May 14 Almaty

This scene awaited us when we woke

Next morning, after not quite enough sleep! we drew back the curtains to a glorious mountain scene - a wonderful start to our short stay in Almaty.  Our breakfast was absolutely delicious (as were all our breakfasts on this trip). Then, equipped for the day, we met our guide Svetlana and headed out for the day (first stop to buy new walking sticks). 

Against a stunning backdrop of the snowcapped Tian Shan Mountains, sparkling fountains play everywhere in Almaty - they even have festival days dedicated to fountains! Almaty means ‘father of apples’: the modern apple has its genetic origins here. This was an important trading post on the old Silk Road (which incidentally was not named the Silk Road until the 1800s). It was always simply a network of trade routes with silk just one of the commodities. Interestingly, the current day market sits on the same site as the market of old when it was one of the trading stops along the Silk Raod. ‘The Silk Road’? A piece of the original cobblestone paving was discovered when building a new walking road after the end of the Soviet period and has been embedded into the new walkway as a feature. We wandered the city exploring some of its past. One symbol we encountered many places was the 'Golden Man'. The Golden Man, main symbol of Kazakhstan independence, was found dressed in a warrior’s costume dating from about the C5 BC - he was found in 1969 in a Saka tomb near Issik settlement, about 60km east of Almaty. He is a national treasure.

‘Golden Man’ when discovered was dressed in gold leaf and carried gold weapons and hat. 

We discovered many national monuments. Another which took my eye was a huge mural depicting parts of Kazakhstan's history mounted on a large sweeping granite wall. The mural was made from metal and decorated with local stone, including marble and granite. 

‘Sunhead Man’, an ancient petroglyph; the Silk Road; the Baikonur Cosmodrome 

This section depicts the Aral and Caspian Seas which both border Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Almaty, which was part of Soviet Russia during the C20, is a proud city of monuments to its ancient past as well as its more recent achievements including its war ‘contribution’ to support Russia in WWII - about a million Kazak people died. The city boasts scholars, poets and great strategists. Most of the city people still speak Russian but the majority of information and signage is in both Russian and Kazak and there is a program to gradually change all signage to Kazak.

This area was a memorial to WWI and WWII

The majority of people in Almaty practice Islam but Russian Orthodox and other religions are still practiced. We visited a large Orthodox cathedral but it was swathed in scaffolding and protective netting as it undergoes restoration. The Central Mosque is the largest in Kazakhstan - it is quite lovely.

The Central Mosque has space for up to 7,000 worshipers

It is the largest city in Kazakhstan and served as the capital from 1929 to 1997 during the Soviet era and after independence from 1991 until the capital was relocated to Astana. During the Soviet period, most of the city’s mosaics were destroyed or removed. Thankfully the city is in the process of restoring them. 

This newly-restored impressive mosaic is on Kok Tobe 

We walked and walked and then walked some more through parks and gardens, through the museum, and past many monuments - we were very thankful for park benches and our new walking sticks. We then took a cable car to the top of Kok Tobe (Green Mountain) overlooking the city before collapsing!

Looking over Almaty from Kok Tobe