First Day in Almaty

I had been told that where I was staying wasqs near mountains but was unable to see them in the dark when I arrived. I was greeted with a wonderful sight of them the next morning. 

I would have liked a lie in after the long day of traveling but as Svetlana is one of the organizers we had to be up early to go to the hotel.  So after a lovely breakfast that included goats cheese Svetlana had made we drove through Almaty to the Alatau hotel.  

I soon heard that Phyllis had organized an outing for some of us to go to the mountains and visit a special lake there. It was a wonderful day out that included a delicious picnic of local bread made by another of the organizers, 2 types of dried apricots, pistachios and assam tea.

The colour of the lake is amazing and the atmosphere there with the mountains all around with snow covered peaks was beautiful. 

  

We then went to a Chinese restaurant! The food was more like the food I've had in China than the Chinese food we have in the UK, but with a few local elements such as the iced mint tea and local fish.

On the way back we went to a market because Phyllis wanted to get some provisions. I love markets so enjoyed looking at all the local vegetables and bought some round hard cheeses that I thought would be a good snack!

Eventually Svetlana and I returned to her home and I fell gratefully into bed! I had little trouble falling asleep even if it was only 6.30pm UK time (Kazakhstan is 4 hours ahead).