Farewell Tristan, Farewell Astrid … and then there was one ;(
Last Friday Tristan and I sold Astrid to Asylbek in Bishkek (on the condition that he send us pictures of her during all Kyrgyz national holidays) and took a Marshrutka (route taxi) to Almaty. Arriving in the middle of the night, we spent our final hours together in massage chairs at the airport napping. Then Tristan got aboard a big British (BMI) bird and flew away. Thus, in one day, I lost two companions. Here is our last photo with Astrid:
Schastlivo T$! You’ve been a great travel companion. I wish you a smooth encorporation into Langton and into your biomembrane research. Congratulations on your fellowship! Thank KC for letting you travel with me for an extra three weeks! Say hello to Carolina from me 😉
Accept this gift. There should be enough photos here for your profile and lab website pictures for some time to come!
With reduced mobility and freedom on the roads, I turn to the people. At present, I am being very kindly hosted by someone I met on Couchsurfing, and I’ve already immersed myself into the stream of Kazakshtan though Xeniya’s and her friends’ help.
I have not been blogging much — Oi, I really haven’t told you anything from this side of the Casipan! — but this let this not let your faith lapse in my blogging competance. I have been having more adventures on your behalf.
Though I have told you but a fraction, my diligently kept diary knows them all, from the methodolgy of eagle hunting, to how to raise and train an eagle, our ferry ride across the Caspian in the company of an English Lord, our several dozen stops by various authorities (and our strategies developed to avoid paying bribes), breaking down in the middle of the ancient city of Merv in Turkmenistan, dozens of hitchhikers, a half dozen border crossings, a drive across the desert of Kara-Kum where the major obsticles are camels, yurt stays at alpine lakes…. and many more.
They are all coming here. I just need some more time to breathe and rest. My hometown of Ekaterinburg is calling from several thousand more kilometers in the north, and there I will set myself to the project of thorough divulging. In the meanwhile, eat a few more crumbs … This is an interesting rock formation at Charyn Canyon in southeast Kazakhstan:
