Last view then goodbye to fire and gas

                  Sleeping on the mattress last night probably saved my back and hips but it was definitely hard to climb up out of the tent.  Felt like I was in a hole and thank goodness nobody was filming me trying to get to my feet.  Not sure how Vancouver does it as she's older than me but with no arthritis so guess that's the difference.   Roomie and I get up around 5:30 for one last call of nature and then she says she's going to go to the gas crater for sunrise.  I certainly would have been willing to try and get in the tent hole one more time for some more shut eye but sunrise is a better idea.  We grab our cameras and flashlights and start for the crater.   Amazingly, we are not the first ones to arrive.  Another of our tour members, S2 (we have two people with the same name), has set up his tripod and is waiting patiently for the sun also.  We circle the crater and then join him on the small hill above the crater.  It's getting lighter and lighter but not sure it is going to be a spectacular sunrise.  There is some wind and the dust devils swirl off the heated air above the crater and head towards the hill.  S2 has been trying to get a photo of them but without much luck.  His camera does this 3 shot composite thing that mine doesn't and I am so jealous of that ability of the camera to take 3 shots and put the colors and such together to make one super photo.  well, heck.  I'll do what I always do - just take more photos.

                More group members are coming over to the crater now.  It's light enough to be without the flashlight now and we can see them coming.  Another group had been camped here last night as well but they were already gone by the time we walked to the crater this morning.  Seems a shame to miss the sunrise.   And finally the sun pops up!  Not the best sunrise but still awesome over the gas crater.

                  There's a lot of activity over at the camp now and looks like people are up and taking down tents and such and I am ready for another call of nature so I say goodbye to the crater and head back to camp.  Pull out my air mattress and let it deflate and am busy putting my stuff away so we can pack it up in the car.   Breakfast this morning is a wonderful buffet of fruit and yoghurt in cups and coffee or tea.  OK, that's pretty much a joke but it was a good breakfast for the desert while people are staggering out of their tents and a few group members are still suffering from the late night party and drinking into all hours.  Snoring still issues from a couple of tents but eventually everyone staggers out into the daylight and has some food and packs up their stuff.  The drivers are much faster at dropping the tents and storing them away so we give up trying to help as basically we are just getting in their way.  Sometimes it's very nice to be waited on and be kind of useless.  Our tour leader tells everyone it's time to head out and if anyone wants a last look at the crater, we'll pick them up on the way out of the valley.  About half the group heads over - the half that wasn't over there for the sunrise.  And then it is time to get into the cars and start our convoy back to the city.  We ask to stop on the way back to get a photo of the camel crossing signs and the sand dune barriers built along the roadside.

                   The drivers misunderstood the "stop for a camel crossing sign" and after passing about 4 nice signs, we swerved to the side of the road as there were actual camels crossing the road.  This is what they thought we wanted to see.  Of course, that was a nice bonus and equally, of course, the camels were not crossing anywhere near a sign.  We also got some photos of the sand barriers.  These are squares of thick grasses or reeds that are built next to the road, blocks and blocks of them, that keep the sand off the road.  I jokingly told the other two group members in my car that the barriers were actually 7' tall and the 1 1/2' that we saw sticking out of the sand was all that was left exposed.  They believed me for about a minute.    Later we found a camel crossing sign to stop and take photos of it but the head had been shot off the camel.  So we had a headless camel crossing sign.  Shades of Sleepy Hollow.

              Outside of town the convoy stopped to wash the cars.  There is a law that cars cannot go about Ashgabat dirty.  We were pretty dirty having been in the desert and dusty and all but the car wash places were closed for some reason so the drivers had to wash the cars themselves.  Our driver was not very happy about that.  Took around 20 minutes and some more camels crossed the road while we were waiting.  Also a lovely outhouse with no roof and 3 walls was available to those of us who needed it.  I always need it.  Trying to position oneself over a hole while staying hidden behind a wall what opens onto a back street that seemed to have a lot of traffic was not one of my finest moments but one manages.

