|
|
Noey and Jon in Almaty
- Older in Altai Bike Expedition, 2006: Noey Does Some Research - Newer in Altai Bike Expedition, 2006: VISA revenge
Noey and I are in an Internet cafe in Almaty, Kazakhstan. There are paintings on the wall of nomadic horde warriors in battle against evil. Speakers are playing smalchy American music from somewhere.
When I write a story after the trip is over, I tend to omit the glitches along the way, especially if they turn out to be trivial in the end. But in a blog, you get to hear the disaster of the moment....
Which is.....
Our guide/interpreter is a nice guy, but doesn't speak a word of English.
And, the travel agent responsible for taking care of us is 800 km away, in another city.
I've been through this before, so while it seems devastating at the moment, we'll figure things out.
We're here and our bikes are here.
It's fun to be half a world away with my daughter.
Today is Sunday ... tomorrow a regular work day......
Shashlick in the park in a fully modern city....
Of course, we're going to ride our bikes whether we have a guide or not.
We now have three sets of maps .... all have different roads, different cities, and different names for the same cities.
Dated: 07/02/2006
|
|
