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July 6 - Triathlon and Dancing Trees
On Saturday night, we heard a rumor that there was an internet cafe somewhere in Baravoy (as you might have guessed, our hotel didn't realize they were advertised as having internet). What a stroke of luck! I prepped my blog entries, copied everything onto a flash drive, and went off on a search with Dan. We found a single room in an old government building with a row of computers. Seated in front of most of the computers were 4-7 year old boys playing graphic assassin games. Scary. We finally learned that there was only one computer with internet capability, so we waited in line for that one. When we finally got our turn, we couldn't get any of our web pages to open completely. At that point, the surly 18 year old attendant informed us that only Russian-based sites (like Mail.ru) loaded fully. Well, it wasn't for lack of trying that this blog was delayed. We are just thankful that Jackie got a work substitute for her translation job for the entire vacation. We then hoofed it back to the hotel for Dan to get ready for his triathlon. 
The girls then came back from the beach and our whole group walked the two miles down the beach to the triathlon start. Those interested in the complete story (and good entertainment) certainly must read Dan’s full race write-up (coming soon). First of all, I should mention that the post-Soviet countries are still transitioning to the idea of recreational sport. This particular triathlon – the only one Dan has ever found in K-stan- is called the Asia Cup. When Dan registered, he told the organizer that he was an amateur, a lover of sport, but not racing at a professional/elite level. They still welcomed him with open arms. The other entrants were members of the Kazakh national triathlon team, plus the Russian, Iranian, and Mongolian champions, and one coach. Not a very large cross-section of the population. . .
Thus, the feel was a little different than most “fun runs”. Dan stayed out of their way, letting all those champions duke it out for the title and accomplishing his own goals along the way. Although he swallowed half of Baravoy Lake, Dan still set his personal best for an Olympic distance triathlon. It was fun to be at the event and for Dan to get to add an international location to his triathlon list.
In the evening, we went on one last excursion in Baravoy. We finally found the elusive grove of dancing birch trees. No one knows exactly why these birch trees have grown at such contorted angles, but they are very unusual. We took plenty of cute pictures for the girls’ web pages and checked another thing off of our wish list (Diana's grandmother remembered visiting this location when she was a child).
We then went back to the Blue Bay and rented a boat to go out to the rock structure that we had viewed from so many different angles all weekend. Though it is tragically covered in graffiti, we enjoyed climbing on it. We heard that they are soon going to sand-blast the rocks and close it to visitors.
The girls then came back from the beach and our whole group walked the two miles down the beach to the triathlon start. Those interested in the complete story (and good entertainment) certainly must read Dan’s full race write-up (coming soon). First of all, I should mention that the post-Soviet countries are still transitioning to the idea of recreational sport. This particular triathlon – the only one Dan has ever found in K-stan- is called the Asia Cup. When Dan registered, he told the organizer that he was an amateur, a lover of sport, but not racing at a professional/elite level. They still welcomed him with open arms. The other entrants were members of the Kazakh national triathlon team, plus the Russian, Iranian, and Mongolian champions, and one coach. Not a very large cross-section of the population. . .
Thus, the feel was a little different than most “fun runs”. Dan stayed out of their way, letting all those champions duke it out for the title and accomplishing his own goals along the way. Although he swallowed half of Baravoy Lake, Dan still set his personal best for an Olympic distance triathlon. It was fun to be at the event and for Dan to get to add an international location to his triathlon list.
In the evening, we went on one last excursion in Baravoy. We finally found the elusive grove of dancing birch trees. No one knows exactly why these birch trees have grown at such contorted angles, but they are very unusual. We took plenty of cute pictures for the girls’ web pages and checked another thing off of our wish list (Diana's grandmother remembered visiting this location when she was a child).
We then went back to the Blue Bay and rented a boat to go out to the rock structure that we had viewed from so many different angles all weekend. Though it is tragically covered in graffiti, we enjoyed climbing on it. We heard that they are soon going to sand-blast the rocks and close it to visitors.
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