               The afternoon was free so suggestions were made for different museums and hiring of cars to go visit different sites.  I suggested the National Museum which I thought was really good and also the old fortress of Nisa which I visited last time.  My car mates and S2 all thought that sounded good as well so we made arrangements with the guide to hire one of the cars and drivers to take us.  Then as we pulled into our hotel, everyone realized that the museums were closed today.  great.  However the carpet museum was open.  It was suggested that we go there instead and get an English speaking guide to take us around and then on to Nisa.   We all wanted time to shower and change clothes so that handled, we met to go off for the afternoon.

               S2 had been to the carpet museum before so he opted to walk around and take photos while we were inside and we arranged for the driver to return for us in an hour.  Germany was with us and he also spoke Russian which was good because our driver spoke Russian but no English so Germany was busy making the return engagement arrangements with the driver.  Vancouver, Germany and I went into the museum where we were greeted by a couple of ladies who asked if we wanted a tour.  the price for admission was 13 Manat.  The price for an English speaking guide was 26 Manat - a person.  We had decided to go for the top and asked for the guide.  We are then told there is no guide available.  Gee, why ask if we want it.  As our driver had already left, we paid our 13 Manat for admission only and went into the museum and started looking at carpets.  They were quite nice with a small card next to each one that told where they were from and how big they are and how many knots but that was about it.  We go to the next room where there is a group of about 15 people with - wait for it - an English speaking guide!!!  And the next room had another group of people with an English speaking guide.  Guess they only provide guides for larger groups.  You can do the math.

                We finally go upstairs and there is a young girl standing by the railing.  I ask if she speaks English and she says a little but her command of English is just fine.  We ask some questions about some of the carpets in the room and suddenly we have our English speaking guide and she is happy to show us around some of the carpets and such and leads us to various rooms and tells us things and we didn't have to pay for it.  I would have given her a tip but by the time we were ready to leave, she had disappeared.

              Vancouver heads off to the toilets - real toilets, while Germany and I are looking at the small selection of tabletop carpets that they have for sale.  We each choose one.  We have to get certificates for anything carpet like to be able to take it out of the country.   I am walking with a stick for the arthritis and the saleslady takes Germany and my passport and the rugs onto an elevator and disappears.  Our little guide said he would get the certificates for us and not to worry that my passport would come back OK.  They thought it would be hard for me to maneuver the elevator with my walking stick?   Made me nervous.  Vancouver comes back from the toilets and we are just waiting now for our carpet certificates and Germany to return.  S2 is outside with our driver so Vancouver goes out to join him.  I am standing next to the front desk and a woman enters with a huge bag of material.  She has brought material to the ladies at the museum for them to pick out dress fabric.  I so wanted to buy some of it myself but restrained myself.  The ladies are chattering and pulling out fabric and I'm standing there like a klutz trying to ask questions but not be intrusive.  Still, it was quite interesting to watch and I got the story on how they pick fabrics, take them to a seamstress and get their dresses made.  They usually have 2 or 3 that they get a year maybe if they are in a business that allows them to spend that much on dresses.  fascinating.   Finally they whisk the bag of fabric into a back room as the head guide appears with her English speaking group to shoo them out the door.  Guess it's a no no is most cultures to conduct private business, like buying fabric, when the boss is around.

               It takes Germany about 1/2 hour getting the certificates before he appears with them and the carpets and my passport.  He says that the experience was worth the price of the carpet square ($30) because the bureaucracy he watched to get this piece of paper that one is supposed to show at the airport to leave the country was incredible.  Plus, she spelled his name wrong so had to start over on his certificate.  He signed my name since I was too feeble to go downstairs via the elevator.  They told us we would need to show the certificate at the airport and be required to pay a small fee, maybe 3 or 4 Manat or dollars, we weren't sure which.  I never did and got out of the country with my carpet.  Of course, by then, I have two large carpets in my suitcase so they weren't concerned with any small blips on the scanner.     Finally we are off to Nisa.

              Nisa is a UNESCO site.  Years ago, on my first visit, there wasn't too much there except some excavated ruins and rooms.  It appears now that they are rebuilding it but using the same techniques that were used originally so it is going quite slowly but there was quite a difference between now and when I first visited.  Many walls are back up and there are some warrens between rooms now that weren't there before.  We climb the uneven stairway to the observation tower.  Up onto the tower and we can see the Health Walk which is a walk through the hills of around 8 km.  Our tour leader says it is difficult in spots which is why we chose not to do it, out of deference for me.  But it looks interesting and supposedly you can see Iran from some of the heights of the Health Walk.   Some of our group had planned to do it.

              As we are standing on the observation platform, Vancouver gets stung by a bee and we have nothing with us to relieve it so she valiantly keeps going even though her neck is hurting.  We keep checking to make sure nothing is swelling.   Down from the platform and up the sidewalk where we meet some of our group members who are leaving.  They were the ones who had been doing the Health Walk but they tell us it was closed.  wow.  Museums and Health Walk all close on Mondays.  They tell us to find the round room inside and also someone is making bricks plus there is a big urn in one of the rooms.  Also there is a local guide who will show you things.  Unfortunately, the local guide was also leaving as we walked in and he never came back.

              We spent some time wandering around Nisa but without signs and a guide, the rooms were a best guess for us as to what they might have been used for and who lived here and everything.  Still it was quite enjoyable.  But Roomie's bee sting was hurting and it was awfully hot out there in the sun so we headed back to the hotel.  We have the evening free and tomorrow we head off to Dashoguz.

The Darvaza flaming gas crater - OMG. spectacular

                   Our second day of touring and we are heading for the desert to see the gas crater.  This was not on the itinerary the first time I came to Turkmenistan.  As it was apparently an "industrial accident" that happened 40 years ago, when drilling for gas, I wondered why we hadn't come.  Way back in 2006, the roads didn't go that far, or didn't go far enough or weren't good enough or whatever.  Anyway, something new for me and very happy to be viewing it.

                  We are caravaning out into the desert in about 7 4x4 vehicles.  Each car has a driver and 3 tour members.  Our first stop will be in a village away from the city where we will have a typical lunch that the family will prepare for us.  We did this stop in 2006 as well but different village, different family.  Pretty much the same lunch though.   As we pull into the village, we stop a bit before getting there and look around the village a bit, why I have no clue but it was fun.  Some of more intrepid photographers wander off to get shots of camels, old Russian trucks, school buildings, local ladies, local hotshots on motorcycles, and more.  I am trying to learn to be a better photographer so I emulate some of the professionals and spend a lot of time trying to get a good shot of the grill of truck.  that was hard because it involved using my poor arthritic knees to stoop down to get the shot.  I hope the professional shots were much better because I looked at all of my grill shots and wondered why I did that.

               On to the local house.  We pull into the driveway and there is a young girl standing in the doorway of a yurt in a white dress.  This dress is awesome and is probably her best dress for special occasions.  As we had passed a schoolyard full of kids, she was staying home especially for us to recite a welcome poem.  Poor girl was half terrified of all the weird looking strangers piling out of the cars and started reciting a couple of times before her mom let her continue to the end.  Her mom stood to the side to prompt her as needed.  Of course we have absolutely no idea what she said but she was lovely doing it.  Once finished, she was out of the doorway of the yurt and into the house quick as can be and a couple of minutes later exited the house in her school uniform and took off running.  Either she hated being late for school or she had to escape the strangers!

