The Air Astana flight went smoothly after our 90 minute wait on the tarmac.We looked to be the only foreigners from a western country on the flight.
We were met at the airport by a taxi driver who was organised through the hostel. He was kind enough to wait for us as we used the ATM machine to withdraw the local currency, tenge. The car park was bustling with Lada cars and old heavy Russian trucks as well as a whole range of European cars from Mercedes and BMW's. There were also the Japanese and Korean cars we are used to seeing at home as well.
The drive to the hostel was a good introduction to how they drive here. The two lane roads soon turn into 4 lanes as drivers thunder past with door mirrors almost touching. However he drivers are very good at stopping for pedestrians on the crossings.
The hostel was pretty full with 20 gymnasts aged from 5 to 10 years old and their chaperones. There was a group of young Germans on a 6 month education and cultural programme for UNESCO. They were being debriefed after their initial stay in different parts of Kazakhstan and then were heading back to their communities. We had a nice big room to ourselves but the rest of the hostel was filled with bunk rooms.
The entry to the hostel is lined with shoe racks and plastic slippers as it is the custom to remove your shoes. It is located near a busy road and supermarkets so we were able to get food easily.
The city from the Kok Tobe Hill
Almaty means apple and the area is famous for them.
Families at the park enjoyed the climbing wall, trampolining, ferris wheel, cafes and other amusement park activities as well as the great view over the city.
A cable car took us down the hill to the city and we were able to walk a main street back to our hostel and orientate ourselves to the neighbourhood. From the gondola we could see these yellow pipes meandering across roofs, balconies, and over and through fences. They contain the natural gas for cooking and heating.
One day we took a walking tour of the city with a local guide who was a Muslim woman. She took us on the metro which was built 13 years ago. Some of the platforms were very ornately decorated ceramic frescos showing the places of the Silk Road.
The city is surrounded by high mountains ( Tien Shan range ) which still have some snow on them.
The pedestrian street was surprisingly quiet when we visited with stall holders displaying their paintings.
Our guide Mika took us to the Russian Orthodox Church, the Holy Ascension Cathedral. In 1911 there was a 11 magnitude earthquake that flattened the city but this wooden cathedral remained intact as it is constructed of wood and is sitting on a sandy base. At the time it was a surrounded by a cemetery and it too was destroyed and now it is a park with a memorial to the Kazak soldiers who defended Moscow in 1945. Inside the church women donned headscarves and left flowers on the altars. We were not allowed to take photos but the room was filled with branches from the birch trees. A small group of elderly women in front of a religious icon were singing praises and it was really beautiful to listen to.
Before we left NZ we ordered an international SIM card for our phone and it should have arrived a long time before we left but alas it arrived the day after. Mika helped us buy one in a local shop so we can talk to our daughter and family on Whatsapp. Our hostel has free wifi so that is handy. The local SIM card is really cheap and will last for 30 days and give us 8GB of data which we will never use up. - all for about NZ$7.00.
In the park were these boxes where people could leave books for others.
Camera shy Mika who likes to bake cakes and belly dance.
Bikes in the street for hire. Some of the footpaths are painted red for cycles but we have seen very few people cycling in the city.
We ended our tour at the Green Market where you could buy meat, fresh and dried fruit and any hardware or goods you may need.
In the hostel we met Miriam and Xavier from France. They had taken six months off from their jobs and cycled through Asia. Xavier worked as a design engineer on yachts and was very interested in how the teams were going in the America's Cup.
We were met at the airport by a taxi driver who was organised through the hostel. He was kind enough to wait for us as we used the ATM machine to withdraw the local currency, tenge. The car park was bustling with Lada cars and old heavy Russian trucks as well as a whole range of European cars from Mercedes and BMW's. There were also the Japanese and Korean cars we are used to seeing at home as well.
The drive to the hostel was a good introduction to how they drive here. The two lane roads soon turn into 4 lanes as drivers thunder past with door mirrors almost touching. However he drivers are very good at stopping for pedestrians on the crossings.
The hostel was pretty full with 20 gymnasts aged from 5 to 10 years old and their chaperones. There was a group of young Germans on a 6 month education and cultural programme for UNESCO. They were being debriefed after their initial stay in different parts of Kazakhstan and then were heading back to their communities. We had a nice big room to ourselves but the rest of the hostel was filled with bunk rooms.
The entry to the hostel is lined with shoe racks and plastic slippers as it is the custom to remove your shoes. It is located near a busy road and supermarkets so we were able to get food easily.
Almaty means apple and the area is famous for them.
Our first excursion was to the Kok Tobe hill and amusement park at 1114 metres high. We were able to take a bus which costs about 40 NZ cents to go any number of stops making it cheap and convenient to get about the city of about 2 million people.
A group of Beatles fans had this sculpture of the Fab Four erected in the park and it is a popular place for families to pose for photos.
Families at the park enjoyed the climbing wall, trampolining, ferris wheel, cafes and other amusement park activities as well as the great view over the city.
One day we took a walking tour of the city with a local guide who was a Muslim woman. She took us on the metro which was built 13 years ago. Some of the platforms were very ornately decorated ceramic frescos showing the places of the Silk Road.
The city is surrounded by high mountains ( Tien Shan range ) which still have some snow on them.
The pedestrian street was surprisingly quiet when we visited with stall holders displaying their paintings.
Our guide Mika took us to the Russian Orthodox Church, the Holy Ascension Cathedral. In 1911 there was a 11 magnitude earthquake that flattened the city but this wooden cathedral remained intact as it is constructed of wood and is sitting on a sandy base. At the time it was a surrounded by a cemetery and it too was destroyed and now it is a park with a memorial to the Kazak soldiers who defended Moscow in 1945. Inside the church women donned headscarves and left flowers on the altars. We were not allowed to take photos but the room was filled with branches from the birch trees. A small group of elderly women in front of a religious icon were singing praises and it was really beautiful to listen to.
Before we left NZ we ordered an international SIM card for our phone and it should have arrived a long time before we left but alas it arrived the day after. Mika helped us buy one in a local shop so we can talk to our daughter and family on Whatsapp. Our hostel has free wifi so that is handy. The local SIM card is really cheap and will last for 30 days and give us 8GB of data which we will never use up. - all for about NZ$7.00.
In the park were these boxes where people could leave books for others.
We ended our tour at the Green Market where you could buy meat, fresh and dried fruit and any hardware or goods you may need.
In the hostel we met Miriam and Xavier from France. They had taken six months off from their jobs and cycled through Asia. Xavier worked as a design engineer on yachts and was very interested in how the teams were going in the America's Cup.
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