Our 1st Day in Kaz

Sightseeing in Almaty

We get into the car and Lola tells us that we are going into the mountains. It is rainy and cold and there is snow in the mountains. They rise up from the outskirts of the city and are very tall. The 2014 Olympics are scheduled to be here (we think). We drive up, see a huge beautiful skating rink and then we drive up a little further and Lola has us all get out of our cars to look down the mountain in the wind and the rain. We get back into the cars (not a moment too soon) and drive down the mountain. By the time we reach the city again, it is no longer raining. We drive around and stop in several places including an old church and a coffee house—thank goodness. We are all very tired and pretty much dragging ourselves around. But we are getting to know each other and realizing that we share a lot of the same concerns and confusion. It’s a huge relief to be able to share this with another couple—it kind of spread out our nerves across four people rather than just two.

We go to the airport and wait for our plane. There are storms and we wonder if they will cancel our flight. Luckily they didn’t. That would have been very bad because the whole reason for us leaving on Friday instead of Saturday was to get to Karaganda on Sunday or first thing Monday morning.

We get on a very old propeller plane for a 2 hour flight which lasts 2 ½ hours. We will tell you more about this another time. It was hard to hear after we got off the plane. At the airport, Olga, our translator for the rest of our trip, picks us up with two drivers. They laugh at how much luggage we have. Luckily it all got there. We drive to our adjacent apartments and collapse.

We are in Karaganda without toilet paper or water—but we’re ready to go. We have tissues and enough water between us to brush our teeth.