              Our hostess was the matriarch of the family even though grandmother was still in evidence bustling around helping to cook the meal and clean as fires were finished and pots were done.  Two grown daughters helped with the cooking and serving.  We filed into a room with floor seating.   Already some veggies and stuff ready to serve were waiting for us.  Then as everyone took a seat on the floor (except for me as my arthritis doesn't work that way and our tour leader always finds me a chair!  What a guy!) the food starts coming.  We get a broth/soup thing-y with a big hunk of meat on a bone in it along with some noodles.  It was sort of tasty but didn't much care for the meat and bone.  Bread is being passed around as well as the veggies which can be added to the soup.  We also got the traditional plov - a rice dish.

               After eating, we are allowed to have a look around the home compound but while they said we could look in the house, I don't think anyone did.  that's rather invasive.  One of the daughters was busy cooking up donuts in hot oil over the fire while the other daughter was busy rolling them out and cutting them up for the oil.  these are so simple and yet so delicious.  I asked our guide if we could get a scarf tying demonstration as we see the women all over Turkmenistan with scarves on their heads.  Mama was happy to show us and to our surprise, the scarf tying consists of two scarfs that are tied onto the head.  never would have guessed that.

                Almost time to leave but we have a moment to go look at the family's camels.  two young camels that are happy to eat leaves from our hands.  Nice camels.  Then back in the cars and off in our convoy for the water crater first.  I believe that all three of the craters were industrial accidents while trying to drill for gas.  The water crater is around 35 meters deep (from the top to the water) but honestly I'm guessing at the depth.  We were told but I sure don't remember.  There are gas bubbles escaping from the water so you see some blurbs as you stand there.  Unfortunately, people have thrown in a lot of plastic bottles so there is a debris line crossing the water.  We threw in some rocks just to see how deep it was and listen to them kerplunk.

               Back in the cars and off to the mud crater.  This crater seems to be about the same depth but instead of a deep pool of water, there is a layer of mud across the bottom.  there were about 3 or 4 pockets where the mud was on fire.  Both of these craters are unstable so you must be careful where you walk and not get too close.  That said, we all climbed over the rope barriers and got as close as we dared.  Our guide seemed to know where not to walk so he would warn us, we'd stay away from that spot and peer down into the pits for photos.  Plus the sun was going down so there were some great shadows displayed on the walls of the craters.

              Finally it is back into the cars and off for the last crater.  We turn off the main road and head up over some dunes and hills.  Argentina climbs out of the window and sits on the edge of the car as we drive up the hills, photographing all the way.  What a character.  I was watching as we were in the car behind him and I'm thinking, "I could do that, totally!" and then I didn't.  Dang it hurts getting old and not so limber!

               The cars in front of us are stopping and by the time our car had stopped, the first two cars were unloaded and one of the group members was halfway down the slope heading towards a large hole in the ground.  I somehow was expecting leaping flames to come shooting out of the ground but what I saw was a deceptive hole that had a rosy glow and heat waves shimmering off of it.  By the time I got out of the car, the first members of the group were almost to the hole and they had become very, very, very small.  The hole in the ground was immense, huge, enormous, large, gigantic.  Now we are all out of the cars and walking rapidly towards the hole where it gets warmer as we get closer and more magnificent and awesome.  The flames are not leaping out of the hole but the hole is so deep that the flames are leaping inside of the hole, on all sides, and down into the middle of the crater.  We are warned to stay several feet away as the crater is growing and parts of it slide off into the crater every year.  Wow oh Wow!

              Cameras are snapping like crazy, videos being filmed, walking around the crater, watching the flames, feeling the heat, watching the heat haze shimmer.  OMG.  what a spectacle.  There are more than a few people who came on this tour just to see this and it's well worth it.  The cars have left and driven about 1/2 mile or more away to set up our camp for the night (I brought a blow up mattress for my arthritis) but we are all standing here watching the flames and talking and enjoying this "industrial accident" so very much.  There are two hills and our guide points to the one on the right which has a clearly defined path leading to the summit.  He says we can oversea the crater from there so a bunch of us start climbing to the top of this hill.  It gives us a great view of the crater and the valley around it, our camp in the distance, and more hills and such.  Sunset is minutes away so after snapping a bunch of photos on top of the hill, I go back down to the crater and walk to the opposite side so I can get the sunset.  really wonderful.

