Astana
Day 7 - One of the strangest Capital cities around
Woke up on the train at about 9am, rather tired from the crying of the toddlers across the compartment. I did get some shut eye every couple hours or so. Had some fruit for brekkie and strolled around the train. IT was an equal mix of Kazakh sand Russian passengers. The view from the windows was kind of dull - mostly steppe followed by steppe, and a few brown bushes here and there.If anything it resembled the Australian outback a bit.
Went for a brief walk at one of the final stops before Almaty - Qaraghandy. The Soviet design and influence was certainly stood out. Went to the kitchen wagon later and had chicken with vegetables and Kazakh bread for 1000 tenge. Better than standard train food in my opinion.
The big imposing capital that is Astana
Arriving in Astana I caught the 27 to the city centre and stopped off near Bayterek tower. From there it was just a 1.6km walk to the hostel. As a nice surprise it was actually located in the affluent part of town. After settling in, I went out to see a bit of the city. Near the hostel was a large striking building, a bit reminiscent of the Palace of Culture in Warsaw. Walked over to the Bayterek tower just in time for sunset to discover that the golden globe had golden tainted windows from the inside, hence the colour. Unfortunately I couldn't pull of any decent shots, but the view itself was very decent. Up in the tower is a pedestal that has the hand imprint of the Great Leader, Nazerbayev. It is said that placing your hand into his imprint will grant you a wish.
The commercialization and modern design of the city ever apparent, It is easy to forget one is in Kazakhstan, taking into account the last few days. The city and it's skyscrapers light up at night and provide quite a sight. If only it didn't get so windy.
Some background information on Astana
Astana is a relatively modern capital city, being given capital city status and its current name in 1998. Before that it known as Akmola, and during Soviet times as Tselinograd. It also wasn't the modern and global city that it is now. The reasons were economical, ecological, and geographical. Almaty was too far in the south east of the country to be a geographic center of the country. In addition, Almaty is also overbuilt, over populated, and according to locals, doesn't have much spare area for modern development. The solution would have required a complete rebuild of Almaty. As for ecological reasoning, Almaty is one of the most polluted cities in Kazakhstan. Astana on the other hand is relatively less crowded, and a lot of resourced had been invested to transform it into the modern commercial center and heart of the country that it is.
The planned modern skyscraper city approach was a part of President Nazerbayev's initiative to pull Kazakhstan from under the post Soviet union shadow and establish Kazakhstan in the global stage. The modern look and feel strikes a comparison to Dubai, or Kuala Lumpur on a smaller scale. In this sense it feels like a completely different city than Almaty, and even Central Asia in general i'm guessing.
In 1999 the city received the UNESCO "City for Peace" award.
Day 8
Had some of the cheap local Pause cereal for brekkie and went out to traverse most of the city. First stop was the massive yurt Khan Shatyr, and to see what is inside. It is in fact a very large and 'American' shopping mall, designed by Norman Foster. Inside is what I would describe as a more western shopping mall than one found in Paris or London. The juxtaposition is amazing. It is the world's largest marquee with the spire 150m high and a total area of 127,000 sqm. There is an artificial beach inside which is said to hold actual sand imported from the Maldives
Afterwards as I was going towards the big I Love Astana sign (as seen in the heading), a young Kazakh man quickly approached me and asked in Russian if I am a tourist. He mentioned he's a student of English philology so I made the switch to English. It wasn't as fluent as I had initially assumed but apparently it is because in Astana, English is taught almost exclusively using Russian, not a good method if the school wants to teach fluency.
Isail showed me around the centre of the city, even going to such an extent as to miss the job interview he was in the city centre for in the first place. Such was his excitement and joy at having a an English speaking foreigner talking with him. We briefly went inside the Nur Mosque. It was pretty small and inside prayers were in session. After that we went over to the presidential palace, which looked exaggerated in an almost comical fashion. wealth and richness of Nazerbayev wasn't lost on me. Later on we parted ways after reaching the National Museum of Kazakhstan.
Following the other ‘new’ mosque down the road, I waited what seemed like ages for my bus. I actually caught the wrong one, again, but at least I walked past a nice kebab place.
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