Since arrival last year we've heard about Big Almaty Lake. We've heard how beautiful it was (and indeed, we had seen pictures of it), how sometimes it was guarded by police, how it is Almaty's water source, how last year it was losing water and no one knew why, how it is sometimes closed, etc. We never made it there last year, and we had one failed attempt earlier this year (we missed the turn, but someone told us it was closed anyway - or so we inferred by the man making an "x" with his arms). So, it was the last Saturday of break and a beautiful day with rain forecasted for Sunday, so we decided to give it another shot. We took the correct turn this time, and climbed the narrow and hair-pin-turned road through the pine trees only to meet a gate. I asked the guard how far to the lake and mistakenly heard 5,000 km, but he corrected me and said, "No, 5! 5!" (Stupid Americans). So, we parked the car and grab the picnic we packed and climbed underneath the gate, right past the guards and began walking.
We thought it strange that we could walk, but not drive, but there are many things we don't understand in Kazakhstan, so we let it go. A few minutes later, the gate was opened for a dump truck full of gravel. We tried to wave him down for a ride, but he only gave us a shoulder shrug. We didn't think too much of the dump truck being let through. About 5 minutes after that, however, we had an SUV with a couple 20-somethings with music blasting zoom past us. "They must have bribed the guards", we told ourselves, and commented on the nice day and how clean the air was up here, and how good we were for not helping corrupt the system by offering a bribe ourselves. A few minutes later, another car passed us. We again reminded ourselves how nice it was to get some exercise. By the time we reached the lake, there had been at last 10 cars that passed us. We were a bit annoyed, but when we saw the lake, we were eased.
We enjoyed our picnic on the shore, and only had about 30 minutes before the sun sank behind the large mountains around the lake's shore.
With the sun down, the water took an entirely different color, a glossy ice blue. It also brought a new nip to the air. We packed up and walked back down the road. When we reached our car, the gate was wide open and the authorities were no where to be seen. At least we got some clean air and exercise on a nice day.
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If I haven't told you lately, I love the Green Bazaar. Our trip to the market is the highlight of my week. I love everything about it: the parking guys who help us park, the junk sellers on the sidewalk always have an assortment of treasures, the faces of shoppers and vendors, the smells of fresh baked breads and pastries, the tea and pastry ladies with their carts in the aisle, the light streaming through the windows, samples at the Korean salad aisle, the colors and textures of fruits and vegetable, finding what's new in the produce (today I saw kumquats!), but maybe most of all I love our interactions with the people there. In a city as large as Almaty it's not just the language barrier that can separate us. There are 1.3 million people walking around. It's nice to see a familiar face, a smile, and exchange a few words.
We know the market well enough now that we can look at our shopping list and map our route through the market. First, it's upstairs inside to our spice lady, our pork lady (stall 24), our lagman (fresh noodles) lady and honey (we don't have lady for that yet). Then we head downstairs and outside for root vegetables, citrus and other veggies. We hit up our spinach and cilantro lady (who always give us a deal) and our lemon guy (who we really don't like all that much, but they have the cheapest lemons). If we need to, we stop at our sundries lady for sugar, beans, rice, etc. Then it's back inside but downstairs for a stop at our egg lady (although now she reroutes us to her daughter's new shop in the next stall over) and down the cheese aisle for samples. We haven't committed to a cheese lady yet, although we're narrowing down the candidates. Even if we don't need dried fruit or nuts, we swing by and say hello to our dried fruit and nut guy. He usually sees us coming down the aisle and raises his hands as if in gratitude to God and immediately begins rattling to us in Russian. He shakes Nic's hand and offers us tastes of his bounty, continually speaking to us in a language we don't understand. Once we escape him (still talking to us as we're walking away), it's a stop by the mushroom lady to pick a bowl of mushrooms, swing by the ginger lady (who is not friendly at all) and we're back outside on our way to the car.
Today's junk treasures were brought to us by this sweet and happy lady. She had 2 hand-knit hats for sale, as well as a few other household items. Nic got the yellow and brown one with the fancy lining and matching brown and yellow scarf, and I got a hot pink one with light pink designs. This lady was so pleased when Nic tried on the hat, she laughed and laughed. We told her we were teachers, and I think she said she was a teacher as well. Both our hats, plus the scarf were $6.
There is no shortage of Soviet era paraphernalia...pins, belt buckles, helmets, packs, money, etc.
Nic can't resist the junk.
Our pork lady, stall 24. She asked us which state we were from. I can say "near California" and most people nod to that. She and what must be her husband work together and are very kind and patient.
The Korean salad ladies looking a little bored. Don't worry, ladies, Nic is on the way.
Our honey lady for the day. The problem with honey is that we only buy it once a month or less, so we don't get a lot of face time with these ladies. But this one gave us her business card, which is the sign of a grateful business owner. I think she'd make a fine honey lady.
Down the honey aisle.
This bakery is right at the bottom of the stairs we take to get outside. I've always wanted to snap a picture of all the goodies laid out in the window. This young guy was working today (usually it's an old guy who seems very concentrated on his work), so I asked him if I could photograph him. He nodded and even posed (yes, that's posing).
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