Hi, my name is Mike. I attended the Oksanalove tour to Almaty on February 14 of this year. I thought that I would write my experiences down for you so that you would know what to expect. You should make a mental note to yourself that there are always many opinions on the same view and people tend to write their complaints, but not many people take the time to express their good experiences. Bear in mind that you can correspond for a long time with someone…but meeting in person is the only way to find out if you are compatible. So, write a few women and be honest with them and let them know that you are writing other women. They understand. They are all doing the same thing. First, Almaty is about at the same latitude as Nova Scotia. It is 11 hours ahead of New York time. It is located in the Tien Shin Mountains. So dress accordingly for the time of year that you visit. Money exchange is about $1.00 American = 1.50 Kazakhstan dollars. I went with 14 other guys. We all met in the Frankfurt Airport. Oksana was supposed to meet us there, but had an emergency at home and didn’t come until later. But, let me say that we were at no time in question about the validity of our trip. We had all spoken with Oksana and her husband Eric on numerous occasions before our trip and knew that we would be all right traveling to Almaty without her. Her staff was waiting for us in the Almaty airport. After we had all made it through customs, we went to the bus. One point of note is that multiple people will ask you to carry your bags…this costs money so either carry your own bags to the bus or bargain with them on the price before you let them touch your bags. The hotel that we stayed in was very nice. It is about two blocks from Oksana’s agency. The city is very beautiful and there are a lot of things to do while you are there. Be brave and ask the women at the hotel desk for help. There are operas, museums, concerts, and Russian Bathhouses for you to visit. We had three socials. The first social on Friday was very overwhelming with the number of ladies that came to meet us. The majority of women are extremely beautiful over there. They do not seem to have weight problems. They have very striking features, high cheekbones, beautiful eyes, very nice figures, and very nice personalities. The women dress very nice for the socials, so you should dress nice too. We had a few interpreters there and maybe could have had a few more. A lot of the women spoke English very well. One of the women that I had written didn’t speak English, so we used an interpreter the whole time. It did not hamper our efforts to get to know each other. We also ended up hanging out with a few other couples and those women spoke English, so we all had a very good time. The number of women decreased with each social. But the quality of the women did not. The food over there was very low in fat, but it was very tasty. We liked everything except for the horsemeat. They eat lots of fruits and vegetables. They drink juice instead of sodas at the meals. You will have to buy bottled water there. I found the regular “Table Drinking Water” at 50 cents for 2 liters to be just as good as the more expensive waters. I never had a bad meal. I let “my woman” order for me and tell me how much to pay, although some of the menus were available in English. We usually ate a very nice meal for only about $8.00 for two. Very important ! The Kazak women may be late for dates! Two hours late is average…so expect that ! We spent a lot of time waiting around in the hotel lobby. Use this time to go to the market and pick up your drinking water or some snacks instead of “fuming” about it in the lobby. Relax and enjoy yourself. It is a very beautiful and interesting place. Leave your American attitudes at home. If the woman with whom you correspond does not work out, Oksana and her staff will work tirelessly to find you other dates. If you correspond with a woman that does not live in Almaty, as I did, you will have to pay around $100.00 for her train trip to Almaty and for her apartment and expenses. The flight to Karaganda is around $125.00. There were a couple girls, with whom a number of us were writing, that ignored all of us. It confused me, but I am very happy with the girl that I have now and am currently trying to get a fiancee visa for her. Just remember …as you have the option to meet someone and reject him or her, so do they have that same option. Get over it and move on. Well, that’s my two cents. Have fun, Mike miker@blackmtn.net