Swoosh!

OK, here is our surprise--we went skiing today at Chimbulak! Well, Jim went skiing. I got a tiny bit down the mountain and gave up. More ski school required! Jim said it was icy, packed down and a lot of work to get down the mountain. After his run we turned in our skis but went up to the tippy top (3 chairlifts) and it was really beautiful. At the top were a few guys and an outdoor cafe (really a table with hot water for tea and some drinks) and they told us we should have the Kazakhstan cognac with Coke. We did and it was great. Then we rode the lifts all the way back down. Round trip: a little over an hour. Number of American, British or Scandinavian families: 5, at least.

While we were skiing, our driver, Sam, went to make a deal for us on a carpet we had seen yesterday. He got the price down a bit and we got the paperwork done and are the proud owners of a Kazakh carpet that will go in our living room. It will be a great souvenir, provided the airlines don't freak out about how much baggage we are going to try to get on the plane.

After skiing we came home to relax a bit then went out on a whirlwind sightseeing trip. Almaty is a great city and reminds me a lot of Paris, but without as much elegance and charm--too much Soviet concrete. There are lots of expats here--we seem to run into Americans around every corner.

We went to a fast food restaurant for dinner (think McDonald's but with chicken instead of burgers) and had to pay for ketchup, about 35 cents for a small portion. So I guess it is a good thing Sam stayed at home or his ketchup addiction would have bankrupted us!

Tomorrow we are going to go out sightseeing on our own, then pack up and get ready for our trip home.