Hello from the base of Mt. Sadzele (3340 meters above sea level) in the Kazbegi region of the EEU state of Georgia at a ski resort called Gudauri (goo-dowery).
I have to say that this might be an undiscovered paradise. The drive up from Tblisi, Georgia was an absolutely gorgeous 90 minute drive that reminded me of driving from Denver to Vail, only the road isn't an interstate all the way like Vail. The terrain is constantly rising and follows a beautiful river with a nice lake and takes you into some historic and locked in time areas of our world. We were so lucky. I talked to the very helpful concierge lady at our hotel about a ski trip. She put me in touch with a ski shop in Tblisi and I went there the night before to get all my gear and to arrange for transportation to the mountain. The ski shop introduced us to a wonderful young man named Andro (Andrew) and he became our guide for two whole days of fun around here. He picked us up in his Audi station wagon and we headed up the mountain. I wasn't prepared for the completely amazing sights that my eyes would take in for the next few hours. After Delhi's limited 3-4 mile visibility all the time it was such a luxury to see clear skies and blue and mountain tops many miles away while we were driving on relatively smooth roads at highway speeds. I had forgotten what this is like.
It turns out that Andro is a year round nature and outdoor guide. Since we found out that our company is going to be flying here about every other month now that they have a regular business here I have already planned a white-water rafting tour this summer and possibly a mountain climb (rapelling) with Andro. He, in turn, wants to fly to Delhi with us and promote his business in Delhi with some travel agents, of which we know several. He can then fly home commercially. I believe I had previously reported that our business here was coal mines. It turns out that I had received bad information and we are actually developing oil wells here and have got one already producing many barrels per day, while we are attending meetings to get more leases and get seriously involved in that aspect. So, we will be coming here a lot and it will be a regular destination.
I have gotten very fascinated with this part of the world for it's beauty and history and for it's amazingly good food. Now, with all this outdoor recreation available, it's going to be a seriously fun destination and Karen is going to have to come with us sometime and do some antique shopping. These people have some valuable stuff just sitting by the edge of the curb while they sell off grandma's estate. Today I bought a bag full of Russian Army medals that are seriously heavy and authentic. It was retired military guys out selling their old stuff to get something for it. You can pick it up and feel that these are authentic, they have serial numbers on them and the ribbons are very WW2. Since you only see stuff like this in collector's shops I was amazed to see it streetside and went a little crazy. I should make many times my investment on ebay.
My copilot got a Russian WW2 army helmet and gas mask for less than $30 US. They had a large, old camera that was a complete piece of art alone, to say nothing of a collector's item, I just had no place to put it. There are old china sets and authentic antique silver ware that must be worth a fortune. I wish I was an expert, I think this must be a gold mine.
Anyway, the skiing was fantastic powder just like you would find in Colorado or Utah this time of year. The day was not cold or windy although the mountain was foggy. I would ski again tomorrow and it was offered but it is snowing heavily and I don't like to ski when it's snowing like that. It rained here all day so it makes sense.
Any of you that know me know how much I love to go to new places and see new things so you can probably tell it doesn't get much better than this for me.
Let's see, we flew from Delhi to Masshad, Iran, refueled with like the nicest guys ever and their jet fuel was less than $2 a gallon, about half of US prices, so that's a nice stop. I had just flown over Pakistan and Afghanistan, haven't done any of this before and what a buzz I was getting just from seeing Kandahar on my navigation map going right under the nose of the plane. I have only heard about it in the news that usually involves bad things happening in this part of the world. The air traffic controller spoke perfect American English so I spoke to him and asked where he was from. He replied St. Louis and said he was retired from American ATC and had been in Afghanistan for 6 years. He said, I control the whole country and have not one single radar scope available." That's got to be an interesting job. Made me feel good to have that good American accent and expertise when I was in such a foreign part of my world.
Since I am heading for America in less than a week, my personal excitement about my new granddaughter and seeing both of my children is really starting to build now. And, the grand finale will be when Karen and I board the airplane together in Los Angeles on Feb 5 to come back to Delhi where my company has offered me another year, and now we just found out that the DGCA has approved extending the expat pilots until at least July of 2011. Another year or two and I could retire so we'll see how it goes.
The Christmas lights are on all over this town until the end of January. I love it because it helps ease that let down feeling of the after Christmas blues.
Thanks for all your notes of encouragement and concern. I love you all,
Dan
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