Our entire goal for this trip was to see the mountains. We had only a few days, and so we wanted to be focused. Rebeca & I agreed that the mountains were the most important.
We left the apartment around 11 am. I was doubtful as to how quickly we would be able to find a "taxi" (aka, random driver) who would be willing to drive us to Medeu, which is about an hour's drive away. My brother, the kids & I stayed away while Rebeca bargained with a driver (knowing that, if he heard us talking, he might raise the price--Americans are, after all, rich). To my surprise, the first driver she talked to was willing to drive us there, for 3000 Tenge. (About $20) This is a country where last-minute is perfectly fine...
He pulled into a gas station before we left the city, and even though the station seemed packed with cars, he managed to pull up to a gas pump right away--by cutting in front of many drivers. This didn't go over well and pretty soon he was in a rather loud argument with the drivers behind him. Eventually, I think they cut a deal--the drivers immediately behind him went first, while he went next. During this time, Rebeca looked out the window and noticed another driver (not involved in this fight, thank goodness!) had a gun.
Finally, we left the station and headed up towards Medeu. Medeu is, according to my Lonely Planet guide, a "settlement" and all we saw was a restaurant and the skating rink, which may be all there is to it. It's partway up the mountain and the closest mountain-type place to Almaty. Our apartment was on the other side of Almaty, so it's probably a 1/2 hour to hour drive from Almaty, depending on traffic and where you're coming from. We never fully left the city--on the drive up we passed rather nice houses being built (think of some of the nicer houses around Paris Mountain) and even an apartment complex.
Before getting to Medeu, we passed through a toll area. So when we arrived, the driver upped the price to 4000 Tenge, which, after arguing, we paid. After he'd left, another driver told us that the toll was only 300 Tenge, so we'd been cheated.
There were several "drivers" around Medeu--guys with cars hanging around, hoping to make money by giving someone a ride.
First, we learned that the skating rink was closed. Unlike yesterday, which had been warm, dry, and sunny, the weather today was cold, cloudy and wet, and the rain soon turned to snow.
We eventually bargained with another driver to go further up the mountain, to Chimbuluk, which has skiing. We then spent about an hour at Chimbuluk, trying to figure out if we could ever go skiing. Apparently, they weren't renting out skis due to the fog, but we could see people skiing, plus we aren't advanced skiers--shouldn't a baby slope be open? I haven't skied in well over ten years, but I remember that I rarely made it more than 2 feet without falling. I don't think fog would present that much of a hazard to someone like me. Also, at first it seemed as if the slopes might be open soon.
Eventually we just got cold, and then we learned that they were closing for the day, due to the fog. The ski lifts stopped carrying people, and my guess is that the few people who were still skiing owned their skis. We gave Sophia and Alison a folder to use as a mini-sled and they had fun sliding on that until it fell apart, and then they slid on their bottoms and just rolled down the hill. Rebeca begged a few people to borrow their skis for just a little bit, to no avail.
In the end, we decided to return to Almaty. The same driver who had driven us up offered to drive us down, but we weren't quite in the mood to spend another 2500 Tenge. All this money spent on transportation! We decided to walk to Medeu, from where we'd catch a bus, and yes, we may be crazy--it's several kilometers, and we were rather cold. But I think it was a smart move on our part, because when the driver saw that we'd rather walk than pay 2500 Tenge--and there really weren't other people around who needed a ride--he offered to drive us all the way to the center of Almaty for 3000 Tenge. This was worth it, and we accepted, and yes, being driven was much nicer than walking and then taking a bus.
So, all I can say about Almaty's mountains is this.... They must be so much fun when the weather's cooperating!!! Luckily, Sophia and Alison appeared to enjoy themselves, so maybe it wasn't all a loss.
No comments:
Post a Comment