             My roommate, Vancouver, and I start for the camp finally and pick a tent and I blow up my mattress along with some help from the youngest member of the group who is a swimmer and runner so she had a lot more hot air than me!  We picked a tent on the end so we can circle around it in the middle of the night and not have to go too terribly far for the call of nature.  As Vancouver and I are both in our sixties, we know there will be several night time trips to the "outhouse".

           The drivers are busy cooking our dinner of kebabs and chicken and potatoes and soon it is ready for a sit down on the sand.  Luckily I can take the end and stretch out my arthritic legs and not have to worry about them cramping at the moment.  We enjoy the dinner and the company and as the last kebabs are tucked away into tummies and the temperature drops a bit, most of us grab our flashlights and start walking back to the crater which is now a wonderful glow coming from the hole.  Certainly not hard to find in the dark.  And our tour leader has very wisely placed a blinky light on top of his tent so we can find our way back to the tents.

            Almost the entire group has gathered at the crater.  We are all snapping away again and videoing again like we haven't taken any photos at all yet.  it's just magnificent and each time you look at it, the scene changes as the fires flicker and waver and flare.  Argentina has his tripod and he is a master at running around to create effects and then jumps into the photos himself as well.  We are having a laughing good time while he is working on the photos and creations and jumping around in the darkness and the light from the fires.  The couple from Australia have also gotten engaged!  What a night.  They were standing off to the side in the darkness and he proposed.  She was so excited when they came back to join the group and as luck would have it this time, one of the other members noticed something special happening and turned his camera to the happy couple just as he dropped to his knee and popped the question.  What fun indeed.

           We spent a couple of happy hours cavorting around the gas crater like it was our own personal "mouth of hell" playground.  It was just so impressive and wonderful.  And again, it's been burning for 40 years!.  Finally, I really had to head back to the camp because I was pretty dead on my feet and could have been in danger of landing in the crater if I stayed there much longer.  My roommate, Vancouver, and I started back and zeroed in on the blinky light.  Back at the camp, we strolled out behind our tent, far enough I hope, to be discrete while we took care of our business then clambered into our tent.  My mattress had me about 8" above my roommate.  thank goodness we were on level ground so she wasn't in danger of me falling off onto her and smushing her.   The rest of the group strolled in from the crater at various times and there was someone outside having a party until around 2 a.m. before the entire group got into their tents and got quiet.   What a night.

Return to Turkmenistan

My second trip here.  I don't know why that seems so important to me for people to know that.   Guess I must like being well traveled and know something that others possibly don't.  So off I am to Istanbul where I have a long layover.  Gatwick was not spectacular as when I walked into the business class lounge, she immediately sent me downstairs to a different lounge.  No one was at the door so I went in and started getting some snacks.  Just as I was getting my second dish as they had nothing but tiny bowls and I wanted some cheese, a lady asks me for my "card". opps.  This lounge was a card lounge for people who have paid to get a card to get into the lounge.  I argue with her as I tell her the lounge upstairs is closed (that's what the lady said when she sent me downstairs) and I was told to come here.  The downstairs lounge lady is having none of it but to her credit, she says I will take you upstairs.  So I get my bag and leave my food and up we go, back where I was, and she  goes to the desk and tells that lady that I am a business class passenger and should be allowed into this lounge.

Well, what a difference now.  The business class lounge lady is all apologetic and takes my boarding pass and apologizes profusely for sending me downstairs all the while exclaiming that she thought I was a "card" person and not a business class person, as if a "card" person is not as good.  geez.  Do I look like I am poor and not able to buy a business class ticket or perhaps I look shady and will buy a card to get into a lounge, any lounge, rather than sit out in the main airport with the masses???  Hard to tell but now I am in and the lounge is quite nice.  They have just reopened it and there are food stations everywhere with drink corners everywhere and internet passwords everywhere as well.  I find a drink but am not hungry so I just sit down in front of a flight board and read and email my hubby.  And then off to Istanbul and into their lounge as I have nothing I need or want at any of the shops.

