June 18, 2012

I had the clearest view of the mountains this morning, and they were a sight to behold. Had to wait until the usual ten o’clock in the morning for Valerie to stir from her slumber and then to make up her mind that we should go to Medeu and then up to Chimbulak for the views. She seemed a bit irked when I asked what else was there to do there besides the view. The power went just as I was getting ready to iron one of my Tajik outfits and had to settle for my cargo pants and a t-shirt. We agreed that I’d spend Tuesday, my last day in the city, on my own and meet up with her at the apartment around four to plan what to do for dinner. I ate the remaining muesli for breakfast and we set out to find the number 6 bus that would take us to Medeu.

The ride up the mountains was a refreshing change of pace as the city was getting pretty hot and Valerie is not keen on turning on the A/C. We went past what looked like a suburban area with large homes surrounded by wooded areas. The bus was packed with tourists and we had to ride standing the whole 40 minutes or so the ride lasted. Medeu is only a skating rink during the summer, but supposedly a beautiful ice rink place during the winter months popular with all of Almaty. There was nothing to see or do there, but we were approached by a Czech tourist asking us to share the cost of a taxi up to Chimbulak, which would still cost us each 1000.00 tenge or $6.75 each way. We took it and the driver stopped at one scenic area where the sporting facilities for the recently held Asian Games had been built. It was cooling off a bit at least and we continued up the mountains to where the actual ski lifts and lodges were located.

There were some pretty Swiss-style chalets, a bevy of restaurants and some families enjoying the refreshing breezes. We sat down at a Japanese restaurant, and I had a cup of Miso soup for about $4.00. We had asked the driver to return in an hour to pick us up and as we walked out of the restaurant, he was disgorging another load of tourists. Given the fact that we had nothing to do there except look at the numerous downed trees, perhaps the result of a recent earthquake, we left with him. After a relatively short wait, the bus came up and we went back to Almaty at least this time comfortably seated and I had a chance to snooze on the way down. We stopped at the corner grocery store to buy ice cream, but the power was still out and the ice cream was melting. The apartment was a furnace and across the street the hotel was holding an outdoor concert on the terrace that would go on past my bedtime.

Valerie went out to find out if the other Fulbrighters and buildings nearby were also in the dark and I dozed off in spite of the heat and the insufferable noise that was passing for music coming from the hotel. She confirmed several buildings had had no power all day either and she brought some large jug of water just in case. The power came back in time for me to reheat my leftovers in the microwave and have a cheerless dinner to the beat of some of the Beatles’ most famous tunes. I read, or tried to read, from some of the U. S. magazines that Valerie had received from friends and family before giving up entirely. When I announced I was going to bed in spite of the bedlam outside the windows, Valerie got from her table, closed the windows and turned on the A/C for perhaps just long enough for me to fall asleep and then it was off again. I woke up a little while later to see her cooking something for her own dinner. Just one more night I said to myself before drifting off to sleep again.