Global Wanderer

27/11/23 – 30/11/23

I woke up feeling just as bad as the day before, and when time came to check out, I had to very slowly lower myself down the stairs as to avoid passing out. After getting some cold fresh air into my lungs, I had enough energy to walk about 15 minutes to a café, where I ate some eggs (protein), and had a coffee (bad idea), before walking back to the marshrutka stop and heading to the airport. I did also manage to stop in a pharmacy and acquired some bits and pieces to help ease the flu a bit. I was still burning up at this point, and the paracetamol I was taking only kept the fever down for about 4 hours before I would actually feel it spike up again.

Eventually, I made it to the airport, and caught my Air Astana flight to Almaty, before taking a cab to my accommodation for the next few days, an apartment on Kazybek Bi Street.

The view from my apartment

My first morning in Almaty got off to an OK start, as I was able to move, and I thought my fever had broken overnight as I’d woken up drenched in sweat (turns out it was a temporary pause, the fever came back with a vengeance later!). Ultimately, I was able to muster enough energy to walk to the supermarket down the street, before I headed back to my apartment and slept for most of the remainder of the day.

At around 6pm, I woke up, and had a little bit of energy, and so I headed out for a walk. After about 10 minutes, however, I was struggling to stay on the pavement properly, and so I stopped at a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant to sit down, and treated myself to some kind of curry and dumplings (couldn’t tell you what it was though!). After that, I decided to cut my losses, and headed back to the apartment to sleep again.

Night-time in Almaty

I felt better this morning! After a bite to eat in my apartment, I headed out and walked towards Zenkhov Cathedral, a beautiful Orthodox church located in a park in the centre of the city. This cathedral is the second tallest all-wooden church in the world, and was built somehow with not a single nail… I don’t know how it’s still standing, but it’s beautiful for sure! I then continued my walk, feeling utterly drained but happy to be walking without fear of passing out. I was still quite dizzy, but was able to cope through some sheer willpower! I stopped for a sandwich at a café opposite the State Opera Theatre, and then continued my walk around the city as day turned to night (I forget how quickly the sun sets in winter!). I stopped for a kebab at a little shop on the way back to the apartment, and bought a few supplies at the supermarket, before settling in for the evening.