My flight doesn't leave until 1 a.m. but as I am sitting there, I realize it is 12:10 a.m. and then 12:20 a.m. and my flight has not come up on the board.  Then I think that possibly it is on a board out in the main section so I'd better start walking.    At 12:30 I am leaving the lounge when my flight comes up on the board at gate 504 which is a ways to go.  But as I am nearing my destination, I can see a large group of people in front of me and it appears that they are in front of gate 503 but I can see then that they are being blocked and are being let into the area around 504 just a few at a time and there also appears to be a lot of people shouting and running around and the officials are going through bags and carry-ons of the Turkmens.  Gosh I had forgotten how boisterous and loud and pushy and colorful the Turkmens are. 

I get in the queue but the trick to being in a Turkmen queue is to just keep inching your way forward.  You don't have to stay behind the same person,  just keep inching.  They are running in and out of the line and each time someone leaves the line, I inch forward a bit more until they come back and find me in their spot and then they inch into the line. A man approaches me and asks me to carry something on board for him.  Excuse me but while the business class lounge workers may think I am a yokel and not worthy of their lounge, I was not born yesterday and I am not carrying anything on board for anyone.

Before I have gotten to the front of the line, a woman pushes past me and yells at the guy holding up the queue.  He tells her something and suddenly a bunch of people are going around the queue and in the other side.  The lady standing next to me is kind and tells me that the new fast line is for transit passengers of which I am one so I get in right away and also meet the lady from Amsterdam whom is traveling into Turkmenistan on the same flight.  It now only takes us a few minutes to get checked into the area and we go past the people who are still wrapping up packages and getting them unwrapped by the officials and so forth.  But that just puts us on a bus which eventually goes out to the plane.  Amsterdam and I talk and she thinks I have just come with my carry-on bag but we assure each other that we have checked luggage.

Onto the plane and the business class seats are much smaller.  The Turkmens are crowding on board and the women in their colorful dresses and bright headscarves are yelling down the aisle whenever anyone takes too long putting away their luggage.  The men are barely smiling but I see several that have the solid line of gold teeth across the front.  What a colorful country.

Finally we are off and I try to sleep for most of the flight and get a bit of sleep.  We are late landing as we were late leaving but once we are down, people are up and getting stuff out of the bins before we have left the runway so they get yelled at and sit back down.  Once we are parked, they are up and pushing to get into the front of the plane and get off but I am good at blocking. 

We pile off the plane and have to climb steps, walk down along corridor, down steps and into the area which I recognize from before but they have expanded.  Before, I believe there was one common area for foreigners and nationals alike.  This time, the foreigners went to the left and the nationals to the right.  Since I was close to the front, I went right to the cashier to pay my entry fee and also I had my visa.  Then back to the immigration officer with my passport and visa and he looked at the receipt for my entry fee and he stamps me into the country.

I go to the baggage claim area and nothing is happening, not even a squeak.  Several times, men open the door and look in but nothing.  I notice that the columns are marked 3 and 4 whereas last time, all the luggage came into this room and it was a mess.  I'm thinking that it makes much more sense for them to deliver the luggage to the nationals side of things and as no nationals are coming into our side, I'm thinking gotta figure out a way to get to the other side.    Somebody with the language skills asks and he directs him to the other side which means we pass by the customs exit and then into a room exactly like ours with 1 and 2 on the columns and I see my bag sitting on the belt.  yea.  My bag made it.  Last time I was here, there was one flight a week from Beijing and one lady 's bag didn’t make it.  She picked it up in Beijing on her way home. 

