Early morning walk with our ambassador dog. He lived on a farm next door but was eager to walk beside anyone near.
Thought it was a cute idea and note the brand — not your Charmin, I’ll say.
Heading back to Bishkek and stopped at the Burana Tower, an ancient minaret. Liz and I declined the climb inside the tower since the steps were high and it was pitch dark and you could not pass. You had to be sure no people were coming from the top before starting upward. We regretted not going later.
Mausoleum ruins and more petroglyphs are all that remain from the ancient city of Balasagun, established by the Karakhanids the end of the 9th century..
Lunch at a huge property called Hawaii.
It was here that Hugo’s cane fell off the deck and into the water. Two guys in a boat rescued it for him.
….and then there was the market. Hot, crowded and selling nothing worth buying. I bought a $3 scarf,
Markets always thrill me with the colors. And there didn’t seem to be meat for sale because I caught no hint of dead meat smell at this market.
Look at the different and beautiful breads!
And clothes were for sale too.
Once back at the Novotel Hotel in Bishkek, Liz and I hit the local grocery store for this smoked cheese. And wine. All for $6 USD.
Annabella, Liz and I had the $5 wine and chatted before our last dinner.
Something was going on outside with all the uniforms. We found out it was the president of Kazakhstan visiting that weekend.
Tom, Liz and I were in the lobby at 2:30 AM and called a cab to the airport. Sergey came running out to give Liz her felt souvenir of the Kryg trip — which he tried to give her at 10:30 PM in her room. But Liz refused to answer her door..
I stupidly opened my door in my nightie that late at night and accepted the gift he had forgotten to pass out at the final dinner.
Tom flew off to Istanbul and we flew to Dubai for an 18 hour layover, with weather like this.
I hate being bussed to the airplane because I have to haul my heavy carry-on up those steps.
Since I’ve been to Dubai in 2022, they have added a SECOND island shaped like a palm tree. They hauled in the sand from the Maldives. And they made it looks like a palm tree so that MOST the property is beachfront property. Wise businessmen!
When we arrived at 10 AM. They only had a suite with separate bedroom and 2 bathrooms available at that time of the morning an we thought we were paying so much money — when it ended up to be $169. What a deal!! We got massages, got into the pool, had dinner, got 4 hours of sleep and caught a shuttle to the airport.
They looked at us sideways when we asked if they had a sauna. No they didn’t — all you had to do was GO OUTSIDE. It was 103 degrees and it FELT like a sauna!!
Dinner wasn’t that good, but it was pretty.
We took the ECONOMY 14- hour flight home to Orlando. It wasn’t that bad and it didn’t cost $1,525.00.
What really sucked was that Liz was not used to checking a bag and when we arrived in Orlando, it took an hour for my suitcase to get dumped out the baggage claim chute. It was raining and lightning and I guess the baggage handlers don’t have to work in the lightning. AAUUGGHH!
We had a driver pick us up and it was an uneventful drive to my house,
I am just over jet lag today so it took 7 days to adjust — not bad for a 10 hour time change.
This is my haul from Kyrgyzstan. Some felt chair cushions, a scarf for $3, a baby yurt, coffee mug, teas I won for the dentist guess, the felt thing from out tour guide at 10:30 pm (it’s upside down and depicts yurts), smoked string cheese, some rocks from the lake, a horse shoe I found on my solo walk with the dog, playing cards, and the bags from Emirates in Business Class and Economy Class.
I’m finishing this blog just in time to leave for Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia in a week. This is the trip I had to cancel because I broke my kneecap last year.
Please feel free to leave me a message – I am the only one to read it.
SAFE TRAVELS!
Linda Jeanne