Akzhaik Hotel Atyrau

... t arrived on schedule. Was able to take a photo of the small plane that flies to the field, as well as the late 767 from Air Astana. Finally left about 1.5 hours late. But still can have plenty of time in the lounge. (Not like a bunch of people trying to get home to the US - most missed their connections).

Wrapped up my work real early. Some pics of the mosque from a different angle.

Went to pick up my bag, I didn't make it over there last night. Glad I left another bag at the hotel.

Went over to one of the 'malls' just to get outside for a bit. Of course, not much there. But still interesting to walk through one of their grocery stores.

Sure was nice of them to let me check-in at 9:10 in the morning. Much easier to work in the room, then to get dressed up to go into one of the offices.

Plus, there aren't as many distractions. And I can take breaks to go swim or exercise when it isn't very crowded.
Did reconfirm my massage with Olga, so I should go home in pretty good shape.

Now I just have to wait for my bag to show up.

Finally on my way down to Tengiz.
I was lucky enough to get a window seat. Got some good pictures of the city of Atyrau. You can see the resident's 'camp' on this side of the hotel/mosque, as well as the square, all the way down to the bridge.
Decided I wasn't going to walk between Europe & Asia on this trip. But if you want to see the bridge photos, check out the other Kazakhstan trips.

... you have to drop off the night before so it can travel down and be there the next night.

Luckily, I was able to finish the meeting portion of the first work assignment in two days. Therefore the draft report is finished today. I'm ahead of schedule. That sure is nice.

Somewhere over eastern Europe, the clouds broke. So I go to look at the window some.

However, the guy next to me spilt water all over my leg. Can't get a break.

Did get some photos of the city of Atyrau on the way in to the airport.
And thankfully, I got my visa in Aberdeen so I flew through customs/immigration and beat most of the others out of the airport.

And at the hotel, it was back to Champions Sports Bar and burgers for dinner. Yea!

Well trying to get to the office turned into a bigger ordeal. I double-checked the shuttle schedule and everything was fine until they said they shuttle didn't run on holidays (it is one of their independence day holidays). So, I called our company taxi service and they wanted my local badge number, which I don't have. Apparently, they assigned me a number and I had to call a couple of people to get it. After that, they never ...

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buon Natale a tutti dalla ridente Atyrau. Una delle cittadine piu' radioattive del Kazakhstan, tant'e' vero che non hanno dovuto nemmeno fare fatica a mettere su l'illuminazione e gli addobbi natalizi. Gli alberi e gli arbusti sono gia' fluorescenti e luminosi di loro. saluti dal vasto e sconfinato Kazakhstan. Albero di Natale e moschea, insolitamente vicini. Speriamo sia di buon auspicio. E su questa foto natalizia auguri di Buone Feste a tutti.