It’s 3:30 pm on Saturday in Texas as I write this, but its 3:30am on Sunday where I am, so this message is coming from your future if you live anywhere west of me!
We arrived at Kazakistan airport without much incidence at 12:34am, just after midnight. So that means in California its 10:30 in the morning Saturday, but we left there at 2pm on Friday, so that about 20 hours of traveling. This flight was full, so the seat next to me was empty so I got to spread out, so I actually slept. I missed the in-flight meal because I was sleeping, so you know I was out! We wait to go through custom to find out we have to go to the consular window to get a visa. We knew we had to, but we didn’t know where. There is a big WELCOME TO KAZAKISTAN sign in the airport, but your not allowed to photograph it!
After we each paid our $25 for our visas we only need for 12 hours, as we leave around noon, we grab our bags and find the guy with a sign with our names. We were the last one out and the first sign we saw was for us. As soon as we are out the airport door, we encounter our first beggar boy. Followed out through car repeating his little chant along side George with his hands out, then when George reached the car, he started on me. We loaded up the van and the guy told me to get in the front seat, so I was going to go around the van and he starts telling me something forcefully. I hadn’t noticed it was a European van, and the other side was the drivers, not the passenger side as we are used to!
We got dropped at this fairly nice hotel. We lug all my heavy stuff up the stairs and try to check in. They can’t find us, anything about Relief International, nothing. I look at the paperwork we have and suggest we ask if this is the hotel Grossgzy and it the hotel Aliban. The driver’s paperwork was wrong. So a few phone calls and about an hour after arrival, we’re checking in at the correct hotel. The desk staff are females at both hotels, so since its Easter, I give them some lip products from UrbanDecay/Hard Candy, donated by my sister. At the first hotel, 5 minutes after I had given it to them, I hear one of them saw “WOW” in a loud surprised way and then both start giggling. They seemed to be enjoying the little trinkets.
The hotel room is quite nice. Little twin bed, TV, A/C, and huge bathroom. I went to take a shower and when I turned on the shower, there was actually so much pressure the shower head lifted up a few inches and hit the ceiling. This was going to be a good shower!
Well, I’m off to take a 3 hour nap now!
[will update with pictures from Kazakistan next time I'm at PC]
1 comment:
Did I ever tell you I lived in Almaty, Kazakstan when I was in high school? Small world, eh?
Post a Comment