The Dome of the Rock

Our final stop in the old city of Jerusalem was the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall.

The Dome of the Rock is a mosque that was constructed on the former site of the Jewish temple, which had been destroyed by the Romans. Needless to say, this situation makes no one happy.

The Western (or "wailing") Wall is directly below the Dome. I know I've seen the Wall several times on TV, and it's another one of the famous landmarks that seems so much smaller in real life. I didn't know that there were separate sections for men and women, and there are even separate entrances to the area for the two sexes.

On our way back to Tel Aviv, Rob made a point of driving back through a small section of the West Bank. The dividing wall and barbed wire fences are plainly visible from the highway, and the apartment buildings that we could see had no lights on. Since the dividing wall was put up, there have been no suicide bombings within Israel, so there is some evidence that it is working, but life on the other side of the wall is clearly difficult.

The Holy Sepulchre

The old city of Jerusalem is quite large and there's a lot to see. It would be easier if the maps were clearer and the street names more prominent, but we were able to make our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

This is the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. Nothing was marked inside, so I'm not sure where either took place. I took a few pictures, and I'll post them later.

One thing that is clearly marked is the Via Dolorosa, which was the path Jesus took following condemnation by Pilate. Each station of the cross is marked, and there is a place where visitors can pick up and carry a replica cross. Probably for the best, they aren't very heavy.

Christmas in Israel

One of the benefits of my job is having friends stationed around the world, making it easier to visit some great places while catching up with them.

My friend Rob is posted to Tel Aviv, and he kindly offered to let me stay at his place over Christmas weekend. How I could refuse? Even better, another friend or ours, Curtrice, was able to come as well, and the three of us traveled around Israel for three days.

This photo was taken at the Basilica of the Assumption in Nazareth. We were invited to attend the Christmas parade and service in Nazareth by the mission director, and I just thought he and his family were interested to attend the service on the special occasion. As it turned out, it was an official event, and the US ambassador to Israel was also there. I probably should have packed a nicer shirt.

It was interesting to attend a Catholic mass that was not delivered in English -- lots of Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and just a little English. The hard part was figuring out when to kneel and when to stand back up. This was also the first time I've ever seen white wine used in a service.

Trip to Thailand

There's a lot of training I need to attend while I'm starting out in my job, and these training tend to be held at different offices around the world. In October, I was in Egypt, and for two weeks in November, I was at some training in Bangkok. It was two weeks of training, but at least there was a weekend in between to see some of the country.

I went with two of my friends from the training to the Kanchanaburi region of Thailand, and the highlight of the trip was the chance to ride and swim with elephants.

At first, the elephants were fitted with small seats, just big enough for two people to sit. The driver sat at the elephant's neck, and we took a quick tour of the park. Afterwards, we bought some bananas and fed them to our elephants.

Once the elephants finished their snacks, we got back on them -- without the seats this time -- and rode down into the river. In the river, the driver alternated between telling the elephant to spray us with his trunk and to roll us off his side into the water. One time, I was able to survive the roll into the river and stay on the elephant's back, but I think that just made the driver more determined to have the elephant dump me. It was great fun.

Erewan Waterfalls

Erewan is a series of waterfalls in the Kanchanaburi region of Thailand. Visitors can walk along a 2000 meter trail and see seven tiers of waterfalls. I think they let you swim in four or five of the falls, and it wasn't easy to get a photo of the falls without a bunch of people in it. The place is very popular, especially in the humidity of Thailand.

My favorite part of this photo is the fish visible at the bottom. Even though I didn't go swimming myself, I was told that the fish would start nibbling on people as soon as the stepped into the water. And, of course, all the fist are right at the edge of the water. They would also come after you out in deeper water if you weren't moving around enough.

Later that day, I decided to get a fish massage, where you dangle your legs into a fish tank and let them nibble away. It was pretty fun. I'll post a photo.

Former Palace of the Thai King

I doubt anyone asks why a king needs a new palace when the old one still seems perfectly good. Maybe they wanted a palace just for tourists to visit.

There is no picture or group of pictures I could post to do this place justice. The craftsmanship and attention to detail on every aspect of the building and decorations are just incredible.

The roof is made up of millions, no doubt, of small tiles, and these two statues are outfitted with small baubles, jewels, and reflective pieces of metal. There are dozens of statues like this and perhaps hundreds of smaller ones, each with the same level of detail. I can only imagine how long it took to complete the work.

Wat Arun

On the way to the former palace and the Reclining Buddha, we saw an impressive temple across the river and decided to stop there on our way back.

Wat Arun focuses on this building, and visitors are allowed to climb up. As you might guess from the photo, our visit was cut short by a rainstorm, but the view from the wat was great.

