Hi everyone,
We have spent about 6 hours on a mini bus today driving from Almaty to Karkara. The scenery is amazing; very green, large mountains and swollen rivers. Passed lots of roadside stalls selling amazing fruit – we have eaten some great apples, raspberries & bananas.
Still no news of my backpack yet, but the agency we are using (Kan Tengri Tours) say that they will take care of it all for us. So I (Paul) am without a sleeping bag, so it could be a cold night ahead!!
We also hit another problem this morning when we tried to buy gas for our stove, but couldn’t find the right type anywhere in Almaty. Our agency say that they will take care of this as well, so we hope that they will be true to their word!
Its a great setup here at Karkara – big family size tents already erected for you, lovely views and a cook to make you 3 meals a day. We have paid Kan Tengri Tours to look after all the logistics for us; transport, visas, climbing permits etc. So far they have been pretty helpful.
Tomorrow we plan to take a 5 hour hike up higher to help our acclimatisation. We are at 2100m here and apparently you can walk to about 4000m. We may camp out overnight or else come back to this camp.
Technology is working ok, except cannot send or receive SMS.
Paul & Fiona @ Karkara.