We woke up and head out of the hostel to Andy's friend's place. She had very graciously offered to let us stay in her apartment. She seemed worried that the place would be too small, but I don't think she'd seen most of the places we have stayed at. Anyway, it always feels so much better to stay in a place where there is the warmth of friends. So we dropped our things off and head out to meet up with a few Turkish guy that Omar and Mike had met the previous day.Ali showed up at the bus station for us. He took us to a Turkish restaurant, and invited his friend Yusuf to join us. We ate some amazing Turkish food and got to know each other a bit better. We decided to go to Al-Archa where there was a beautiful canyon and river. It took us a while to figure it all out, but Ali was tired apparently from a long night of video games, so Yusuf who spoke English, joined us in a cab and the rest of us squeezed in the back seat. After about an hour or so we reached the outer gate and were convinced that we should walk the rest of the way.So, we started walking along a road for a bit, then Yusuf ran back to get the taxi to come take us the rest of the way. Reluctantly, the cab took us up to the river. We sat down next to it, relaxed and started playing some music.
There was a Kyrgyz family having a picnic close by. The children came to check us out, then the grandfather came by and invited us to join them. We sat down at their picnic and they shared their food with us and we played more music. Some other people nearby came with cameras and there was a bit of a crowd there with young and old. It was so much fun playing for them. I don't really care much about singing for everyone in LA. I mean, it is fun, but I don't care for attention and there's shyness too when you're put on the spot in a group, but here with my friends playing music is a joy. Just like when I did it with friends back in high school, it was never about attention. To play music to people here is fun because there is a real sweetness that we share with people when we connect that way, across language and cultures. In many ways, to me it feels like we are saying thanks for being so nice or in other situations, just breaking down that barrier between being consumers on this trip and getting a bit more connected just as people.After a while, we parted ways, head back to the taxi and drove back to the Turkish restaurant. The cab guy wanted to charge us extra again, and we were all sick of getting overcharged by people, so we refused. We could tell that Yusuf was going to pay the guy to avoid any issues, and more than not wanting to pay the jerk, we didn't want Yusuf to pay him, so we paid the extra 100 som and walked back toward the restaurant. Omar and Andy sat down on the steps to play some music, Mike went off to use the restroom, and I walked down a couple stores to get over that annoyance.
As I was walking, I heard some men speaking in Urdu. I turned and saw a group of men sitting at a table in front of a burger joint. I introduced myself and asked if they were from Pakistan. They were and invited me to sit with them. A few moments later so ice cream was brought out and I was offered one. I wasn't about to leave after that. I explained that the music they heard in the distance was from my other friends. We talked a bit and I shared some stories from our travels and they shared their stories as well. One man was visiting and the others all worked in Bishkek for a number of years. The ice cream was great and so was the company. Omar, Andy and Mike came looking for me and found me there at the table. The too were invited to join. So we put some tables together and sat down. They even placed an order at the Pakistani owned fast food place which does not serve Pakistani food, for some Pakistani food. Apparently the group hangs our there every day and they have the restaurant cook up some Pakistani dishes for them. Usually on this day they go out for a hike, but as our luck would have it, they didn't go today and so we were lucky enough to meet them.We sat for hours talking, playing songs, then eating, and talking and singing some more. Another wonderful experience with music.Afterwards, we head back to Andy's friend's place, gave her a run down of the day's adventures and went to sleep. 
There was a Kyrgyz family having a picnic close by. The children came to check us out, then the grandfather came by and invited us to join them. We sat down at their picnic and they shared their food with us and we played more music. Some other people nearby came with cameras and there was a bit of a crowd there with young and old. It was so much fun playing for them. I don't really care much about singing for everyone in LA. I mean, it is fun, but I don't care for attention and there's shyness too when you're put on the spot in a group, but here with my friends playing music is a joy. Just like when I did it with friends back in high school, it was never about attention. To play music to people here is fun because there is a real sweetness that we share with people when we connect that way, across language and cultures. In many ways, to me it feels like we are saying thanks for being so nice or in other situations, just breaking down that barrier between being consumers on this trip and getting a bit more connected just as people.After a while, we parted ways, head back to the taxi and drove back to the Turkish restaurant. The cab guy wanted to charge us extra again, and we were all sick of getting overcharged by people, so we refused. We could tell that Yusuf was going to pay the guy to avoid any issues, and more than not wanting to pay the jerk, we didn't want Yusuf to pay him, so we paid the extra 100 som and walked back toward the restaurant. Omar and Andy sat down on the steps to play some music, Mike went off to use the restroom, and I walked down a couple stores to get over that annoyance.
As I was walking, I heard some men speaking in Urdu. I turned and saw a group of men sitting at a table in front of a burger joint. I introduced myself and asked if they were from Pakistan. They were and invited me to sit with them. A few moments later so ice cream was brought out and I was offered one. I wasn't about to leave after that. I explained that the music they heard in the distance was from my other friends. We talked a bit and I shared some stories from our travels and they shared their stories as well. One man was visiting and the others all worked in Bishkek for a number of years. The ice cream was great and so was the company. Omar, Andy and Mike came looking for me and found me there at the table. The too were invited to join. So we put some tables together and sat down. They even placed an order at the Pakistani owned fast food place which does not serve Pakistani food, for some Pakistani food. Apparently the group hangs our there every day and they have the restaurant cook up some Pakistani dishes for them. Usually on this day they go out for a hike, but as our luck would have it, they didn't go today and so we were lucky enough to meet them.We sat for hours talking, playing songs, then eating, and talking and singing some more. Another wonderful experience with music.Afterwards, we head back to Andy's friend's place, gave her a run down of the day's adventures and went to sleep. 