Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan and was the capital until 1997. The former government headquarters is still used even though the capital has since moved to Astana. While walking through Almaty I happened to come across the government headquarters photographed above. I had already been stopped by the police several times on this trip, so I took the first photo without getting too close to the fence to avoid any unwanted attention. The second photo shows one of the beautifully designed presidential buildings.
Surrounded by snow covered peaks, Almaty is a beautiful city. With a population of well over a million, the city never felt overcrowded and traffic never seemed to be too bad. Surprisingly, when you cross the street all the cars immediately come to a stop. This even includes cars that are several lanes over and could have easily passed by. I’ve never been in a country where you put a foot into a busy major street and everything stops for you. Whether this is because the population is just that nice or if it’s more about fear from the local police I’ll never know!
Above are some other random photos from the city. I believe the first is an office building, but while the second building looks much more important I wasn’t able to find out its purpose.
Even though it had been a while since the movie Borat came out, it often came up when I talked to my friends back home or even with other travelers I met in Kazakhstan. Of course I’d never bring it up with a local. Many Kazakhs saw the movie as extremely disrespectful to their country, and I didn’t want to get knocked out. I did talk to locals in surrounding countries in Central Asia, and all of them seemed to think the movie was hilarious though. In any case, the movie is obviously not even close when it comes to showing actual Kazakh people or their culture.
The majority of Kazakhs are Muslim, but this isn’t necessarily obvious from walking around most parts of the city. This guy singing above was one of the few people I saw wearing any type of traditional Islamic clothing. Those who do usually only have a hat like this man, or cover their hair if they are a woman. The Central Mosque above is one of the largest in the country, and around here I saw more people wearing Islamic clothing. I thought the Central Mosque was a few hundred years old, but it was actually completed in 1999!
A popular thing to do for both locals and tourists is to ride a cable car up Kok Tobe. Kok Tobe is one of the highest points in the city and from here you can get some excellent views of Almaty and its surroundings. The mountain is located above a wealthy suburb of the city which is photographed above. On the way up in the cable car I saw some unnecessarily big houses here and several with swimming pools!
After taking the Kok Tobe cable car up, the first thing I came across was this yurt. For some reason I had only expected an observation deck at the top and nothing more. There’s actually a whole family day’s worth of activities up here. A small amusement park includes rides, race tracks, and other games. There are also several restaurants and small souvenir stands as well.
The nicest restaurant seemed to be at the very end of the park and surprisingly wasn’t overpriced. I didn’t eat there, but they had outdoor seating on a nice deck that overlooked the city that I took advantage of. On the way back to the cable car I walked a different way and came across a little zoo. For a price, you can feed some of the animals like these goats.
These buildings above are some of the most prominent in Almaty and can be seen from many parts of the city. Of course they were visible from Kok Tobe as well, but they looked almost small from up there. They seemed to be relatively new when I visited, as the one on the right was still under construction. They were mostly offices with a few shops and restaurants at the bottom. I actually had lunch in a very expensive cafe here. The food was good but it came at European prices! When I was traveling in Kazakhstan I was often asked who I was working for, since most assumed I was a gas or oil worker. One of these buildings must have been a big employer in that industry. I saw lots of well-dressed business people and several expats going in and out.
Almaty has an excellent national museum if you can show up when it’s open. I came here twice during normal business hours and was told through hand motions and by pointing at a calendar that it was closed for the rest of the week. Later I happened to meet up with a traveler from Hong Kong who was going to the museum, so I tagged along. I expected to be turned away again, but something must have been lost in translation because when we arrived we were let in. Above is the museum from the outside followed by its main lobby. The museum covers a little bit of everything about Kazakhstan’s history. Photography isn’t allowed in most areas, but these two photos below were an exception.
One of the largest and most famous city parks in Almaty is Panfilov Park. Sadly I somehow missed the famous World War II memorial that is also a symbol of the city. The park is a popular place to visit for young couples and families. For the kids, there are plenty of activities to do like renting these cars or riding a horse.
Also within Panfilov Park is the beautiful Russian Orthodox Zenkov Cathedral. The cathedral was completed in 1907 and is famous for its wooden construction. The cathedral survived a major earthquake in 1911 and later the Soviet era. During Soviet rule the cathedral was used for secular purposes, including as a museum, and the first radio transmitting equipment in Almaty was installed in its belfry. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the cathedral was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.
While I missed the main World War II memorial in Panfilov Park, I stumbled across this war memorial dedicated to two local women in another park. The two war heroes are Manshuk Mametova and Aliya Moldagulova. Both fought for the Soviet Union during World War II and were killed in combat. Both were later awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
Something I was surprised to see in Kazakhstan was all the hammers and sickles left over from the Soviet Union. I saw even more when I later visited Kyrgyzstan to the south. It seems that Russia and many of the former communist countries in Europe were in a rush to remove signs of the Soviet Union. In Central Asia I got the notion that people saw the remnants of Soviet symbols all over their cities and just shrugged their shoulders. I’ve seen the type of slogan shown above many times in other post-Soviet countries. I thought this was some communist recruitment office because of the banner at first, but a local later told me the banner simply remembered the Soviet victory in World War II, and the office was just a cleaning business!
Some more random facts about Almaty that you wouldn’t guess: the city is famous for its fountains! The large fountain above is part of Republic Square in the city center. The other fountain was turned off when I visited, but it got my attention because of its animal statues. I thought it was zodiac based, but this proved wrong after I found a large snail and other random animals. There are fountains all over Almaty. I wish I did a better job of photographing them to share on my website!
Many cities in lesser known parts of the world put all their resources into making a nice central district, while other parts of the city are in desperate need of attention. Since I walked around all parts of the city, I can say that this definitely isn’t the case with Almaty! Almost every area of the city I went to was nice and well maintained. You can find high quality restaurants and cafes everywhere you go. I’m not sure of the name of this district above, but it was in the eastern part of the city where I was staying.
I did go to what I thought was the city’s main bazaar and found nothing too impressive. The bazaar from the outside looked like nothing more than a regular store, but once inside it had several hallways and floors of shops. Most of these sold things like jewelry, alcohol, and other small items. Basically to me it was just a small shopping mall. After I left Almaty I found some pictures online that looked like a much more open market area, so I think I just didn’t spend enough time here.
My favorite part of the city is the small pedestrian street in the north. The street is locally known as Arbat, but the real name is Zhibek Zholy, which means Silk Road. Along Zhibek Zholy you’ll find some of the best restaurants and shopping in the city. Much of the street is lined with artists selling paintings for very reasonable prices. I picked up one as a gift for someone and regret not getting one for myself!
