Astana, Kazakhstan (October 5-9, 2015)

Astana, Kazakhstan

As of 1997 the area (Akmola) became the Capital city of Kazakhstan. In 1998 it was re-named Astana - meaning "The Capital" (in Kazakh), which is the 5th name given for this area.

2014 census: population 835,153 

Last of the Soviet Republic to declare independence in 1991.

It is about a 3 hour flight from Moscow and it is three hours ahead of Moscow time.

We took an overnight flight leaving Moscow at 11 pm. We arrived at 5 am local time and waited for breakfast to open at our hotel at 6. We ate and promptly went to bed until noon! We needed that snooze to head out for a walking tour of the area. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, which turned out to be a very convenient location for site seeing and also because the Canadian Embassy is only a 5 minute walk from the hotel, which was convenient for Craig for his meeting with the Ambassador.

Astana is a planned city such as Brasilia in Brazil. The master plan was designed by a Japanese Architect named Kisho Kurokawa. It has many government buildings and has lots of futuristic ones. Because of some of the architecture, it reminded me a bit of Abu Dhabi. It will be hosting Expo 2017.

It's a really windy city, which can make the temperatures feel that much colder. Except for that first afternoon which was cool, it was beautiful, sunny and warm, which was nice because we returned to Moscow with snow on the ground! Temperatures in Astana can reach +35 Celsius in summer and -40 in winter. It is the 2nd coldest capital in the world next to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (a title formerly held by Ottawa, Canada until Astana attained capital status in 1997).

This picture is from the internet... it gives a beautiful view of their traditional dress and how beautiful the people are.

We did our own walking tour and took some photos of the interesting architecture around us.

This internet photo is a pretty good view of the city from behind the Presidential Palace with blue dome, then the "beer cans" and the Baiterek Tower. The strange tent-like structure in the background is the Khan Shatyr shopping mall (complete with a whole entertainment floor with rides and games and a beach with sand). If you exit the mall you will see a great view of the Tower framed by the arch of the headquarters for the state-owned gas and oil company. As you can see, the city just kind of ends abruptly to flat lands. Apparently the nearest town is 1200 km away.

This gives you an idea of what the amusement center is like in the big "tent" mall. It's quite incredible really. I couldn't get to the "beach", but that would be awesome when it's -35 degrees in January!

The Canadian Embassy - I just happened to notice the flag and then we realized it was the Embassy!

The Baiterek Tower (meaning "tall poplar") is a symbol of the capital. It is 344 ft. high and allows for nice views of the city. Unfortunately there isn't an outdoor deck, so all pictures have to be through the glass, which doesn't make for the best pictures.

from inside the tower...

The two golden towers AKA "the beer cans" - built in 1998 with the front of the Presidential Palace (Ak Orda) in the background (built in 2004).

The 39-story Triumph of Astana opened in 2006 and modeled after the Seven Sisters skyscrapers in Moscow. The Canadian Embassy is the short building in front with black lines... and you may be able to make out the flag... we stood there for a while waiting for the wind to blow the flag just right for the picture!

Weird curvy high rises in the background and some embassy houses right in the middle of the downtown.

Interesting buildings that look "cracked".

The pyramid is the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation (aka Pyramid of Peace and Accord - opened in 2006). The building to the right is called Shabyt - Palace of Creativity (aka the dog bowl). Lots of construction going on in this city... the population has doubled since it became the capital and obviously continues to grow.

Love the pedestrian areas and especially this one with the painted horses. Reminds me of Boston and the painted cows. They have a LOT of horse statues in this city... they also have horse meat on restaurant menus. :(  One thing they don't have - at least not in the downtown core - is homeless. We didn't see one person begging in the streets here, which is a first.

The State Theatre of Opera and Ballet... I would love to see it in summer as other internet photos show it with elaborate flower beds. It's a huge, impressive building.

Front view of the theatre

 

More horse statues behind theatre with tent mall in background

Inside the "tent" mall

my view as I came up the staircase after exiting the "tent" mall.... I spent a fair amount of time walking around town and in malls - 5 of them! I bought some beautiful silver jewelry (ring and necklace), a slogan t-shirt (Should Could Would Did) and traditional felt slippers.

 

Craig loved this fur hat! This was one of the few souvenir shops we found. I bought some toe-curled-up felt slippers. He did NOT buy this hat.

We called this the "cash cab"... not because we negotiated with "some guy" and paid cash, but because the lights reminded us of the tv quiz show in the cab... we did not, however, win any money in this cab. We did get back to the hotel safely though. People flag down random cars for rides in Astana like they did in Tashkent. We didn't realize until he was here that this was the type of taxi the restaurant (Line Brew) called for us. As usual, we had a great time exploring this city together in between his work commitments. Loving the adventure!