Day 02 : 24TH May, 2012 : Almaty, Kazakhstan

Almaty Airport is neat and clean. A well maintained Airport. Kazakh people have different features.  Some are Russian and some Mongolian. One Airhostess in the flight was very tall and like a wrestler rather than  Airhostess. She had Mongolian features but very polite and hard working. Immigration was not a problem. There were 5-6 counters all managed by a stern looking women. Immigration form is the smallest with least information required on it. But one must keep it till the departure time.  Baggage claim was also easy. Only one flight was there. Then I had to face some chaos at the Ex-ray machines which was scanning the baggage for customs. I came out.  It is a normal arrival hall where relatives and friends were waiting outside. It was 3.30 a.m. local time.I exchanged 20 US $ for 146 Tengee a dollar. I had a little chat with a Bank person who did not know much English but I understood that there is a first Bus to City at 6 a.m. and it charges only 50 Tengee whereas Taxi will charge 20 US $ or so. I decided to wait here on one side. There were rows of iron chairs and few people were using them. I sat here. There,  one India,  whom I met at the Delhi Airport, came. He had to take another flight at 7.30 a.m.  We chatted for some time. He was surprised at my travel alone and in ‘Bindas’ Style(carefree). He gave me many suggestions. I shifted my place and laid down on a row of four chairs and went to sleep. It is 7.15 IST and 7.45 a.m. local time. I got up at 6.00 a.m. and felt relaxed. I brushed and after using the toilet (which are cleaned now) I decided to move on to my next point of action, which was to catch the bus.

9.00 A.M. IST: I moved to the departure lounge of the Airport on the 1st floor.  It was bigger than the arrival hall with a few small souvenir shops and coffee shops. Seats were better here than the arrival hall but was not large in number.  After taking a couple of rounds, I came down and then moved outside the airport. I thought of taking lift from someone to the town. Language seemed a major  problem here. Most of the people can’t speak English. After crossing two roads, I met two young women. They knew English, a bit. I asked them for direction to a cheap hotel. One woman telephoned someone and then gave me instruction on my note book. She gave me directions to take Bus No.86 and get down at Furmanore St. and Kalinima crossing, on the Right side is a decent hotel. She does not know the name. Then I walked and crossed two roads. There I found 2-3 women standing but not Bus Stop sign. I asked one and she said yes. Bus No.86 would come there. After few minutes Bus came. It was about empty. I kept my packsacks on one seat and walked up to the driver. Paid him 100 tenge coin and he returned 50 tenge. I showed him the paper where those women have written the instructions. He understood and I came back to the seat. It was a long journey. Bus became crowded in some time. At every stop people were getting in but no one was getting out.  Probably it was heading for some important place. I noticed more women were in the bus than men.  Young girls were wearing all sorts of fashionable clothes although Kazakhstan is an Islamic country but there was no sign of it. Older women/men were getting immediate seats from young people. I felt good to see the respect for the elders. I could not see outside much from my seat but it was passing through greenery and a less populated area. It was quite some time when I showed the piece of paper which I took from my notebook and with map and instructions given by the woman at the airport. He told me to get down after two stops. This  was all sign language as he did not know English. 

