Kazakhstan, Land of the Wanderers

The central dome was especially impressive, effortlessly combining the distinctive pointed arches of Islamic architecture with Kazakhstan’s national colours of gold and sky blue. I must’ve spent a good 30 minutes inside the mosque, wandering from end to end and admiring the interiors from every angle possible. 

As I wrapped up my visit to the Hazrat Sultan, I checked my Google Maps and saw that the next destination, the National Museum, was only one city block away. I decided to skip the Yandex Taxi this time and make the walk over – Google said it’d be only 20 minutes.

However, I had badly underestimated how cold it gets here in Nur-Sultan – the city lies at 51˚N of latitude, about the same as Calgary, so the temperature had dropped to a bone-chilling –9˚C on this early November day. The jacket I had packed for this trip, which in no way resembled a proper winter jacket, was clearly struggling to hold its own after just a few minutes.

Braving the winter winds, I eventually made it to the National Museum in a somewhat timely fashion, giving myself a few hours to explore before having to catch my next flight in the afternoon. 

The museum brought to life many details about Kazakhstan’s diverse history and cultural heritage, from its origins as the home of various Persian and Turkic nomadic groups, to its subsequent subjugations under the Mongolians and Russians. Russian rule would eventually morph into the Kazakh SSR, part of the Soviet Union, upon whose dissolution in 1991 the present-day Republic of Kazakhstan emerged.

Today, Kazakhstan remains heavily influenced by its Russian and Soviet past: people from Kazakhstan are generally fluent in two linguistically distinct languages – Kazakh, of the Turkic language group, and Russian, of the Slavic language group – which are equally widespread through out the country. 

In keeping with most of its history, Kazakhstan today might be described as a place of mixed identities, and I found it very interesting to learn about how the country grapples with that. 

It seems that there are simultaneously efforts to distance the country from vestiges of the Soviet past – for example, the 2015 government directive to replace the Cyrillic script with the Latin alphabet in the Kazakh language – while also retain control over the ethnic Russians in Kazakhstan and avoid pushing them away from the central national identity – for example, in relocating the capital in 1997 from Almaty in the south to Astana in the north, where there is a much higher concentration of ethnic Russians.

Of course, at the heart of all these efforts is one man, who conspicuously seemed to show up in every single photo in the museum of a significant moment in Kazakhstan’s history: that man Nursultan Nazarbayev.

While his rule is very much accurately described as an authoritarian one, he has also no doubt overseen a rapid period of growth that has established the country as a powerhouse in its region and a keen player on the world stage. 

As I left the museum, one final exhibit revealed the origins of the country’s name: the Old Turkic qaz, meaning “wander”, combined with the Persian suffix –stan, denoting “land”.

It was the land of the wanderers, and that instantly made me feel a little bit more in my element as I jetted off to Almaty in the south of the country. 

Day 3: The City in the Mountains

Nur-Sultan was a planned capital that sprung out of nothingness, and when you walk among its streets (or giant tent-shaped shopping malls), you get an impression that everyone is there for the cushy government or banking jobs.

In contrast, Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, has been settled for thousands of years, and feels much more cosmopolitan and culturally diverse – much more “real”, as it were.

Despite that, the city isn’t exactly known for its world-class tourist attractions, and the two most interesting things to do seemed to be no more than two separate cable car rides. My agenda in Almaty, then, was basically to go with the flow and immerse myself in the pace of the city life, just as I would if I were at home.

After breakfast at the excellent Ritz-Carlton on the first morning, I headed out to the Shymbulak Mountain Resort for the first of those two cable car rides. Almaty is surrounded by mountains, and a few readers had recommended the ride up to the top of Shymbulak in order to get an appreciation for the city’s unique setting.

Unfortunately, the views on the ride up were limited by some heavy clouds, and the ski resort itself also seemed to be badly affected by an avalanche warning, since most of the visitors were there only to look at the mountain views rather than to hit the slopes. I certainly would’ve entertained the idea of an impromptu ski day!

