Golfing in Bishkek, Kyrgystan

The Project Team

Was a beautiful day on Friday (that was Good Friday to all you westerners on holidays!!) - got up to about 20 degrees - so we started our Project Meeting with a group pic taken outside on the balcony.



From left to right - Nik (Materials - Mincom), Turleybek (Driver - JVI), Peter (Project Manager - Mincom), Dwight (Materials - JVI), Graham (Finance - Mincom), Natalia (Finance - Mincom), Justin (Technical - Mincom), Elena (HR - Mincom), Chris J (Technical - Mincom), Pat (Materials - Mincom), Marina (Project Admin - JVI), Assyl (Finance - JVI).

Only two people missing from the photo - me & Alex (Finance - Mincom). Graham is only on the project covering for Alex whilst he finishes some work in Norilsk.

Some More Pix

A couple of pics of the communication tower taken from my bedroom window. At night this tower is lit up, changing in colour every 30 seconds - looks quite spectacular.

Early morning, around 7:00am

Late evening, around 7:30pm

Our project office is in the bottom of the green tipped building on the left, so as you can see I don't have far to walk. Note the amount of rubbish in the alleyway to the right of the white house in the foreground - this is fairly common from what I have seen so far and is more visible now the snow has melted.


View from the front of our apartment block over Dostyk Ave and looking to the mountains. Unfortunately the trees obscured the view of the snow capped peaks, but they looked looked spectacular in real life. Taken on my walk to work on Thursday morning.

Baggage Update

Well it's Tuesday night and still no word on my bag that Qantas lost for me. I have been monitoring the World Tracer Services which is supposed to show updates on lost baggage, but sadly my entry has not changed since I first viewed it yesterday. I plan to ring the Brisane branch tomorrow to see if they can assist me any more than the people in Bangkok. And to top a rather disappointing day off, look what I found on the News website....


Maybe, just maybe a few bags (coz there was about 4 other people on my flight with the same issue) could have been missed as part of this action?? Who knows, I just want my bag.

Update:
I finally made it down to the airport on Friday morning and picked my bag up. It appears that Qantas tagged it incorrectly, explaining why it sat in Sydney for so long. Oh well - I'm stcking with Singapore Airlines from now on.

The Hassles Of Travel

Well I hope that my run of luck whilst returning to Almaty does not reflect how the next six week stint will be!!

I arrived at the airport on Saturday at midday but found that I was too late to check in for my flight - silly me thought that it was only a domestic check in for the flight to Sydney, but it was in fact an international check in. After trying to reschedule my flights to Sydney and then Bangkok I was able to get on a flight to Sydney and got the last seat on a Qantas flight that arrived into Thailand at 11:15pm. Phew!!

The nine hour flight from Sydney to Bangkok was good as I managed to sleep most of the way, but this was quickly spoilt soon after arrival. I waited for about 45 minutes at the carousel but to no avail - my bag was missing. Bugger!! I was left with the clothes I was wearing (shorts, tee-shirt, thongs) and my laptop. I made my way to the lost baggage desk and was told that it was still in Sydney and would arrive on Sunday evening AFTER I fly out to Almaty. I got to my hotel located right next to the airport terminal at about 12:30 and checked in, too tired to worry about the consequences of no luggage.

I woke early on Sunday morning and realised that the major issue with not having my bag is that I am dressed for warm weather - I would be flying to Almaty with no warm clothes. Looking at the forecast this is not as bad as I first thought - the Sunday night low is forecast at around 14 degrees. Think I will just travel as I am, maybe buying a warmer top. What a pain!!

Oh well, not much I can do about it now.

Home Sweet Home

Well my first seven weeks in Almaty have finished and I can tell you that Iam really excited about returning home. A lot has happened in my personal life since I left Brisbane back in January and it will be really good to see everyone again. And of course, I will get to ride my motosickle!!!!

I have never spent so long away from so many things that I love - to be honest I didn't think I would be so keen to return, but I think when it is cold and you are kind of stuck indoors it can get a little frustrating. I really didn't do too much while in Almaty - just spent time getting used to how everything works. When I return for my next stint I will be able to spend a bit more time outdoors - I do know a few of us are planning a golfing weekend just over the border in Bishkent, Uzbekistan on the weekend after I return, so no doubt I will have plenty to write about.

Anyway, I just experienced my first bit of weather above 10 degrees when I got off the plane in Singapore - only about 27 but raining and humid, just like home. Tis good!! Less than a day till I'm home again!!