We Made It (Barely)!

Well, we finally got here. Our flights went well until we were on approach to Almaty. There was a thick fog and they wouldn't let us land so we had to circle the airport. Then we got word that conditions had improved so we started our approach...only to be told that we had to circle again because conditions had worsened. This went on a few times but on our third approach we finally got clearance to land. The fog didn't look so bad from up in the sky but it was actually very thick. I could barely see the tip of the plane wing from my seat. Taxiing into the airport had me on pins and needles since we had seen at least 4 other planes circling and I was convinced we were going to cross paths with a landing jet. We found out this morning that we were the last jet to land and the others that had been circling go rerouted to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Whew!

Ice and snow are on the ground. We stayed at the Hotel Almaty last night and it is all you would expect of a former Soviet Republic hotel. We were just happy to have the firm mattress on the bed and plenty of covers because we couldn't figure out the heating system. I think it has something to do with running the hot water because this morning when I got up to take a shower the hot water heater in the bathroom was freezing cold but once I started running hot water in the tub the bathroom's hot water heater warmed up. There is also a funny little door above the toilet that I thought would be some kind of medicine chest. I opened it to find a bunch of plumbing pipes and cut-off valves...and another door behind the pipes that was partially open so we had a great view of our neighbors' bathroom!

There is a HUGE 22 story condo development going up right next to the hotel. Very Western and interesting with all the amenities--pool, fitness center, etc. I'm sure it will give the highrises on Turtle Creek a run for their money.

Jim's Russian is impressing the locals although we had a hard time buying postcard stamps at the post office a few minutes ago.

We take the overnight train to Taraz tonight and go to the 'baby house' tomorrow! It might take us a while to figure out internet access once we are there. I hope to be able to post photos, too.