The clouds cleared up significantly on the way back down, though, and I got treated to some killer views of the mountains in this part of Kazakhstan. I had never before realized how large and geographically diverse the country was – from the flat prairies in the north to the mountainous landscapes of the south, not to mention the steppes and deserts of central Kazakhstan and the shores of the Caspian Sea to the west, which I wouldn’t get a chance to visit on this trip. 

After Shymbulak, I called another Yandex Taxi to bring me to the heart of the city, where I decided to stop for lunch next-door to the Ascension Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox cathedral in the middle of a public park. I had developed a liking for the architectural style during my travels in Russia a few years ago, so it was nice to see another example of it here in Kazakhstan, where Orthodox Christianity holds about a 25% minority compared to Islam.

At this point, I was frankly a little bored of shuttling around in taxis, so I made my way back to the Ritz-Carlton via a combination of the Almaty Metro and a nice old-fashioned stroll along the pedestrian walkway by the Esentai River. 

It turned out to be a very enjoyable journey before my jet lag-induced afternoon rest, since, in keeping with its geographical position, Almaty’s street scene struck me as almost exactly a halfway point between those of Moscow and Beijing – two cities of which I have very fond impressions.

Day 4: Lunch with a Local

A friend of my dad’s happens to be based in Almaty, and upon finding out that I was visiting, my dad had naturally put us in touch. The friend would be out of town, however, and so invited his colleague, a local Kazakh guy by the name of Dauren, to meet with me in his stead.

After three days of slowly absorbing my new surroundings on my own, it was enlightening to be able to share those impressions and exchange perspectives with someone who was born and raised here.

We met at Line Brew, a restaurant that was recommended to me by a reader and which Dauren agreed was a nice spot for lunch. I decided to order a portion of horse meat, a local specialty which I definitely wanted to try, although it ended up tasting almost exactly like steak to me.

Speaking with Dauren added far greater depth to my understanding of Almaty and Kazakhstan as a whole. As I had suspected, there isn’t much noteworthy sightseeing to be done in Almaty; rather, most of the excitement lies a few hours outside of town in the form of Kazakhstan’s grossly under appreciated natural scenery – from the Big Almaty Lake, whose vantage point in the midst of the Tian Shan mountain range rivals that of Banff and Switzerland, to the otherworldly Lake Kaindy, home of the “drowning forest” of submerged trees growing straight out of the lake’s surface. 

The other unmissable angle to Almaty – which, alas, I would also miss on this trip – was the city’s nightlife. This is a place that does not sleep on the weekends, and Dauren invited me to make sure my next visit coincided with a weekend stay in order to truly experience the city.

After lunch, Dauren graciously arranged a car service via his company to bring me to the Kok-Tobe Mountain for the rest of the afternoon. I thanked him for his time, and told him I had every intention of coming back to Almaty in the future.

The cable car at Kok-Tobe would bring me to the recreation area at the top of the mountain, where I’d be treated to some panoramic views of Almaty to conclude my time here. I briefly wandered off to a quieter spot just below the summit, gazing across the cityscape, reflecting on a highly eye-opening trip, and savouring the fresh mountain air. 

Conclusion

Travelling to Central Asia was an itch that I’ve been meaning to scratch for a very long time, so I’m very pleased I had the chance to see two very distinct sides to Kazakhstan in the form of its capital and largest city.

Almost paradoxically, Nur-Sultan was the more “interesting” place to visit on the surface, by virtue of its overwhelming concentration of gleaming skyscrapers that were, at once, both stunning and sterile. It’s definitely quite unlike any other place I’ve visited, but the lack of real substance behind all those ostentatious buildings means that I’m not really in a hurry to return.

Meanwhile, Almaty is much more in tune with our usual conceptions of an organic, cosmopolitan, and livable city. While I didn’t explore the city too deeply beyond the surface, I definitely saw enough that made me want to come back another time, perhaps as part of another journey between Moscow and Beijing for old time’s sake?

Overall, there are places around the world where I can leave after three or four days in the comfort that I’ve seen a little bit of everything, but Kazakhstan was most decidedly not one of those places. I look forward to the next trip along the Silk Road sometime later, and I hope to check off several other “Stans” when the time comes as well.