Oct. 26- Rain check

My apologies, the previous post was supposed to be Oct. 25.

Location: half way between the Uzbek border and Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

It had rained heavily at night and it was still drizzling a bit when we left Lisa's family's house. The rain was off and on and around mid day got so strong that we were forced to stop and seek shelter. The area was not very populated but eventually we came across a little restaurant. We made it clear that we did not need any food but we just wanted to sit in the corner and warm up and dry off a bit. They ended up bringing us food anyways and said it's a gift because we are their guests now. So nice. The hot soup was lovely.
The rain did not cease all day so they let us sleep up stairs and even the bikes could come inside! In the evening I got to help them make somsas in the kitchen. I only speak about five words of Russian and no Kazakh but the ladies and I had a great time.

THANK YOU GULMIRA, SHARIPA, AICHLY AND AKISHAN FOR YOUR HELP.