Day 3 - Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan

Our arrival at The Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport last night was a pretty straight-forward affair. We alighted onto the tarmac, caught the waiting bus to the terminal and walked straight into the customs hall. After 15 minutes in the wrong queue we quickly made it past the officials into the baggage claim in the next hall. Our bags arrived much to our delight after a few concerning moments and an inquiry at the lost baggage office. Waiting on the other side was our driver with his Intrepid sign.

Once again, the airport pickup on arrival in a very foreign city has proven to be worth the investment. We’re staying at the Best Western hotel right in the heart of the city. It’s the same hotel Intrepid Travel use – a genuine three-star hotel. Comfortable and clean and most importantly really well positioned.

Breakfast was typical of this level hotel and was included in the price, to our delight. First order of the day was to get some cash. I didn’t bother to waste my time getting some Kazakh tenge currency before I left. A short walk around the corner to the Moscow shopping mall where a bank of ATMs awaited. Having no clue about the cost of things at this stage we withdrew ₸10,000, equal to AUD$30.00. That’s ₸330 to the AUD1.00. Through the shopping mall we wandered until we found a small supermarket where we bought some things for a light dinner in our hotel room tonight.

A landmark building is the Baiterek Tower – a monument built to acknowledge the creation of Astana as the capital city of Kazakhstan in 1997. By design, the observation deck is 97m above ground level. As my past readers will acknowledge, I can’t resist a good tower climb, no matter when it was built. This climb was by elevator so Kerry happily came with me. The tower design is very unique, representing a poplar tree. Nestled in the “branches” is a golden egg left there by the mythical bird of happiness, Simurgh. Inside the “egg” lies the observation platform which offers 360° views of the city.

Astana is the “Canberra of Kazakhstan” in that it is an architect designed city built on the green fields of northern Kazakhstan. Consequently, it’s modern and clean and well-organised. Broad streets, tree-lined boulevards and parks abound. The skyscrapers are are anything but ugly Soviet blocks. The imagination of building designers has certainly not been suppressed by local building regulations. Even the low-rise buildings have been built to reflect a given historical architectural period, mostly of 19^th century Europe. The Baiterek Tower in about a third of the way along Nurjol Boulevard - a broad pedestrian walk that stretches from the Khan Shatyr shopping mall and Entertainment Centre almost to the front door of the President’s Palace at Ak Orda – a distance of about 3kms past numerous fountains, pools, monuments, artworks and shady seats along the way. That’s tomorrow’s walk.

Today we headed back to the hotel for a rest and to plan how to spend the rest of the day. The Botanical Gardens looked like a good place to go so we headed off there. Much further than it looked on the map, I might say. Nevertheless, a good opportunity to get a feeling for the vibe of the city. After a long walk in the hot sun we reached the lake in the middle of the gardens and plonked down in the shade of a group of young trees. As you might imagine the Botanical Gardens in a city that’s only been around for a tad over 30 years is still in its infancy. Came back in another 30 years and it’ll be a much grander place.

In need of a cold drink we exited the gardens and found a nearby coffee shop that provided what we were after. We sat in the shade out the front and watched Astana life go by along Prospekt Mangilik just near the Arch of Triumph. From here it was a straight 3km walk up the same road to our hotel where a cold beer and a Coke awaited. Today we did 16,000 steps and cover 12kms – not a bad effort for Day One! Speaking of beer, at the exorbitant hotel prices we happily paid my 500ml Heineken was ₸900 ($2.72). Kerry’s Coke was ₸1000 ($3.02) which proves that beer is better for your budget! Incidentally, the supermarket price for the same beer is ₸545 ($1.56). Things are pretty cheap in Astana. I’ll talk more about that tomorrow.

 

Day 1/Day 2 - The Road Less Travelled

Today we’re off to explore the road less travelled. We’re heading for Central Asia specifically Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan colloquially known as “The Stans” – well three of them at least. There’s a few more ‘stans we’re not visiting and a couple we’re giving a wide berth to namely Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Once again, as was the case on our previous trip, these are countries that for all of our lives have been largely “off limits” to western tourists. But since the breakup of the Soviet Union countries like these are becoming more accessible and tourist-friendly. Indeed, being the wonderful, friendly people that Australian are we don’t even need a visa for any of them. Furthermore, the Australian SmartTraveller service categorises Kazakhstan as “Exercise normal safety precautions” which is better than most countries in Europe which are largely categorised as “Exercise a high degree of caution”.

I don’t really have a fascination with the post-Soviet parts of the world it’s just the way it’s turned out. I am intrigued by the ancient Silk Road which ran right through this part of the northern hemisphere and the part it played in the transformation of the world just as I’ve always been intrigued by the way in which the Roman Empire transformed the world. The Silk Road was the path that facilitated the beginning of the “globalisation” of the world we live in today.

Our journey to the heart of the Silk Road will begin on an Emirates flight out of Melbourne to Dubai. We’ll spend a few hours there waiting for the connecting Air Astana flight to Astana, the northern capital of Kazakhstan. With the best part of two days left to our own devices we’ll then join an Intrepid Travel tour called, un-romantically, “Astana to Tashkent”. Over the next 25 days we’ll travel on planes, trains and automobiles to the southern parts of the country, across to Almaty (the forrner capital) then across the border into Kyrgyzstan and up into the Tein Shen mountains. Up there we expect to see some pretty spectacular scenery, sleep in yurts and hike a little. Then back down to the Verdana valley and across the border into the flat, desert lands of Uzbekistan and some of that classic architecture of the region – well, that’s my expectations, at least.

There’s lots of towns and cities along this journey whose name I’m familiar with – Astana, Almaty, Osh, Bishkek, Tashkent and Samarkand to name a few so it’ll be good to “put a face to the name”.

Our flight out of Melbourne left late on Saturday night, about bed time, which I reckon may prove to be a good time to do the long “kangaroo flight” to the other side of the world. After a really good dinner it wasn’t hard to fall asleep and stay asleep waking only for a middle of the night snack and breakfast just 90 minutes out of Dubai. Our 5.5hr layover here means we’ll get to Astana at 5:00pm local time. A quick dinner and we’ll be on track for a normal night’s sleep ready to take on Astana in the morning.