Reclining Buddha

Not long after getting into Bangkok, I kept hearing that I had to see the reclining Buddha. Everyone who mentioned this didn't really say what was so incredible about it, but they were very persuasive. On my last Saturday in Bangkok, I went with a couple of colleagues.

Near to the former palace of the king is a massive structure built to house the Reclining Buddha. It must be at least 100 feet long and around 15-20 feet high. The building is not much bigger, so you're pretty close to it, making it seem even larger. (It also makes for lousy photo opportunities.)

While I was admiring the statue, I kept hearing small bells or chimes, and I wondered what it was. Along the Buddha's backside, there was a long line of small, metal buckets for donations. You paid 20 baht to get coins to place in each bucket.

One of my colleagues said that during World War II, the Buddha was plastered over to hide it from the Japanese soldiers. It worked.

Cave Buddha

On our way back from the elephant park, we stopped at this interesting cave with a giant statue of Buddha. It was an impressive sight.

Training in Cairo

One of the benefits of my job is the requirement that I travel quite a bit. I've been at my post in Almaty for just over two months, and I've been traveling for about four weeks already.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to our office in Cairo for some training. Not a bad gig to get to visit Cairo on the company's dime. Having been there, I can now say that seeing the Pyramids was a nice life experience, but I don't feel compelled to return. The city just isn't very tourist friendly, and I think it's because they know people will come anyway.

I've lived in Southern California, and I've been living in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for a couple of months. Both of these places are well-known for the amount of traffic and pollution they have (but LA is much better than it used to be). I don't think that together they add up to the amount of traffic and pollution that you see in Cairo. Even at 8 in the morning, it was nearly impossible to see buildings more than a few blocks away. And if you're not confident walking in traffic, you'll never cross a street in Cairo.

However, I did take a day trip to Alexandria, and it was much more pleasant. On the train up there, it was interesting to see the small farms along the Nile, some with mud houses that looked like they had been built 1000 years ago. Unfortunately, there wasn't much time to explore Alexandria, but there was an interesting castle (there's a picture in the post below) that was built more than 500 years ago, and the ruins of a Roman amphitheater.

I'm not one to say that seeing a famous landmark like the Pyramids on TV or in a movie is an acceptable substitute for seeing it in person, but my opinion may be changing. Television and movies seem to do a better job of presenting the Pyramids in a way where the viewer truly regards them with awe. In person, all the scammers bothering you take that feeling away -- along with a big chunk of your money. Visit Istanbul instead.

The Mysterious Sphinx

You know, you never see pictures of the Sphinx's butt. I have one, but this picture seemed more interesting to post.

I seem to recall some Discovery Channel TV show or something that suggested the Sphinx is actually much older -- perhaps thousands of years older -- than the Pyramids. The story said that ancient people carved an image of a lion into the stone, and a pharaoh much later did some remodeling on the lion's face.

From this angle, one can kind of see that the head of the Sphinx is disproportionately smaller than the rest of the body. Whether there is anything to this story or not, my impression was that the Sphinx was simply smaller than I expected from all the times I've seen it on TV and in movies.

Pictures from Egypt

Photos from Almaty

There's something about markets that is just inherently interesting. This shot is from the green market in Almaty. Originally, I thought that it was called the "green" market because that was where people went to buy their fruits and vegetables. In fact, you can buy pretty much anything here, and the building is painted green. A few minutes after taking this shot, we were told that the administration didn't want photos taken inside. One of my colleagues asked if there were "state secrets" in the market.

This second shot is just of a nice babushka (grandma) selling some jewelry near the main shopping district. With her umbrella, she was prepared to be there a long time.

Democracy in Kyrgyzstan

My project brought me to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, the week after elections to replace the government ousted in April.

For those of you concerned about the recent election results in the US, consider this: in Kyrgyzstan, 27 parties registered to participate in the election. There was a threshold of 5% of the total vote for a party to receive seats in parliament. Of the 27 parties, the top vote-getter won only 8% of the total. The next two parties took around 7%. This means a coalition of parties will need to agree to work together.

These pictures were taken outside the Kyrgyz "white house" where their parliament sits. The people are protesting the fact that the "winning" party supports the president that got kicked out in April. The top photo was taken on Saturday, and the lower photo was taken on Tuesday.

It's easy to take a smooth transition of power for granted, but let's hope that Kyrgyzstan can find a way. It's hard to make progress without a stable government.

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Before coming to Almaty, I was able to volunteer for a project that involved interviewing businesses and organizations in the countries of Central Asia to learn about their perspective of the business and political environment in their respective countries.

The project started a couple of weeks ago, and my team visited Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. We stayed for just a few days and didn't really have any time for sightseeing. This photo was taken from a window at our hotel. There was a lot of other interesting things to see down there, but I'll have to get pictures the next time I go.

