Friday would be the last day that the delegation would be in Taraz before taking the night train to Almaty. A tour of the city was arranged for those who wished to go, so I was happy to go along and see some sights. One of our first stops was small mosque located on a hill overlooking the city. It wasn't particularly big, but it was in an ideal location, with nice views of the river and the town. We watched as a number of children waded into the water to cool off. Much to my surprise, a white SUV backed right into the river looking very much like the owner was giving it a cheap bath. It seemed a bit risky to me! We visited another holy place, this one located in what appeared to be a park. Again, we didn't go inside. On the same grounds some ancient ruins had been found and we saw several men excavating the site. An ancient temple had been restored, so we took a look inside. Next, it was off to the town square where we visited the local historical museum. It contained the usual artifacts, including a significant number of stone carvings that used to dot the countryside. Our official tour ended with lunch at a nearby restaurant. I ended up ordering pizza (different, but not bad), forgetting that I had been invited to a pizza party that night. After lunch, we broke into groups to visit the bazaar. I didn't really need to do any shopping, but thought it would be fun to soak up some atmosphere. I joined Randall and his daughter, along with their translator, Jenya. There were shops of every kind--from food to rugs to electrical goods. Randall's daughter wanted a special mat to lie on, so we got directions to a shop that sold them. She found one that she liked, and after some bargaining, bought it. Our time was about up, so we grabbed a taxi and headed back. I took a short break at the office, then several of us headed over to the Knouse's house for "family night." We enjoyed homemade pizza and watched a movie. Tonight was the last night that they would spend in the house (they were moving back to the States), so it was quite nice of them to open up the place to us. After the movie, everyone headed to the train station. The delegates would be taking the night train to Almaty. Most of the translators and many others joined in to wish the group farewell. Just like in a movie, those on the train waved goodbye from the windows as the train slowly chugged its way out of the station. This was the second set of good-byes that I had witnessed and I knew that there would be more to follow.
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