This Saturday (Nov 2nd) I took a ½ day trip up to Medeu, a winter playground for the people of Almaty. Medeu is a scattering of buildings around a huge ice skating rink. It’s also on the way to Shymbulak, one of Central Asia’s top skiing destination. The rink was pretty crowded and we skirted the $7USD entry fee and just peeked in. For another $3USD you can rent skates (I avoided getting all Donald Brasheer on them). Built in 1972, it is made for speed skating and we saw a couple of high-fliers in the mix with mostly casual and first date skaters. I heard WHAM's “Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart” on the loud speakers – very strange.
Towards one steep side of the rink, we hiked up and up and up (850 steps to be exact)…. to get some great views of the valley below. Amanda further climbed a nearby mountain, while I caught my breath (final stages of a cold) and took photos. We saw a few wedding parties, a couple cars heading further to Shymbulak ski resort, and what looked like a forest fire up one of the mountains.
We than walked down past Medeu and towards an area Amanda had hiked around before. It was a different kind of hike, through an apple orchard, and up hill. We grabbed lunch in the sun and went down (actually slid) a gorge. On the other side we ended up on private property and we acted innocent in order to get ourselves off the homeowners’ property! We finally made it back to the bus stop and homeward bound.
1 comment:
Joey, what has gotten into you. You have become a athletic Emeril. Those pictures looked like Big Boulder lake and ski area maybe a little higher. Looks like you are having a good time, just don;t get shot my any land owners. Tranguch may need you again someday.
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