Almaty III

Waking up before sunrise was difficult but not impossible. I got my cold shower to wake myself up and went down to check out. I was able to get my change from the clerk but in a rush, I had forgotten to get my fifty dollar security deposit.

I had ordered a Yandex taxi which was taking some time to arrive, it seemed to be stuck for a while. I was getting a bit nervous because I only had a small leeway to get to the airport for my boarding. Well, as it turns out he cancelled on me so now I had to book another one, this time I could feel a tinge of panic already starting to arise but I tried to stay calm and breathe.

The taxi finally arrived and we sped off just as the sun was beginning to rise. We got to the airport just in the nick of time so I gave him my thanks. The flight was over in about an hour or so, so now I found myself back in Almaty.

I started to head to Sayran, got on the first bus, and switched to another. Here's where things get a bit dicey. Back in Shymkent it was alright to pay the bus as you went down but I guess in Almaty this wasn't the case. I got caught by one of the "inspectors" and was pulled off outside. He threatened to call the police and the usual stuff but I already knew what he wanted. He wanted an exorbitant fee of like 20,000 tenge or something like that but I literally only had like 3,000 tenge left on me. He took everything though and even shook my hand like dang. Anyways, I got on another bus and finally got to Sayran. Withdrawing some more money just to buy a bus ticket and some lunch.

It was a long day but at least I could finally get to Kyrgyzstan next.Read more