A new day, and surely this day can only get better right? Wrong.
I woke up early, keen to leave the hostel but also keen to fit a few things into my last days in Central Asia. Today's trip was to the Big Almaty Lake, and this was 'easily' accessible by public transport.
The bus stop to the Lake was a good 10km from the hostel, so I thought ahead and asked a girl in the hostel to book me a Yandex to take me to the bus stop. I was feeling quite smug at this point, almaty wouldn't beat me.
I was dropped off near the bus stop and I found the correct one easily enough. This bus was heaving. A good sign I was going in the right direction. All I had to do was stay on the bus until the final stop. Easy.
The bus got quieter and quieter, but I held my ground to the final stop. At this point I read there would be abundant taxis and buses to take me to the top. But there was nothing.I saw that everyone who left the bus had started walking up the hill, so I decided to follow.
I was aware that the walk to the top was hard and would take a couple of hours, but there were a couple of larger ladies in front of me also walking. How hard could it be. But everyone ahead of me started turning off in different directions. Not sure where they were going, I kept to the road which I assumed would take me to the top.
After an hour of walking, in 40 degree heat, with no end in sight and no signs to even indicate I was on the right road, I started hitching a rider. About 20 cars drove past me and not one stopped. Eventually, a beat up old car stopped and the chap said he could take me up. We bartered using his dusty windows as a canvas. He was offering to take me up for the equivalent of $50. This was an outrageous price and I told him exactly where he could go. I was livid. But I thought better than to further antagonise the already annoyed Kazakh driver.
I picked up a boulder and smashed it on the floor. At this point I realised I had failed to get to Almaty Lake and I turned around for the long depressing walk back to the bus stop. I boarded the bus and we headed back to the very start of the journey. Except this time I had no Yandex to take me back to the hostel.
I spent the rest of the day navigating back the 10km to the hostel, via a bars, coffee shops and restaurants.
:(
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