One of two things has got to happen. Either I buy a decent pair of shoes/start bringing Band-aids or I am going to have to rethink this “walking everywhere on vacation” thing.
It’s Saturday morning in Almaty, a beautiful day and I am so
sore I can barely walk. Yesterday, I walked the down and its environs, mostly
because I speak no Russian, can’t figure the bus system and don’t have any idea
how the cabs work. I wanted to go to this recreational area and it was 11 (or
13, depending on which map I used) kilometers away.
Well, so far, I haven’t really managed to see the sights
here. I really like this town a lot (though still glad I got my No. 1 bid, Istanbul, as my onward
over this, my No. 2) and it’s entirely manageable by foot, although probably in
smaller bites that I’m tackling it.
I decided to walk the route of a four-hour bus tour (it
didn’t stop at the sights but I wanted to, plus they wanted to charge me
triple) and started toward the circus and towers, which was about a 30-minute
walk. Then I zigged instead of zagged somehow and ran across the river. I knew
I was totally off the original plan, so I opted to head towards the Ritz, which
is where I heard there was a nice mall. It was quite a ways away and that had been
my plan for Saturday, but what the heck, I’m flexible.
So, another 20 minutes later, I found it. It was indeed a
nice mall but brand-new and only really high end stuff. And you could have
counted the number of customers on one hand. They had nice cushy chairs, clean
bathrooms and a water fountain, so that was good.
The day before, it was really sunny (no humidity
whatsoever!) and in the 90s. I was completely aware of the fact I get migraines
if not hydrated enough and was trying to find water or something to drink. Not
Coke.
I had a complete fail on my first try, when I bought
something that I thought was lemonade. It was the right color and had pictures
of lemons on it, although when I looked at it closer later I realized they were
limes. So that was the taste but holy cow, it was carbonated. That was not
hydrating. I’d splurged on the big bottle – it was really hot – and tried to
drink it, but it just wasn’t quenching.
Later, I found a grocery store and bought a bottle of water.
Again I splurged on the liter and when I opened it, it fizzed. Strike two. I
tried to choke that down, but it was just so awful. I wound up going to
Hardee’s for lunch, getting a combo meal and skipping the Pepsi for plain old
“table water.” I was so thirsty.
Finally, at the end of the day, I found another grocery
store in some mall and went with Bonaqua, a familiar brand that didn’t fizz. I
worked really hard in deciding a brand, too, poking all the bottles to try and
tell if they were carbonated. I’m sure people thought I was nuts, but I did
wind up with a genuine bottle of plain old water.
Sadly, the brand didn’t stick, because yesterday I also
bought a bottle of Bonaqua and it did fizz. It was pretty brutal, but I had to
choke it down. So I am not sure what I’ll do about water today. It’s been a
chore.
Back to yesterday, the walking day. While sitting in the
cushy mall, I took out the map and decided to head to the recreational place.
Eleven kilometers? Ha. I reasoned that I did 6-7 in an hour on the elliptical
every day – that’s at a high tension – and then rode a bike for half an hour,
which is five miles. So I reasoned that going up and down would take about two
hours each way and basically be no harder than working out twice in one day.
Can I just say, in hindsight, that was really a dumb
reasoning process?
My feet have a combined nine blisters. My hips, feet and
calves want a divorce. My shoulders want at least a separation, too, and the
backpack was not all that heavy.
I found the recreational area OK, but was completely wiped
out when I got there. I hung out by the creek for awhile and then turned around
and did the 11 (or maybe 13) kilometers again. Then, consulting two maps, I
decided I’d try to swing by the presidential palace on my way home.
And somehow I overshot it and got lost again. I mean, “lost”
is a harsh term for vacation. I had no real plan, so it wasn’t a big deal,
except I’d set out originally at 10 a.m. and this was post 6 p.m. I was ready
for a hot shower. I really miss my Ascott tub. My hotel doesn’t have a tub; it
has a shower that you have to step up about eight inches to get in, which makes
it really scary when you step out, especially when you can barely stand up
anyway.
On the trek back, I eventually found the river again and
followed it back to the road my hotel was on and, by 8:05 p.m., was back. The
shower was fabulous.
Today is my last day, but my flight doesn’t leave until
almost 10 p.m. Maybe this will be the day that I see all the stuff that
tourists are supposed to see.
I have seen a lot, but the theaters are closed, I’m in the
one month that’s not winter all around and I can’t read Cyrillic so the museums
are pretty much out. But I’ve seen several parks, which are cool. I found the
“Green Market” and will head back there today, I think. I really don’t know.
It’s really not bad to have no plan, but it really does hurt.
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