Chimbulak (or, Gary Busey almost smushed me)

Chimbulak is the local ski resort. It's about a half-hour drive from Almaty city center. You can get within 3.5 km of the resort on a bus for 40 tenge, or about 33 cents US. Drivers hang out at the bus stop across from Hotel Kakakhstan and offer to drive you up there, for anywhere from $8-20 US, depending on how large your group is, where you're from, how long you've been here--all of the things that factor into whether or not you get ripped off. We went in a BMW on the way up (the guy working us was like "you'll be riding in an all-leather interior"), and then walked downhill the 3.5 km to where we could catch the bus home. I'm far more comfortable living the proletariat lifestyle than the bourgeoise one.

We went there on September 28. The pics aren't that hot because it was snowing, which obscured what I believe is a breathtaking view. The slopes look great, and I am definitely looking forward to some snowboarding. I'm so used to having to fly to good skiing back in Baltimore that I'm very, very excited at the prospect of being able to call in sick and be shredding up there an hour later. :) Please don't tell my boss I said that.

They have thick jackets for rent for 400 tenge (about $3.30 US), and I'm glad we sprung for it. We would have frozen our tootsies off otherwise--it was about 20 degrees F up there. And we didn't go all the way up to the highest slopes, either. In the city, it was probably 55 degrees. And the week before, it was hitting 75.

I know you're waiting for the Gary Busey part, so I shall end the suspense. After riding around on a couple of lifts in the stillness that accompanies snowstorms, we hit a little building with a cafe on the first floor and a disco on the second floor. I stopped in the bathroom, and on the way out, this 6-foot-something blonde guy with wild hair, weaving very unsteadily on his feet starts teetering, practically into me. I looked at him and started---I could have sworn it was Gary Busey. But I figured I was just too startled from almost getting crushed by this towering hulk of a man.

Steve was waiting for me about 5 feet from where all of that happened, and the first words out of his mouth were "What the hell is Gary Busey doing here????"

Relaying this to my friends last night, they immediately put it together: There was an international film festival in Almaty last week. They did a little googling, and lo and behold, Gary Busey was indeed in Almaty for it, according to the local newspaper. As was Gerard Depardieu (sp?) and some others. So we weren't imagining things, after all.

Unfortunately, I don't think it was jet lag that made him that unsteady on his feet.

Here's a great shot of Steve next to a "Caution: Cliff" sign. Yes, I asked him to pretend he was falling off the cliff. I bet there's a lot more snow on the ground now--we had rain here yesterday, which had to have been snow up there. I bet there will be great skiiing in about two weeks' time. Yeah!