Onward to Kazakhstan

Oct. 25, 2023- Onward to Kazakhstan You can take the man out of Russia, but you can’t take Russia out of the man. This was the hardest airport transfer yet. One carry-on bag was 1 kilo overweight. I took my iPad out of it and put it in a bag that was underweight. That satisfied them. I later put the iPad back in its original place. They decided the formerly overweight bag was oversized. Yura put it in the sizing form and it hung over maybe an inch. He convinced them it was ok. I didn’t see money change hands, just lots of talking. That bag has literally been all over the world with no problem. We had to go through three passport checks and two X-rays. One passport check was delayed for those who had Uzbek visas. Although not required for visitors over 50, OAT strongly encouraged us to get them. The only time anyone here cared, it took longer to exit the country. One of the enjoyments of the trip has been that no one talked of their health history in detail. Some issues were mentioned when pertinent to an activity but never brought it up again. Most of my relief was I didn’t know these people and would never see them again. I care about those at home: these folks, not so much. I did learn that several of the group wore hearing aids. My hearing is diminishing and I’ve been avoiding a hearing aid. My reasoning was validated. They don’t help much. People with them were the ones always asking for repetition of directions or misunderstanding explanations. They’ve declared it to be winter in Uzbekistan. Children are in winter coats, hats, and scarves. The heat is turned on. I’ve stripped down to a tank top. Compared to 145, I guess the 70’s feels chilly. The last newest airline we’ve flown is Air Astana. Luck continued. We managed to arrive on Republican Day. Before leaving home, we registered with the US embassy in every city. They sent us an alert about holiday demonstrations and advised us to avoid the crowds. That was easy.The flight was only 1 1/2 hours, but it took all day to get here. No time to get into trouble. We were met by Svetlana, our tall, blond, Russian local guide. On the drive to the hotel she gave us a quick rundown on Kazakhstan. Although no longer the capital, Almaty is the largest city in the country with a population of 2.1 million. The predominant language is Russian, but young folks are preferring and learning Kazakh. Kazakhstan is in the process of changing from the Cyrillic to Latin alphabet. Ethnicity (there are at least 120+ varieties) is printed on passports which are used for general identification. Jewish is considered an ethnic group. My first impression is that this is very different topographically. There is green. The Khan Tenerife Mountains, some 23 thousand feet high, surround the city. Trees are changing color. They have four distinct seasons. Their collection of old Soviet buildings is untouched and unmaintained snice 1991. All meals are included here. Tonight’s dinner was orzo con pollo (chicken and rice). Yura assured us it’s not traditional. Kazaks make a version of plov he says is far inferior to Uzbeks. We ate our first mixed green salad, fruit and cake. Very pedestrian, but we won’t starve. Tomorrow our city tour will be fast moving. We’ll cover lots of territory including a chocolate factory store. Not the factory, mind you. Just the store. Toby