I go ahead and exit rather than waiting for Amsterdam and I should have waited.  As I exit customs, I pass by a lot of men offering taxi service but I see a man with our names on it and go wait with him but he doesn't speak much English or won't admit that he does

In a few minutes Amsterdam comes out of the area but she does not have a suitcase with her and she comes up to me and said she went to the wrong side (the national side) and when she got to the front of the line, they told her she had to go to the other side so that made her last plus she didn't have a visa yet and had to get a visa which is an extra step.  I ask her where her bag is and she doesn't know because she thought it would be out here.  She never saw the entrance into the other side of the hall, past the customs officers and just exited.  Luckily, for once, the customs people must have this happen more often than not so they let her back into the area to retrieve her bag.  She comes out again in a bit.

To the hotel through a  bright and sun shining Ashgabat which looks familiar.  If anything, there are more buildings of the white marble.  I see Independence Square which looks the same but I cannot see any of the other statues that were so famously identified with the Turkmenbasy in 2006.  We get to the hotel before long and check in.  The lady tells us that breakfast is being served so I dash up to my room to change shirts and clean up a bit before meeting Amsterdam for breakfast where she is eating with a man from Argentina who might be on our trip.  I don't have a complete list of participants.  I thought Amsterdam wanted to go out right away but she says she needs to sleep for awhile so back to the room for a shower and some rest.

I did this for awhile and then got really sleepy too.  Usually I do not take a rest when I arrive somewhere as it really makes you more tired but not having any luck so fell asleep.  get a phone call to the room around 11 and it's Simon, our leader with Koryo Tours and my roommate has arrived.  There is only one key so she is coming up.  she's from Vancouver and so that's what I'll call her in this missive. 

It's very good to see her even though we only spent about 5 or 6 days together in total on another trip years ago to DPRK and China and Vladivostok.  She has the magic code for the internet and I am able to log in and get a facebook posted because I like to do check ins so my friends know i am somewhere exotic.  Able to get an email off to my hubby too but that's about it.  she freshens up a bit and ten we go out because I need to get some Manet, the local currency and we both need to get some water.

the hotel clerk tells us the bank is across the street but to go around to the back.  It's a big magnificent bank building and what looks like an ATM at the front but we dutifully go around the back which means walking into an alley which looks a parking lot but there is an open door and we head towards it and it is an exchange office.  I go in and exchange a couple of hundred which I’m sure will be diddled away in drinks and tips and meals. 

Next we are going to head towards the Russian bazaar and get some water but we got distracted by the park.  it has a lovely water feature right down the middle of the park with bridges over the water and then statues every 30 yards or so of some of their founding father kind of people.  we walk up one side, stopping to take photos of each statue and then Vancouver spots a couple of people that were on the flight with her, from Australia, who  come over to meet me and we then cross the bridge and head back towards the Russian bazaar.  Luckily I do remember how to get there.  It is bustling as usual and we walk in and get some photos and then find some water after we have been stopped by a date block vendor.  Not exactly sure what it is, involves dates, but sort of like maybe a date syrup that has been pressed into a block.  You need a knife to cut anything off of it to eat it.  Then some water and we are managing to get some change as we go.  a few people let me take their photos but more people are saying no which I respect.  We figure we need a knife of some kind to cut the date block and Vancouver has also purchased some lemons for her throat.  It is quite hot and I don't think I brought sun tan lotion so we hit various shops and booths until we find both.  I'm a bit hungry so it's off to the British Pub which is the only place I know around here to eat and drink.  The Aussies were already there with their first brew and some ciggies so we sat at the table next to them.  Vancouver rushes over to give them a taste of the date block but no sooner does Aussie get it in her mouth that they look at the block and see worms wriggling on the surface!  ewwww. 

I have Russian dumplings and Vancouver has an omelet and we sit for a long time talking and catching up.  She finally says she needs a couple of hours sleep before dinner.  It is 32C outside and feels every bit at least that hot!  We head back to our cool room which luckily has a working AC.  Tonight we will meet the group for dinner