Kazakhstan

Go down to breakfast at the hotel Otrar and discover a circular room with walls lined with carpets and scenic pictures, suggesting a yurt night club.  Meet additional group members, Esther and Emily.  Make plans for the day. With Chris and Emily, set out for Central mosque about 10 minutes from hotel.  The mosque is only 20 or so years old and can hold 3000 worshippers.  We gain access through the  women's side and enter the main sanctuary which is empty except for a man sleeping on the floor, a single man worshipping and a handful of cleaning women chatting with each other.  Bright turquoise blues and greens. Dramatic chandelier.  Very peaceful. In the afternoon I had contracted with Dennis through trip advisor for 2 local tours.  He takes Canela and I back to the green market for a more extensive tour.  We start on the lower level in a hand pulled noodle shop and listen to the whack of noodles being slapped against the counter.  We share  spaghetti like noodles mixed with Chinese leeks and spices and general Tso like dish of chopped and woked noodles.  Discover compote - an cross between I've tea and cold fruit juice.  We talk Kazakhstan history, ethnicity, general state of affairs.  Then head up to the main floor to converse with individual vendors and sample some products.  Honey vendor has products from every step of the process, from bee pollen, to honey with dead bees.  Each food group is dominated by one ethnicity.  Move to dried fruit and nuts , spices from uzbeckistan, meat slabs - mostly pork which seems somewhat surprising with muslim  population, milk vendors have found unique way to turn goods into products with long shelf life. As we leave the market, the scent of chocolate is in the air. There is a Willy Wonka-esque factory bordering the market area that supplies most of the Stans. On to part 2, we meet sisters from Slovenia and board a local bus top visit M the first neighborhood of Almaty, about 15 minutes from the center of the city. We first visit the Russian Orthodox Church that is the first to be built in the area, 150 years ago. We learn that RO churches don't have pews or seating, worshippers stand and will get on hand and knee and kiss the ground.  There's is a wall of icons, most Russian but a few local touches.  After leaving the church, we walk through the local market - vendors of fresh produce, fruits, kid toys.  We walk through the neighborhood of original wooden houses. Many are hidden behind fences and walls that were built in a period of violence in the late 80's.  Next we head back to the main street and learn about Kazak taxis.  It's like Uber without an app.  You stand on the street and hold your hand slightly apart from your body and wiggle your fingers.  Anyone driving past you can decide to pick you up and you negotiate a price and hop in.  There is a general level of understanding what the price should be.  Dennis has a conversation with our driver and then tells us about the driver and that the driver has invited Dennis to join him sometime up in the mountains.  The locals are always in inviting and offering you what they have.  We make it back for the GEEO kickoff meeting , 10 of us in all and head for a local Kazak restaurant. Read more