Renaissance Atyrau Hotel

... 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.

Well - because work was finishing a little quicker, I scheduled my massage with Olga.

Looks like I might be able to get another one next week when I pass back through. It's good to be on the right side of the exchange rate. And she does a good job working out the knots that always seem to pile up when I travel.

... 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.

After work, I decided to go for a quick walk. With it being about -7C outside, it wasn't the best weather to be out in. Took some quick photos of the mosque and square next to the hotel. Then I decided it wasn't worth being outside. I guess I will be inside for the rest of the trip. And I now get to stay a couple extra days. I got a phone call and e-mail asking me to stay to cover a training class so one of my co-workers wouldn't have to fly over here. Lucky me!

The flight was pretty much empty - maybe 50 people on a 767. But thankfully, that made the visa line and immigration go by much quicker. Spent the night at our company's transit hotel. But had to wake up early for the train ride. The local plane wasn't flying due to weather conditions. First time for the train.

... libro e grandissimo Terzani, pace all'anima sua! Vorrei andare a vederla questa statua, ma sono 180 km da qui e con le strade ghiacciate e considerando anche come guidano da ste parti forse non e' il caso... Per ora resto sempre ad Atyrau e vi propongo una veduta di questa amena cittadina....

... avvicina alle feste e piu' aumenta il numero di bottiglie di vodka dentro i carrelli della spesa. La concorrenza tra le marche e' senza esclusione di colpi ed eserciti di hostess invadono i supermercati per far assaggiare ai potenziali clienti questa o quella marca di vodka. Il primo a rendersi conto che i kazaki ci mettono un certo ...