The massive weekend.

Far out. Where do I begin?

So lets start on Thursday. I went to the national committees house (MC house) in almaty. I was surprised. We played charades, I failed, (I had peter pan, like seriously, how long since Ive read a fairy tale), although I was very impressed by Zanas depiction of AIESEC as well.

So lets start on Friday. So Friday was david my room mates last day in Almaty. He had spent a year here. Seriously we will miss you David. You are such a nice guy man, and I wish you the best for the future. I have learned alot from you, and you have been very generous to me. I hope you enjoy your stay in Italy.

We went to this bar Stout, and I was amazed at the amount of western songs they played. My favourite (and I can hear someone saying gay when I say this) gloria gaynor I will survive, it was so good man. The band was pretty good, admittedly the accent was a bit off, but thats part of the fun of kazakhstan. I attempted to dance, and if you know me i have three left feet. Yes three. Go figure.

I left Almaty at 8:00am for Charyn Canyon. I slept in the car. The people taking me were from work and have been very hospitable towards me. I really do appreciate their friendships. Anyway, Nadya (from work) invited me to this thing, and it was her birthday and she invited 20 of her friends!!!. I met many people. I met Nadyas husband, brother, etc etc etc. The father in law Jane was hilarious. Seriously. If you ever have met a belarussian saying (I listen to ze beatles, and the beegees, do...you...know the zong which goes like dhis). Seriously man he was great. I learnt alot from him and he was trying with his english. We spoke much about the aboriginals of australia, and their reconcillation with mainstream australia. We spoke of their instruments, uluru and many other things. He does paragliding and has invited me to do at some point. He is part of a club that does it. He is very interested in Australia. (As I am typing this i realise my english is getting worse, my apologies).

On the trip there was some incredible sights. I mean it reminded me of Australia. (On facebook, you can see) The buzzword for this trip has been breathtaking and it sure was. I took as many photos as possible.

We got to our first destination which was a campsite/hotel/hot spring swimming pool. It was a very homely place. Met some more people- a ukrainian girl who I swear was crazy, some engineer dudes, and some more mothers and significant others etc. I was welcomed as a guest into this house, and was invited to try some of the lovely food. Igor, nadyas husband said to me, "You must start with beer, then to wine, then to vodka" lol I so I did. These guys know alcohol. I made a toast to nadya (it was her 26th birthday).

We then went swimming in this pool. The natural hot springs there are so good. I mean I could have stayed in that water forever. There were two pools one hotter than the other. You feel so relaxed and carefree. Jane explained that it was the minerals in the water. I am beginning to believe it is the minerals and a significant placebo effect, but no matter. I loved it. Everyone is so friendly, however their english was small, but we got around the language barriers with some drinking so it was ok.

Igor showed me how to start a fire (like with the fishing trip). It is very hard, particularly because Almaty has nearly no wind, so you have to fan the flames quite rigourosly. We continued with the festitivites, and they started to tell me some stories about russia, belarus and kazakhstan. They mentioned in particular the propoganda of the USA. And I do believe some of this. I mean seriously, these people just want peace and happiness. They dont want war. And they treat foreigners very well.

They kept complimenting me on my strength as well as my heritage. They love Australia, of which I am proud. But as my facebook message stated there was some arm wrestling. It started just almost instantously in the pool between igor and one of the engineers. I wanted a go (for people who know me I like a challenge). I beat the engineer no problems. But igor. I was flattened, and he had no more muscle mass than I did. It was then he told me he was 5 time kazakhstan arm wrestling champion. And I can see why. His technique was flawless, and his wrist had a special flex to it. I said I did Judo, he said show me some of it, I did, and he was so quick to disable me. Seriously. Like he was so quick like a snake even. Then his friend, I think alexei, did a jujitsu hold on me. It was then I realised to not pick a fight from anyone in this region. They are very strong people.

We then migrated to the Sauna(bayna). It wasn't a true sauna, but it had elements of it. It had a pool in the middle which was very very hot, (I mean burn your hand hot). and ALOT of steam. There were alot of scented oils and other things put in to this pool. I finally got the courage to go in, and it was then I just felt. I did not think. I dunno if it was the hot water, the alcohol, the scented oils, but the effect was mesmerising. Like my whole body was electrified lets say. There was no cognitive processes happening. It was just my body reacting to senses. I got out after 10 minutes and needed some fresh air and ALOT of water. This stuff dehydrates you to the max. But afterwards I felt so cleansed.

After that I was exhausted and went to bed. I slept nearly 12 hours!

The next day was more swimming and having a relaxing time. There was also a snooker table on the second floor of the hotel. Okay, if you think your a master of a billiards, pool or snooker table, think again. The pockets on this table were so narrow relative to the ball that you couldn't use my technique(hit the ball as hard into the corner so that it has to go in). I had to be so careful, but thankfully I was just playing by myself.

Our car load of people left the others and we went to charyn canyon. We were testing out the Suzuki 4wd ability (which is limited, it doesn't have enough ground clearance). We concluded that a land rover or a toyato landcruiser would be more suitable. Anyway, we got to the canyon, and I finally breathed in the air I was looking for all trip. Pristine clean air, and silence.

The canyon was breathtaking, and apparently they do a lot of filming there instead of the grand canyon (dont ask me why) It was an insane experience. the views were breathtaking, and have never seen anything like it. And the echo from the canyon was significant. The dog they brought with us (his name is oolf) when he woofed, it travelled the entire canyon lol. We took many photos, and I loved every second of it.

I found out today that a very beautiful thing happened on the canyon. Alexei, one of the men there, proposed to his long time girlfriend at the canyon and she said yes. I think it was one of the best places to propose (truly it is beautiful) and I wish them all the best.

As a side note, on the trip, there was a guitar and piano, so I was finally able to play some music. I played hotel california on the guitar ( which some of the people joined in with an accent which was hilarious) and played moonlight sonata and some jazz on the piano.

Apparently Nadya is going to organise a saxophone for me for the corporate party this weekend. Not sure what I will play. Maybe fly me to the moon, rock around the clock, slammin and maybe bumble bee lol.

You never know what you will find out in kazakhstan. I was talking to Igor about music, and we talking about rachmaninov, shostakovich etc, then we went onto writers. Maybe Im ill informed, but they knew so many writers. They knew some of Mark Twains quotes. I was amazed. Considering some of the stuff they have had to put up with, to have such knowledge is incredible, at least to me.

Thats it from me guys. Check out the photos, comment whatever.

I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference (quoting someone)

Regards

Bryan (a.k.a strong man)