While I was there, I received a request from one of my co-workers to bring back some tea. Apparently, you can get really good tea in Tajikistan, but I was told that Tajikistan doesn't actually produce any tea. Regardless, I had a task, but there was no time to get to the market to buy the stuff. Our last meeting took place right before we needed to get to the airport for the trip back. When I got to the airport, our logistics coordinator was waiting for me with a plastic shopping bag. He had asked one of the drivers to get some tea, and the driver got some -- about 5 pounds or so.

I was happy that he was able to get this tea, but I wasn't sure how it was going work out going through customs -- at airports in two different countries. Of course, it seems that Americans tend to get treated more easily than others in developing countries, and I also had my diplomatic passport to help the situation as well. When all else fails, pull the dip card.

As it turned out, there were no questions at all. Most likely, the customs staff see this all the time because there is significant traffic between Kazakhstan and the other countries in Central Asia. Often, people are bringing huge quantities of stuff to sell or to give to family members. And they could probably identify tea if they saw it.

Getting to Work

After getting about as accustomed to riding public transportation in a developing country as a foreigner who doesn't speak the language so well can get, I thought those days would be over here in Almaty. For housing, my only request was to be placed within walking distance of the office. Apparently, that request had no bearing on where I ended up.

I suppose if the price of having an apartment as nice as this one is a 50-minute walk to the office, I'll take it. For the first two weeks after I arrived in Almaty, I walked to work and back home at night. Then, I wondered why I was so tired all the time. There are a few other people in the office who live near me, and they recommended which buses to take to work. The photo here is my bus stop. I have no idea where that 73 bus goes though.

When I was in Macedonia, there was a noticeable difference in the quality of bus that seemed to vary according to how long its route was. Local buses were the worst; inter-city buses with a ride of 40-60 minutes were pretty bad; inter-city buses with a ride of 2 or more hours were decent (except for that Yugotrans bus with the seats that would slide into the aisle when we were going around mountain curves).

Granted, my experience with buses is pretty limited here in Almaty, having ridden just two different bus routes. However, there seems to be a remarkable difference between them. The bus I take most frequently is generally in poor condition, but they come on a relatively regular schedule and don't stink. Unfortunately, the handholds are at head level, and I have to be careful when the bus is starting, stopping, and turning.

The other bus is as nice as DC Metro buses (and I thought they were just fine). The one drawback to them is that they have curtains that tend to be drawn across the windows. I'm not familiar enough with the streets to know when to get off without looking out the window, so I tend to stick to the other one. Riding the bus seems to earn me some points with the locals, so that's a nice little bonus.

State-Owned vs. Privately-Owned Enterprises

In the pictures below, you can kind of see the difference between what private companies provide to customers and what state-owned enterprises offer.

Tajik Air is owned by the government of Tajikistan, and the amenities on the flight were a bit lacking -- even by modern US airline standards. On the flight back from Tajikistan, there was a woman in my row who found out before takeoff that her seat did not have a safety belt. I think I was more worried about it than she was, though.

Somon Air is owned by a private investment company and seems to have a much better idea of customer service -- cleaner plane, nicer meal, better dressed flight attendants.

It's generally difficult to explain what my job entails now, but it's basically improving the economic situation in the countries where we work. It's common wisdom that, in market economies, private companies are better at delivering goods and services than the government. Countries transitioning from state-directed to market-directed economies offer a good lens to view the difference between what the state can provide and what private companies can provide to customers.

In the case of Tajikistan, there is still significant government control over the economy (through a variety of overt and covert methods), but there are glimmers of private enterprise showing through, like Somon Air. It seems surprising that -- despite over-regulation, corruption, and other problems -- people still find ways to make business work. The key is to find ways to get the government out of the way to let businesses grow -- or fail -- as the market determines. That's what drives economic growth and employment. And gets you two hard-boiled eggs on your your flight to Dushanbe.

Somon Air -- Privately-Owned Company

Tajik Air -- State-Owned Enterprise

Trip to Charyn Canyon

I had a little trouble uploading these shots last weekend, but here they are.

The trip to Charyn Canyon was a lot of fun and worth the 3-hour ride (each way). One thing that struck me was how close you needed to be to realize that there was a canyon out here. For the last hour or more driving up to the site, all you could see was flat steppe with just the occasional herd of sheep to provide some variety in the view.

After we climbed down into the canyon, it was amazing to see the stone structures created by the combination of wind, rain, and river. In some places, there were rocks that looked ready to come tumbling down at any moment. You couldn't help but wonder what was keeping them in place.

The trail ended at a fast-moving river, and there was a nice spot for lunch right alongside.

Photos from Charyn Canyon

Would you like to hold my eagle?

