Bishkek

Spent the morning at the Chinese visa centre in Almaty only to discover that it is not possible to get a visa for china from here unless you have residence in Kazakhstan. I had heard this might be the case via the WhatsApp group but not from any official sources and it seemed that the rules may have changed in August. So having filled out the forms last night, before I submitted them I went to the to check and also to enquire as to what might be the correct answer for some of the questions - as it wasn't always clear and I thought better do what I can to get it right first time. Also the express service was about $200 and I didn't want to pay that and then get rejected. So off to the office I went. Got to ask my questions with the help of a nice lady behind me in the queue that spoke english. But from the off I was told of the residence requirement so all of my subsequent questions were moot. So Almaty was now off. Back to Bishkek.

Walked the 3/4 miles back to the hostel. Had coffee at a coffee shop on the way. Served by a crazy Russian lady who had no English but communicated very effectively by crazy sign language!.

Got the afternoon bus and arrived at Bishkek in the early evening in the pouring rain. Summer is definitely over.Les mer