Astana River Cruise

On August 21st, we had a new adventure with Oma - one that we hadn't yet done in Astana.  We took  a river cruise. We had taken a river cruise in Prague and really enjoyed it, and we had heard good things about the Astana river excursion, so we decided to do it.  We went in the early afternoon and took the bus to the other side of town.  Oma sat next to a woman from the university who spoke English and the two of them really got along.  We helped Maja know where she was going to get to the embassy and walked with her for awhile when we got off the bus.

The day was very warm and sunny and we had to walk for awhile along the river before we got to the dock.  The area was shaded with colorful decorations and was very beautiful as was the view of the river from the walkway.  When we got to the dock we bought tickets and then bought some water to quench our thirst while we waited.  

We waited for the second boat since we were at the back of the line.  We scrambled onto the boat, which was a nice one, and then spent the tour fighting with another group about having the shaded glass pulled over the deck.  We wanted it - they did not.  We ended up getting more sun than we expected.  The river tour followed the river from where we were down to the Presidential Palace (Akh Orda) and then came back.  We passed under three different bridges, past the large presidential park, and past many interesting buildings.  The view from the river was different from the views we get from the buses when we drive, so it was worthwhile for us to see.

When we got back from the cruise, we walked back to the bus stop taking a different route through the shaded streets and buildings.  We rode the bus back and got off downtown to take Oma to our favorite local food restaurant - Kishlak.  We ordered plenty of food and had a very nice meal with very nice servers.  Oma really enjoyed the dinner experience.

It was another adventurous day in Astana.  We only had to take a little time to see our city from a little different perspective.

Walking along the river in the shade of a flowery overhang.

Looking out over the river at the dock.  Lots of little fish were swimming right next to the shore.

The boat dock.

Looking back across the river bend from the boat dock.

On board for our cruise.

Passing another little cruise boat on the way out.

Looking at the buildings on the river.

More views.

More covered walkways further down the river.

Going under the second bridge on our journey.

Looking toward the Pyramid on the far side of the park.

The presidential palace.

The bridge we cross most often on our way to and from church.

Art along the river - close to the dock.

And a view from the top.

Topiary wonders on our walk to the bus stop.

A nice mural of traditional Kazakh life painted on the side of a building.

Starting dinner.  Baursaki (like scones) were the warm up.

Spencer ordered the tower of meat for himself on accident.  It provided leftovers for another meal the next day!

Oma posing in the beautiful ambiance of the restaurant.

Summer Fun in Solonyeshnoye - Trip to Altai Part II

We did lots of fun things while we were in Solonyeshnoye. One of those things was riding horses. My second cousin Anya works at a horse farm. They raise and train mostly Orlov trotters but also have a couple of work horses and one of some American breed. Anya rides Orlov trotters during races but she also takes care of them all. She invited us to come over and tour the stables. Those were some nicest stables I have ever seen. Anya showed us around and told a story of each horse that was in the stable (a few of them were out at a Federal championship race in another city), and then gave girls a ride. The only horse we could ride that day was the work horse (other good mannered horses were at the race), and they didn’t have a saddle for him, so Anya just led him with the girls on top. They had fun nonetheless. And since I mostly rode bareback when I was a kid, she trusted me to ride him on my own. :)

In the stable

The girls are in love with horses

Yep, totally in love!

Almost ready to be mounted

Lina is in heaven!

Sophie

Lexa

Nika

And me!

This is the cart that Anya rides in during the races

A mother horse with her baby in the pasture

 And while we are on the horse subject, every day we would have this little herd of horses walk by our house. I just love horses!

One of the days my cousin Galya, Nika, and I went up in the mountains to gather some tea called badan. This is a famous herbal tea from Altai and it grows up in the mountains around the village. Our family loves this tea, and Nika was very excited to gather her own. My cousin also taught her which wild mushrooms are good, and Nika was very good at finding them. It was a great day!

Solonyeshnoye in a beautiful valley 

Badan leaves. These are new leaves. The ones that are gathered for tea are 2nd or 3rd year leaves (they are dark brown)

Nika gathering tea.

Sharik (translated as "balloon") was our loyal companion

Nika

After the tea is gathered, it needs to be washed and then dried. Here is my mom washing badan leaves.

We went down to the mountain river Anui a couple of times while we were there. The kids wanted to swim in it, but because it has rained for three weeks straight, the water was very cold and somewhat muddy. They were disappointed that they didn't get to swim but were happy to at least wade in it and skip rocks. Summer is fun!  

Anui with some cows coming to drink

Playing on the river is always fun!

Walking to the Yenisei

Krasnoyarsk is a beautiful city with the Yenisei river running through it, flowing to the North. One of my favorite things about our visit four years ago was walking to and from the library on the other side of the river.  I would cross the Komunalny (Community/Сcommunal) Bridge.  The bridge spans across first to the "recreation island" where there are some sports stadiums, beaches, and other activities, and then across the main channel.  The main channel runs fast and deep and there are often barges going up and down it.  Sometimes they are floating logs down the river to processing plants.  The bridge is famous because it is on the 10 ruble bill.

The bridge is the symbol, along with the church, of Kranoyarsk

The bridge is noisy and dirty and heavily-trafficked but it is high above this deep, dark, beautiful river flowing north to the Arctic Ocean and I love it. Yulia and I took a walk one day across the river to the opera theater and fountains that are there.  We wanted to have a walk and that was where I wanted to go.

A selfie on the square after we walked across the bridge.  We took the bus back :)

On other days we walked south (upriver) along the embankment and watched the fishermen, the people out on boats and jet skis, and the ducks along the shore. Behind Yulia's Mom's house toward the factory where she used to work is a little reservoir area that was made by creating some levees.  It is where the ships were launched out of the factory before they were put onto the river.  The girls went there one day without me, and we all walked down there one evening together and spent an hour wading and skipping rocks.

Nika trying to figure out the skipping motion.  She never did quite get it.

Kids and water.  The recipe for contentment on any summer day!

Some ducks in a row.

One afternoon when we were walking along the bank going south (upriver) we saw a huge fish swimming close to shore in the shallows.  We had seen a lot of little fish, but this was was huge.  We couldn't tell exactly what it is, but we suspect that it was a sturgeon. You can see it in the photograph here in the middle of the frame as a shadow.  It was over two feet long, and probably closer to three.  We watched it for about 2 minutes before it swam out into the deep part of the river.  It was about 100 meters upriver from where there were four fishermen. I guess the fish won that day.

See her there about a third of the way up in the middle. She's a big one! 

It is often the simple things that are the best. Our little walks to, along, and across the river were one of the highlights of our visit to Krasnoyarsk this summer.