out this one would be our most scrupulous yet. We had already been into Kazakhstan, however they wanted each of us, one at a time, to fill out an entry card and approach the border guard in the booth. Nobody could fill out cards in advance, it had to be one at a time...so you can imagine how annoying I found this. Very inefficient! I was allowed to approach with the girls all together, and they meticulously reviewed everything and stamped everything. The border guards were pleasant enough, but it was a very thorough process. Come to think of it, I actually can't remember now what happened on the leaving side of Kyrgyzstan. I'll have to ask the group - it wasn't eventful obviously. Once we had been processed, we were told to walk down the road (past where the van was being searched, and past the very large german shepherd) to the gate, where another guard checked our passports again and then let us out.
Robert had already been processed and he recounted how he had been asked if he had any coke or heroine. The guard had also found a pair of gloves in his bag, and asked if he could have them. Robert didn't want to say no, so gave him the gloves. I guess I didn't look like a heroine dealer. Neither did Emily, Wendy on the other hand...they did ask her if she had any drugs. And all the men were asked and received gestures towards their arms as they said heroine.
Finally we were all through and the van search was complete. We were through...so now all we needed was a bathroom before we left. Not worth mentioning how horrible that experience was...off we went.
The roads were comparably better once we got through a bit of construction. The roads were also much straighter and so our travelling speed could now be a little higher.
We reached Charyn Canyon around 11:30am. Google had told us it would take 3 hours. Maybe on good roads! The drive out to the canyon was not gravel and was very nicely paved. We had our lunch in the picnic huts and then walked down towards the canyon edge. Very beautiful. They call is the mini grand canyon. If we had had more time it would have been fun to go down to the bottom and explore, but we were on a birthday mission schedule. We had 30mins on the clock to spend here. Time for some pics, a quick look and then off we went.
The rest of the drive was uneventful, and the landscape was not as beautiful on this side of the border. A good time to read!
We hit the edge of Almaty and as we know, its a big busy city. It seemed to take ages to get to our hotel. The Holiday Inn was where we would start and end this journey!
Once we were unloaded and had tipped our guide and driver and bid them goodbye, we got checked in and cleaned up. It was about 3:30pm, so we were going to clean up and get rested before hitting the town to celebrate Emily.
We first met on thee Terrace of the hotel at around 6pm and had some cocktails. The drinks are weird here, you order alcohol on its own, and in comes in shot glasses. I don't know if that's normal or just the way it is in some places. Anyways, we ordered some juices and some vodka and mixed our own drinks.
Then we headed down to our favourite little place with the nice outdoor patio (from the start of the trip) and had some appies and more drinks. This place is awesome! We've been here multiple times and it never misses!
We headed to the restaurant connected to Big Apple for dinner. It was a really neat place, very eclectic and hip kind of place. We started with a champagne toast in honour of Emily and her 30th...and also because she had survived her first true Fougner style trip with us - and we were all still talking to each other! We are so happy to have her as part of our family! We have actually swung the female ratio and took the lead with 6 females to 5 males!
The wine was delicious and the food was incredible. Almaty has not let us down. It is an incredible city that has so much to offer. For people looking for a small taste of adventure, but with the safety and security of good food, water etc., Almaty is definitely your place. It's very European.
When you get to my age, you get more excited about getting to bed so that in the morning you can go get a great breakfast and cup of coffee! Definitely going to the Big Apple cafe tomorrow!
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