Wild horses and Kazakh Pop

 ALMATY- My guide Anara loved living in the former Kazakhstan capital, “because of the freedom and the ability to head to the mountains on a hot summer day and still see snow.” She believed that the Kazakhstan tourism surge was mostly based on social media and was happy everyone was discovering how amazing the 9^th largest country in the world was. The free walking tour, starting through a park dedicated to sacrifices made during WWII and the Green Bazar. She introduced me to several local foods, including kurt (a dried cheese snack) and chalap (suzma yogurt, salt and carbonated water). We finished the tour over lunch, including horse sausage burgers, fried dough balls, green tea and horse milk shared between us.

 Earlier that day I had arrived at 4:15 in the morning which is always a challenge, especially in a new country with a Soviet past. The border agent reviewed my travel document, page by page, like it was the first time he had ever seen a Western passport. After finally getting through customs, fully exhausted, I started searching for a cab. The person at the top of the line responded, “28 dlrs to get to the center,” a fare I would have paid in Europe but not in Central Asia.  So, I turned and walked away, surprised I did not hear a counteroffer, when his sidekick ran up beside me and said, “Ok, ok 14, my car is here”. I agreed.

 As we drove into the former soviet capital with the sunrise starting, a vertical wall of the Tien Shan Mountains dividing Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan came into view. I asked him why he settled for less money. He didn’t understand the question and used google translate. He then responded, “Because the loans need to be paid.” True in every country!

 The Apple City, (Almaty means Apple in Kazakh) is a leafy area made up of large Soviet blocks filled with some new construction, backed with crumbling Soviet apartment blocks and a beautiful Soviet-inspired subway. This place checked a lot of boxes you’d expect to see in a former Soviet city.

 The Central State Museum gave a brief overview of the Kazak culture, independence, and the recent history of energy exploration. From there, a quick walk to a cable car gave me an overview of the entire city next to the TV tower. There are life-sized bronze statues of the Beatles in the park along with several cafes and a small amusement park.

 Dinner was at Navat, a traditional high-end chain found throughout Central Asia. The meal consisted of more horse meat over noodles accompanied by tea. Chris joined me, a friend I recently met in Rome a few weeks ago. I was excited to find out we were both from the same hometown back in the United States, and as a result, understanding his experience with the area was valuable. He had been living in Almaty for the last few years and spoke flawless Russian. I was extremely delighted he had decided to join me in Kyrgyzstan over the weekend as it is always an advantage to have a Russian speaker with you in this part of the world.

 The next morning, I had an early start with a 6am pickup from my hotel. I was thankful for that, as I was the last of the group to picked up out of a group of 10. We were off to see the sights outside of the city. It was originally a two-day tour condensed into one long 16-hour day. Not a bad option when you have limited time. Charyn Canyon is two hours outside the city and was the biggest draw. It’s referred to as the Grand Canyon’s little sister and lived up to the hype. The views were striking and hard to comprehend that the landscape changed so much this close to the city.  Black Canyon and Moon Caynon were the next two stops which made good photo ops. Lunch was served at a local guest house and consisted of plov, (rice, onions, carrots, raisins and lamb cooked for a long time together in a large cast-iron pot).

 After lunch we headed to the most beautiful lake, Kolsai Lake, which seemed to be lifted right out of a postcard. Crystal clear water was framed by surrounding mountains covered in evergreen trees, even including some perfect white clouds in the blue sky. It was simply breathtaking.

 The last stop for the day was Kaindy Lake. We could not reach it in our van so we all transferred into an old Soviet school bus with the seasoned driver included. We roared offroad, and I realized the driver was going as fast as he could and aiming for every big bump in the road. The fellow travelers loved it as our guide, Zhenis, blasted the latest Kazak tunes (Kuiim) over the portable speaker. We went through some large streams and up some steep hills as well. When the trip ended, I had a whole new appreciation for Soviet engineering.

 Next, I hopped onto a horse which I was allowed to take up by myself over the last hill to the lake. Zhenis, who had been working in tourism for almost a year, timed the trip perfectly as we arrived just before the sun fell behind the mountain. This lake had more a green color but was set in an equally beautiful setting. The challenging location made the view even more valuable. On the trip back to our van, the Soviet off road bus driver decided to round up some wild horses against the mountain backdrop at full speed. With more Kazak pop music playing in the background, it finally hit me - I am now in Central Asia.

 Almaty is considered the largest cosmopolitan in Central Asia and thus provided me with a soft landing as I arrived from Europe. The day tour outside of the city started to prepare me for the other high-altitude destinations I was traveling to. I was happy to have Chris join me on my next adventure to Kyrgyzstan. My plan was to spend time in four of the five stans. I was starting to question if my stomach could handle any more horse meat but now when I reflect back, the safe meal at a western hotel on my last night was the one that caused me to get sick on the flight back home.