UZBEKISTAN SEPT 18 2015

September 18, 2015

A better nights sleep had me awakening at 8am with only minor disturbances in the night. I got up and proceeded to prepare for the day while Michael stayed in bed, for a change.

I walked the path to the reception building and observed what a glorious day it was. The sun was shining bright and the sky was mostly clear. There was a breeze off the water but the warmth was there is you stood in the sun.

I sat with Elena, Tess, and Judy for breakfast. Tess is growing on me or maybe she is relaxing, she's sweet and is always thinking of me and my trouble with food,

I had a crepe with different fruit sauces, apples, tomatoes, cucumber, eggs, bread, and juice. The most filling breakfast so far,

After breakfast, I walked down to the beach and out to the end of the pier. I enjoyed the war that of the sun and the sparkle of the water as its rays bounced off. The clarity made for easy viewing of the mountains this morning. What contrasts...so peaceful. I was relaxed. Thank you Issyk-Kul.

We ventured further east, about 30 minutes, to a site where the lake had been much higher 1300-1500 years earlier. Ancient Kyrgyz carved designs of ibex, local mountain goats, snow leopards. They were hard to see but...still could be seen if pointed out. The ibex horns were most prized when they curled around sometimes as many as three times,

On the steep street, with the backdrop of Issyk-Kul, Kazakh Olympic skiers were training on skis with wheels in the bottom of the skis. It was hot and they were training hard and all of the guys were shirtless. Quite the sight as we were in the middle of nowhere. As Almaty was just across the mountains, this was convenient as the conditions were perfect and not to be found in Kazakhstan.

We headed west, in the direction of Bishkek as our time here was finished, stopping for a meal at the same roadside cafeteria as yesterday...:-( then continued on.

A quick stop was made at the city sign for Tokmok. The roundabout was filled with cows grazing in the shadow of a Russian fighter jet.

About 15 km south of Tokmok is the 11th-century Burana Tower, located on the grounds of an ancient citadel of which today only a large earthen mound remains. This is believed to be the site of the ancient city of Balasagun, founded by the Sogdians and later for some time the capital of the Kara-Khanid empire. A large collection of ancient gravestones and bal-bals is nearby. Excavated Scythian artifacts have been moved to museums in St. Petersburg and Bishkek.

Entering the outskirts of the city, the traffic was heavy, Welcome back to the big city.

We stopped at an old shopping mall, actually it was the first shopping mall (Russian built) in Kyrgyzstan. On one its floors there was a large area devoted to local art and crafts. At first it seems to be all @&$? But further inspection lead to some nice finds. I bought an miniature stuffed Ibex goat with bears, and a kookor leather bottle.

We herded up and returned to the hotel. Keys were handed out like pick up,sticks. We all had a room shake up but our room look exactly like the previous room.

We unpacked and re packed for tomorrow's journey to Kazakhstan and decided on a plan for the evening, I showed Michael some of my favorite places in pics on Facebook...inspiring him.

Jerry Had found a restaurant that we would try and he had reception call a cab. 15 minutes later we got out at Depausa? This was a bit comical as we walked in...not knowing how to proceed, no one spoke English, and there seemed to be a take out line or an order line. We really didn't know, jerry took the lead and asked someone about a table. She didn't understand. I asked another girl and she pointed out the door. I thought she was asking us to leave but she was pointing to another dining room that was only accessed through an outside door.

We sat down and 4 menus were brought to us. One was in English...thank God. It turned out that the only things for me to choose from where mashed potatoes, rice, and bulgar. I tried to order a salad but,,,it had meat. Everything had meat in it. Everyone else had a wonderful meal. They felt bad for me but...I'm used to this when I travel and it's ok,

We left there and took a cab looking for a bar named the Dragons Den. After negotiating a fare of 100 soms down from 200, we were taken to a closed / shut down Den of the Dragon.

Feeling frustrated, we asked to be take to a nice bar. The guy said.."a pub"...we said fine. He offered up "Hollywood". We all just looked at each other and after showing him the hotel card, determined that we would go to Hollywood...in Kyrgyzstan. I laid the 200 som ride and we were in Hollywood, a smoky, leather booth, honky tonk looking bar with celebrity pics on the wall. Michael has a fruity drink, and she and I had mojitos while Jerry had a beer. All of our cocktails were watered down and not worth the money but..it was an experience,

Returning to the case, we retired to our rooms. I wrote a bit and posted some pics. It wasn't the most adventurous day but...not bad either.

Tomorrow, off to Kazakhstan.