Finally Arriving In Kazakhstan

We finally arrived in Kazakhstan on Thursday September 26^th around 1:20 am. There was supposed to be a 5 hour layover and then our last flight into Shymkent. We hung around the airport with all our luggage and boxes (we paid extra to take everything with us on the plane), we tried out some local hamburgers (loaded with cucumbers, mayonnaise, and ketchup), and were able to walk the dog a bit (yes, she went with us on the plane!). At 6 am we sauntered up to the check-in counter to get ready for our flight. Well, the attendant couldn’t find our reservation and sent us to another desk. Come to find out, Lufthansa, the airline we took from Denver to Frankfurt to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and inadvertently cancelled our flight to Shymkent.

On Monday September 23^rd we showed up to the Denver airport ready to go, only to find our flight 5 hours delayed. We stood in line for over 2 hours just for them to tell us that because of our connections we couldn’t fly out until the next day (September 24^th). When Lufthansa re-scheduled their flights they neglected to re-schedule our last flight between Almaty and Shymkent with Air Astana airline. Once we arrived in Almaty this caused a huge issue because the airline was unable to fix it all. Originally, we booked our flights with a travel agent, so Air Astana was unable to see our reservation and to us on a new flight. It was 7 am in Almaty, meaning that it was 7 pm at home where our travel agent was located. Our electronics were running low on power (we used some of them during the flight and others were just low after 30 hours of not being charged), but I was able to jump onto my computer and attempt contact with people. We sent out an email to the travel agent and attempted to contact anyone at home by starting a Google Hangout (Droid/Google phone should have the Hangout app automatically uploaded and logged in), but we didn’t hear back from anyone within enough time before the battery died. We figured we were in for a stay and decided to find a hotel room – mostly to re-charge the electronics – but to also get some sleep.

In our haze of sleepiness, weariness, and frustration we paid $100 for a cab ride. Once we realized our mistake we were kicking ourselves. How stupid could we be? It was too late to fix it and at least we were in a bed and our computers were charging with access to the internet. All three of us, dog included, crashed out on the bed for several hours, waking only to check for emails from the travel agent. 15 hours after the ordeal began we finally had new tickets to get to Shymkent! We could rest easy and get some food in our stomachs (oh yeah, we forgot to eat!). Our new flight would leave 27^th September at 3 pm. We had to check out of the hotel at 8:30 am (that was 24 hours after check-in), so we packed all our things and waited for a taxi (ooopps! Should have told them 2 taxis for our 4 boxes, 4 suitcases, 1 dog, and several carryons). The taxi driver waited with us for another taxi to arrive – an hour and a half later we had a second taxi! All loaded up, we headed for the airport – this time we paid a reasonable amount (and tipped the guy for waiting so long) [side note: tipping is NOT expected here].

This is a picture out front of our hotel - The Royal Palace - facing towards the mountains that are difficult to see through the haze of smog. In Kazakhstan they use tenge for money (153 tenge equal $1), but I'm not sure how much gas you get for the amount shown on that display.

3 hours waiting at the airport, finally we were able to get on the flight! Our dog, Lulu, did not like this plane for some reason (she flew on 2 planes to get there and hardly made a peep), but she continued to whine on this one. We were lucky enough to have a seat free between us, so we put here there, still in her carrier, so she could see and smell us. A short hour later we were on the ground in Shymkent. If it’s this much of an adventure to get, how much of an adventure will have?!?!? Bring it on!