Skiing... Kazakh style

So off to the mountain we went... The mountain had a lot of potential. It was beautiful. We asked until we found the ski rental place, and were directed to a literal hole in the wall. Inside held skis that could have been made before I was born (ok, they werent THAT old). We got our boots and skis and then asked about the runs. They told us they were just up the hill; and I got suspicious when I saw a rope attached to a pulley. People were hanging on to this rope and being pulled up the mountain. That was the lift!
The view from the top. nice huh?

We took our place with about 5 more skiers to travel up the mountain. We couldnt quite see up to the top, but 200 meters later we were at the top of the only run that "little Switzerland" had to offer!! It was hysterical. Of course, I had trouble with my skis and bindings, but after several readjustments, and many times of chasing my ski down the mountain after it would fall off without reason, we were ready to get this ski day underway. Okay, think about when you were little and you would pretend you were riding your bike really fast, but you were really just going a little faster than slow.... Thats what skiing was like! No matter how well you started, you were going to slow down quite considerably by the bottom! We figured out pretty soon that we were going to have to make this fun! Jon found a trail down the backside of the mountain that had several "jumps" on it, and we made the most of those; jumping and laughing and just generally perpetuating the stereotype that the world has about Americans!
The guys at the top of the mountain!

Jon relaxing at the top of the mountain while Phil watches in bewilderment!

The day was really fun! We skied as much as we could down ONE RUN and then we called it a day. We spent the rest of the night until our train came drinking tea, eating shashlik (a kind of barbeque here) and listening to the loud rap and hip/hop music that magically comes on whenever we as Americans walk into a cafe! I think I drank enough tea to float away. The best part of the day by far though, was the time I got to spend with Phil and Jon. We finally made it back about midnight last night, after a loud 3 hr train ride back. I was past tired, but I would do it again in a second! Good job guys- that was fun!