Saturday at Lake Issyk-Kul

I went swimming for a few hours every day at Lake Issyk-Kul. Here are pictures of the beach and me in the water.

Friday at Lake Issyk-Kul

The Aurora Hotel is an old Soviet-style sanitarium where people go to relax. Based on the (translated) conversations I think that I am the only westerner around. Here are some pictures of the hotel and the path through the gardens to the beach. The hotel is shaped like a ship (!) My room is on the second floor, second from the end.

Thursday to Lake Issyk-Kul

First thing Thursday I purchased a Kyrgyz SIM chip for my cell phone. Call me if you can afford the charges! My phone number is +996-05-03-03-86-88. The local cell phone makes it easier and cheaper to communicate with my Kyrgyz friends. Then we took a cab to Lake Issyk-Kul. Here is the view from my hotel window. First the garden, then the lake, and then the mountains on the other side of the lake. This is a good place for scientific discussions.

Working in Bishkek!

Now that my vacation in Europe is over it is back to work! I spent half a day with my friend and colleague Professor Doctor Tinatin Doolotkeldieva at Kyrgyz Turkish Manas University, a 10 minute walk from my hotel. We discussed how to handle our new grant, her University and Institute, and how to handle the rest of my trip. Then I toured Tinatin's new labs (pictures) which are well equipped with incubators, microscopes, spectrophotometer, thermocycler, small fermentor, small autoclave, chemical hood, sterile hood, etc.

Finally in Bishkek

I flew Turkish Air from Istanbul to Bishkek, a five hour flight. The flight was 5:00PM to 10:00PM Istanbul time but we arrived in Bishkek at 1:00AM local time. Once I got to the front of the visa line it took *me* only 5 minutes to get my visa. Must be my happy face (or that I had two expired Kyrgyz visas in my passport already). The four people in front of me seemed to be having problems and the person immediately after me took over 30 minutes to get his visa (and there were more than 10 people in line after him). Of course, there were five people in the visa office but only one was working (the others provided "advice"). This is not typical of my experience in the Bishkek airport so something must have changed in the way they operate. When I woke up this morning I had a beautiful view of the mountains from my 7th story hotel room window (pictures are left, center, and right from my balcony).

Last Day in Istanbul (Tuesday)

Today I spent almost the whole morning in the Archeology Museum. Then I took a cab to the Asian side of the river to have lunch at a cliffside restaurant overlooking the city. Of course, my cab driver got lost (Yea, right, the restaurant is right next to the bridge entrance on the Asian side!) and brought us to three wrong places. Then he wanted an exhorbitant amount of money "on the meter" which was hidden from us the whole time in the cab so we didn't see the amount piling up. When I finally agreed to pay him, he "swapped" a 50 lire bill that I gave him for a 1 lire bill (I only had 1 lire coins) and claimed I was trying to rip HIM off (!). There was also the cab driver the first day who instead of taking us down the river to the restaurant we wanted took us across the river and back and then wanted to charge us an extra fee for the "site seeing tour." Believe me, all the stories about con artist Turkish cab drivers are true.

Istanbul on Monday

On Monday I went on a mosque tour. There are over 2,000 mosques in Istanbul. I only went to two (0.1%). I also went to a very, very, very old church that was being restored and to another palace museum. I also spent a few hours shopping in the Grand Bazaar.

Istanbul on Sunday

Today I went on a cruise up the Bosphorus River. In the afternoon I went to the palace museum. In the evening I went to dinner with a variety show - cultural singing and dancing. You'll have to see me in person for the photos of me with the belly dancer.

Flying to Istanbul on Saturday

Surprise! Turkish Air only lets you have one checked suitcase. Not only that but it can't weigh more than 20 kilos (~40 pounds). I had to pay extra for my luggage. Once in Istanbul I had enough time to go to a whirling dervish exhibition in the old train station. Then I had dinner in a nice restaurant overlooking the river. I ended the day on the roof of my hotel where one can see the blue mosque all lit up.

Goodbye to Lisbon

Today was my last day in Lisbon. I went to the Castelo de São Jorge fortress on the biggest hill in town and then I went to the Tower of Belem which used to protect traffic on the river. Then I had lunch in a very nice small neighborhood restaurant. At the airport the security people confiscated my shampoo (110 mls - 10 mls over the 100 ml limit) and my sun screen (120 mls). Luckily I have more of both left behind in my Paris hotel. Back in Paris I had Chinese food for dinner!

Thursday in Lisbon

Thursday I took a guided walking tour of the old city. Then I had lunch with a Portuguese couple. Then in the afternoon I wandered around the city. In the evening I went to a good restaurant that had a Fado singer.

Lisbon's Aquarium

Wednesday afternoon I went to the Lisbon aquarium to cool off. Here are some pictures.