In Almaty

Almaty is covered in trees, like they built a park first and then decided to run some streets through it. There are tons of parks too, but it's often not clear where the park ends and the city streets begin. Autumn looks beautiful here. All of the trees are changing colour and everywhere you look there are yellow leaves falling constantly. I saw a few wheelbarrows and people raking, but mostly there are just streets and streets of crunchy yellow leaves. It's brilliant. Yesterday also had that lovely sun you sometimes get in early Autumn where everyone's face is glowing and everything looks calm and seriously pretty. (Today is raining, which is less attractive.)

So far, being in Almaty is relaxing and easy. Nobody bothers you and nobody stares. It's a relief to not be interesting. There's very little English, but it's easy to make yourself understood here. When I try to say things in Russian, people figure out what I mean and speak slowly in response. Nobody looks at me like I just fell out of the sky, which is the default response in China when a foreigner makes mouth-sounds. It'll probably be different outside the big city, but Almaty at least is much, much easier to be in than China.

I will eventually go look at the things tourists are supposed to look at here, but so far I've just been walking around and dealing with bureaucratic nonsense. Kazakhstan is, by all accounts, the sanest country in the region, but one of their odd ex-Soviet habits is that all visitors have to register with the migration police. When you eventually find the building and the right counter and fight your way to the front of the line, they give you two forms to fill out. These are only available in Russian, which is tricky. A woman in a nearby shop did them for me and refused payment. The kindness of strangers, eh? It never lets you down :-)