I got down and walked further till the Kalinima road crossing and then walked further till I saw a hotel. There was Almaty Hotel 3 Star. I knew it would  be costly. I asked that woman for cheap accommodation but it was a 3 star hotel. I walked in and asked the rate at the reception.  Receptionist was a pleasant young girl. She told me 100 US $ per day. When I told her I was looking for cheaper accommodation. She offered 20% discount to me. It was much more than 20 US $ budget which I was looking. She told me to go back to the Bus Stand from where I had come and there is a Hotel Saya, which would be cheap. I came out. There was a small park with benches to sit. Then my walk was more than 1 km. I sat down on a bench nearby and took some rest. I looked back and saw a big  building  which was a National theatre. There were attractive fountains in front.  I took some pictures. At least I have seen some monuments in Almaty. Everything was written in Russian and Kazakh. With some difficulty, finally I found the Hotel Saya. Entrance was from a travel agency door. It was like a guest house. A small reception and the receptionist gave me 100 US $ rate and no discount. I rested at a small sofa, kept near the reception. Another receptionist came after sometime and she told me to go to Turkistan Hotel which is cheaper.  She wrote the name on a piece of paper and also the Bus No.79 and scribbled the name of the nearby place. Now I crossed the road and came to the Bus Stop. Public Bus Service is good and frequent. Bus No.79 came and after 20 minutes. I got down. It was the same road to the Airport. I asked two young boys, the direction for the Hotel. One of them was wearing black school dress. They offered to come with me further to the Bus Stop and after few minutes walked directly to the right up to the Bazaar. It was a long walk. The small street was full of small trolleys or women selling small items, clothes or something to eat. Some bigger shops were on the right at some elevation. I reached up to the end of this street. On the left side, I found hotel Turkistan. From outside it looked a worn out building. The receptionist gave me a price of US $ 20 or 3000 tenge but the shower is outside. It suited me. I had to pay Tenge and I was told to go the crossing near green bazaar again and there I found best money exchangers with no variation in price. Here 1 US $ = 147.2 tenge, 1.2 tenge more than at the airport.  I went to the 2nd shop and exchanged 100 US $. I came back to the Hotel and paid 9000 tenge for 3 days stay. My room no. is 405 on the 3rd Floor. It is unexpectedly a comfortable room. One neat and clean bed with linen, one wooden table where a small T.V. and telephone is kept. A small fridge is also there. A chair to sit, wardrobe and attached toilet with a wash basin. Only  the shower is outside. I relaxed for some time and then went to sleep for two hours. I got good and cheap accommodation but it took me a few hours exploration. This gave me a chance to travel in the public buses, observe and talk to the people (in English and by sign language) and seen some part of Almaty. 

I got up at 3 p.m. and took a hot water shower. After getting ready I went down the stairs and kept the key at the reception. Outside was a small wayside market that was selling fruit, tomatoes and cucumber. At some vendors strawberries were also there. I walked to the other side of the road, parallel to the side. Nearby I found a shop selling hot oven baked patties. I bought one chicken patty and chai (black) for 120 tengee. I stood outside the shop and ate hot patty which was very tasty. It took me sometime to finish my cup of tea. I walked further and reached ‘Meshet’ or Masjid. It has a large golden dove and small four dens. All shining brightly in the evening sunlight. I took some pictures and then went inside the mosque after roaming shores. It was going  to be Namaj time. I sat inside for some time. There were 30-40 people inside the mosque. I came out and saw many young people rushing to the masjid for Namaz. Azaan was given on the loudspeaker. Adjacent to the masjid was a park in which some monuments of warrior were there. There were some young and old  people sitting and chatting in the park.I crossed the road and the other side was a flower market.  There was one person in the shop who saw me and started talking about Raj Kapoor. I told him that he has died. Then he talked about Sharukh Khan. In fact the school boy who guided me from the Bus Stand in the day time also talked about Raj Kapoor. He just uttered his name. I took some pictures of the flower shops and then found an internet café. It was 150 tengee for ½ hr or 300 tengee for 1 hr. I sat down and started writing Day 1 and Day 2. It took me 40 minutes or so. I thought I had written a good blog but while searching  mail, I lost my written work. The girl did not take any money from me. I was disappointed but came back to the room. I realized my mobile is not there which I kept on the table. I raised an alarm and went down to the receptionist to complain. She told me nobody has gone to my room. She asked the floor lady who was cleaning. She also came to my room and started searching and but it was in my small rucksack. I apologized to the floor lady and the receptionist profusely. I took some rest.  After losing 1000 US $ or misplacing, I am a bit alarmed. I went down again at 8.30 p.m. and walked to a restaurant. There are not many sitting restaurant. Many donar Kebab shops are there. I was not very hungry but still I wanted to taste Pilov (Pulao). It was rice with carrots and meat pieces (boiled) on top of it. It was very icily.  Tomato and cucumber salad was good that was served along with the Pilov. A glass of ‘Chai’ also came.  I paid 480 tengee for this. I walked back to the room and went to sleep immediately. I have opened the window also as its getting a bit stuffy and warm.