Out of the way

I have seen Almaty airport. I have landed there. It's very pretty with the snowy mountains on one side. But I have not yet been to Kazakhstan.

My visa had not been completely processed when I arrived - they hadn't got around to notifying the people at the airport that they had granted it. So despite sterling work from various people to try and resolve the issue, and all the delays I could reasonably offer to the immigration authorities, waving goodbye through the glass wall I was bundled on the plane and deported to Turkey. (Odd choice, given that the first time I went there was yersterday, but still).

The Turkish folks were very nice about it. They let me back in without making me buy another visa (actually I would have done so - it isn't complicated or even very expensive), and scheduled me to return home on saturday morning (first available flight).

But meanwhile othrs had been at work. The kazakh authorities completed the process, and I am promised that this time there will be a visa for me, and people able to meet me at the airport airside to ensure that there are no complications that go unresolved.

So I am sitting in the lounge again in Istanbul, about to get on the third flight between here and Almaty that I have taken in 30 hours, and trusting taht this time everything will be different.

It should. I have new visa photos that were done by a professional in Istanbul airport - touching up things he thought were blemishes (I maintain that I have perfect skin, but I didn't want to point out that he had a few wrikles on his camera lens ) and generally making me as presentable as I get after 30 hours continuous travel and hassle.

I had to sort out tickets, retrieve my baggage, organise various things, so it took a long time, and I now know the International terminal in Istanbul pretty well. But I did get into the city this afternoon. Thanks to the efficient and cheap transport system, it was also easy. I was too tired to do much more than walk around, but I did have a look at byzantine walls and Hagia Sophia from the outside, hear the call to prayer from the blue mosque, look out on the Bosporous and the Golden horn. I even thought about trying to cross over to Asia but decided to do that when I am here with Miel. I walked around a few bazaars instead, and drank tea.

I had my last couple of teas in "Çay Evi" (for the name) - a little place on a side street at te edge or Araksay, where they were surprised to see a foreigner sit down, and visibly more surprised to see one ask for çay. But both the patron and I were gobsmacled when a bloke walking down the alley stopped, looked at me, called the patron over and paid for my tea, and then walked on. I don't recall that happening anywhere...

So, tomorrow morning I will write something from somewhere. I hope, finally, that it will be from Almaty, but time will tell.