First, let me say that this should be a picture of me holding the eagle, but I didn't find out until too late that I could have paid 200 tenge (maybe $1.25) to hold this eagle. This is our tour guide Karla who knows everyone in Kazakhstan, and the guy let her do it for free.

Eagles can weigh anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds, and there is a special apparatus that young kids and horsemen use to get extra support when holding an eagle. The thick, leather glove is a must for dealing with the razor-sharp talons.

After our trip to the canyon, we stopped at a museum of eagle hunting and learned that Kazakh hunters use eagles to take down rabbits, foxes, and even wolves. On the wall of the museum was a wolf skin that looked about 7 feet long -- the owner said it was the biggest wolf they had seen an eagle take down. Eagle hunting season doesn't start for a couple more weeks, but it would be pretty cool to see a demo of hunting with eagles.

Village Market

There's nothing much like a local market in a developing country. Here, in a town called Baisejt, our tour group made a pit stop on our return from Charyn Canyon.

Fruits and vegetables are still in season, so many vendors had colorful displays of apples, plums, tomatoes, melons, and much more. Just about all the vendors were on this side of the street, and the booths stretched for probably two city blocks.

There were also people selling children's toys, bread, and shashlik -- grilled skewers of meat that you can find in restaurants and at street-corner vendors all over Kazakhstan. Tasty stuff, but I haven't tried the horsemeat shashlik yet.

The Book of Wishes

Not far from where I live, there is a monument to the history of Kazakhstan. In a semi-circle around this pillar are scenes from the nomadic past, Russian and Soviet administration, and recent independence.

At the base of the pillar is a bronze cast of a book with the imprint of a hand. Visitors place their hand into the space and make a wish. I'm sure other people wish for a prosperous future for Kazakhstan. I wished for more wishes. I don't think it worked.

Apple Fest 2010

The name Almaty originated at Alma-Ata, which translates to "Father of Apples". A recent BBC news posting explained that apples came from southern Kazakhstan.

Last weekend, I went to the Apple Fest, mostly to look for some good apple pie, but also to see what events and activities were lined up.

As you can see, there were quite a few tents set up for vendors of all things apple related. By the time I got there, most of the stuff had been bought, eaten, or both. Fortunately, I was able to get a piece of apple pie, but it wasn't quite as good as my friend's choice of apple strudel. I was disappointed to find out that they were not offering rides in the hot air balloon visible in the background. There was also live music with quite a few Kazakh performers. It made a nice backdrop for eating the pie and drinking a little coffee.

Zenkov Cathedral

This cathedral also sits in Panfilov Park, and the bright colors are amazing. According to the travel guide, this cathedral was built in 1911 and made entirely of wood, including the nails that hold it together.

Panfilov Park War Memorial

The Soviet Union was very proud of its accomplishments in World War II, and I've been told that every city has a memorial and eternal flame. In Almaty, this statue sits just in front of the flame, and it's just plain impressive.

President's Fountain

Fortunately, the last Monday was a holiday, so I was able to do some sightseeing. This is a fountain memorial dedicated to Nursultan Nazarbaev, the first and current president of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

This photo is from the inside, looking out to the entrance gate. Outside is another fountain, slightly smaller than the one seen here. In the lower right, you can see the start of an incline that leads nearly all the way around the fountain and has a series of small cascades. This place has a lot of moving water.

Rafting Trip on the Ili River

A couple of weeks before leaving for Almaty, I heard about a rafting trip that was being organized by the office. It sounded like fun, and it was. The weather could not have been better yesterday. The only downside was the constant swarm of gnats that followed us down the trail to the boat, on the boat, and down the river. I wish I had remembered to bring some Kleenex.

I'm not sure why I got selected to sit in the back, maybe it was my cool hat. It was definitely a comfortable seat for the hours we were on the river. Sasha on my left was our river guide, and Karla, in the foreground, was the trip organizer.

In the picture of our rafting trip group, in the front on the right, is Jim, the other new USAID guy who came with me. We both work in economic growth.

On the river, we stopped at a castle that was built as a set for a few different movies. One, called "Mongol," was a contender for the Oscar a couple of years ago for best foreign film. The castle was pretty good and had a lot of detail to it.

The group was happy that there was an older couple that lived nearby and sold cold drinks to thirsty river tourists like us.

Morning in Almaty

This is the view from my south-facing balcony. Should be a nice spot to sit and read or have a drink.

I don't know if that's a park down there or just an unused lot. I haven't had much time to explore yet, but fortunately Monday is a local holiday.

Welcome to Almaty

Early on Friday morning, I arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan, my new home for the next two years on my first tour with USAID. I'll use this blog mostly to post photos and write about living overseas. I already have a few photos from a rafting trip down the Ili River. As soon as I download them from my camera, I'll post the best ones.