South Africa trip

We had our annual medical conference in Johannesburg this year. Not such an interesting place, and there is a lot of crime, so we were pretty restricted with what we could do. But, it was wonderful as always to see my colleagues and catch up with people, hear about other posts and spend 5 intense days learning. it was a really good conference this year - we recertified in BLS, ACLS and CALS (medical stuff). Lots of hands on practice.

The highlight of our stay in Sandton (a suburb of Johannesburg) was a shopping mall (barf!!). But the food was good with many different restaurants and the weather was perfect.

The mall was part of Mandela Square. Gave me goose bumps on a number of occasions to be in the land of Nelson Mandela.

The highlight of the trip so far south was a few days in Capetown with some friends. What a gorgeous place. Reminded me a bit of SoCal - oceanside walkway, cafes and restaurants, lots of people exercising. loved it!

The view North, just outside our hotel. Lion's head mountain. We stayed along the waterfront at Bantry bay.

The waterfront...just a block from our hotel.

Old town with a fortress in the foreground.

Hiking to the top of table mountain. Yes, we climbed to the top through this gulley. It was a strenuous hike, but beautiful.

Almost to the top (pant, pant).

Made it. Here I stand at the edge of the continent where 2 oceans meet.

Evening on the main beach.

Statues of the 4 nobel laureates (all peace prizes...) from SA. This was in a really great part of town called the V&A Waterfront. It had shops, great restaurants, pubs, etc. Nothing was that expensive, which was unexpected being in such a beautiful and touristy place.

One thing I didn't get photos of was our bicycling wine tour in Stellenbosch. Of course trying to take photos while biking and drinking wine just didn't seem like such a great idea. but suffice to say, we had fun!

More to come soon. on my way home to Bishkek from South Africa, i stopped for 24 hours in Antalya, Turkey where a friend of mine was staying. too many photos for one post, so i will add them separately.

Arashan Valley Trek

Dave arrived a week ago and we immediately took off for a 2 day trek into the mountains. We started the Trek in Karakol which is about 5 hours from Bishkek and on the far East side of the lake (Issy-Kul). After the trek, we drove home on the south side of the lake which is much less developed and just amazing. We stopped at Jeti-Oguz for a mid-morning hike and stayed the night in Bokonbaeva. It was a great trip.

10 mile hike in with 3000ft elevation gain. It was hard for Otto, but he did a good job. We were all tired when we arrived.

Arashan Valley. If  you continue on through the valley past this area, the trek potential is endless.

Palatka Peak (in Russian means Tent). It seemed so close. It is climbable, but technical. Dave and I were drooling.

This is the little dorm we stayed in. A former Soviet mountaineering camp.

The bonus was a natural hot springs that had has been 'developed' these are a couple of rooms with concrete or tile baths. it was heaven to soak after the hike in. the temp was hot - just above 100F we figure.

Otto and Jackson taking  a break. Jackson did such an amazing job. he probably did 20 miles the first day because he would be walking with the group up front and then every 5 minutes he would back track to make sure we were all there. i figured he would be exhausted that first night...not at all. but after the hike out the next day, he was definitely more tired.

Our guide, Azamat and porter, Nurbek. They are with CBT (Community Based Travel). they did an awesome job. Very knowledgeable and good at ping pong (there was a table at the mountain camp).

The homestay guest house in Karakol. Gulnara's Guesthouse.

Interesting rock formations at Jeti-Oguz. Dumpy town though - we had planned to stay the night here, but there wasn't anything going on here. So instead we did a hike from here into another Valley.

The trusty Element.

 I should have taken some pictures of the south side of the lake...but you can just look that up on google. I am sure i will do plenty of camping there this summer, so photos will appear. we also thought about camping, but when we got to the beach spot, it was windy and cool. good thing we didnt because it rained that night.

I am headed off to South Africa (Johannesburg for my annual medical conference, Capetown for a few days with friends) and then a short overnight in Antalya Turkey on my way home in 2 weeks. will have plenty more photos to share!!