DAY 2 (28th August 2024) – Kazakhstan (Almaty – City Tour)
Being the early birds that they are, it was not surprising that MIL and FIL were already up by 7:00am local time, even though we have quite a packed schedule ahead. The sun rises at around 5:45am, which probably contributed to their early waking. We had a light breakfast, as our first stop of the day is the Green Bazaar, one of the most famous markets in all of Central Asia. A short 650m distance walk away was the Panfilov Park that surrounds the Zenkov Cathedral or Ascension Cathedral. We got a pleasant surprise there, when we got to witness a wedding ceremony in progress.
We took a cab to the Republic Square to view a tall monument called the Independence Monument and its surrounding sculptures. Then we had lunch at the famous Navat Restaurant, where we tried horse meat for the first time – let’s just say, we didn’t end up at the horse-pital… (Bro. Ray: Ok, that was bad joke). We went back to the AirBnB unit to catch some shut eye before going to Kok Tobe in the late evening, a touristy hilltop outlooking Almaty city, reachable by cable car and by road. We called it a day, after dinner…
Green Bazaar
In 1875, the market was just a location where peoples from everywhere (including Japan, would you believe it) could come and sell their produce, including live animals. Unfortunately, the market was destroyed in the major earthquake of 1887, before being rebuilt in 1927. As more and more traders came, the market was expanded several times, until the new green-coloured building was commissioned in 2017, hence its new moniker. Don’t be deceived by the exterior look – the place is huge due to interconnecting buildings and a labyrinth of connected hallways which lead to other sections of the market.
Inside and outside the three-storeyed building, many traders from all over the region were offering their produce, such as nuts, fruits, vegetables, etc. Mobile stalls and traders operating from their vehicles were a common sight outside, selling generally the same things as inside the building. We didn’t compare prices (since we didn’t intend on buying raw stuff, except some fruits), but apparently the outside is cheaper than in the inside. The way the traders arranged the multi-coloured fruits and vegetables just simply lights up the entire place, while the cacophony of haggling and bargaining filled the air. Sounded a lot like home!
We asked around and we were told that there was a Tajik restaurant at the meat section of the bazaar, and we made a beeline there to try some authentic Tajik food. We were not disappointed. Located at an upper floor cantilevered to one of the many huge structural columns of the building, we found that we were not the only patrons enjoying a late-morning meal. Even though there was language barrier between us and the local populace, the Google Translate app sure helped!
Zenkov Cathedral
The Zenkov Cathedral is located within Panfilov Park in the middle of the city, a short walk from Green Bazaar. The park was erected with many busts and sculptures of famous people and they even took a 100-mm gun from a cruiser named Kirov, a World War II ship, and placed it at one of the entrances to the park. The ship was decommissioned in the 1970s, but history of how this gun ended up in Almaty, more than 1000km from the nearest sea is unclear.
The unmistakable outline of a cathedral-like building peeked through the trees even as we walked closer in that general direction through the park. The Zenkov Cathedral, a yellow-and-white coloured structure appeared before us as the treelined walkways gave up their monopoly of the horizon. We were welcomed by hundreds of doves which were happily picking up whatever seeds were thrown at them. The sunlight beaming onto the cathedral makes for great photography.
This Russian Orthodox Church is completely built with wood without nails, and is the second tallest wooden cathedral in the world. Completed in 1907, the building was commissioned as a church, but was later converted to be the Central State Museum. The building served several other purposes before it was finally returned to the Orthodox Church in May 1995. The interiors of the cathedral are as impressive as the exterior façade.
We didn’t think that a wedding ceremony would be held on a weekday, and in the late morning, at that. But it was a pleasant surprise indeed – I don’t think the wedding troupe would have known that there would be Asians attending their wedding ceremony! The most impressive thing about the ceremony? The four-person choral team (one lady and three guys), belting out their refrains or short songs in perfect harmony, that is interspersed within order of service. The acoustics of the building was so good that the four voices were amplified throughout the cathedral sounding like a choir of 40 people!
Independence Monument
We took a Yandex to our next destination, by which time, it was already quite warm. The Republic Square is located along a major thoroughfare, where the office of the Almaty City mayor is located. Across the busy road stands the 28m Independence Monument (also known as Golden Warrior Monument), erected when Kazakhstan achieved its independence from Russia. At the top of the stele is an elaborate statue of a Saka warrior, standing on a winged leopard. The people of Kazakhstan identify themselves as the descendants of the Saka. In 1969, during an archaeological dig, one such Saka warrior was discovered, complete with a golden suit of armour and many articles of gold, and it is this warrior that is depicted at the top of this monument.
At the four corners of the monument are four other sculptures representing family (an old man, “mother” earth and two children on foals). The two children sculptures symbolise the strength of the youth and the future of the nation. A semi-circle bronze wall partly encloses the northern side of the monuments and is engraved with a brief history of Kazakhstan.
Lunch @ Restaurant Navat
We took another Yandex to our lunch destination, Restaurant Navat, one of the highly-recommended restaurants in Almaty. It serves some authentic Kazakh food and has something we have been waiting for some time to try out – horse meat. There were several restaurants with the same name – we went to the one located on Dostyk Avenue. The interior of the lunch hall has brightly decorated tapestry and mosaic tiles, and has a very welcoming feel. The place was lively with local patronage enjoying the great food on offer.
The hosts and hostesses were friendly and made suitable recommendations for food, as we were not sure what to order. The menu was mostly in Russian, but their helpfulness and attention to us was fantastic. The result is as follows:
Kok Tobe
After the scrumptious meal, we decided that it was better to head back to our AirBnb to rest for the afternoon before heading to Kok Tobe. I believe we made a fantastic decision, as we were so much fresher and alert for the evening ahead. At 4:30 in the evening, we headed out to the hillside on the eastern part of Almaty. We kinda misunderstood the map, and thought that the Yandex was going to drop us off at the foot of the hill where we could take the cable car to the top of Kok Tobe.
Instead, we found ourselves at the parking lot, halfway up the hill, and had to pay an additional fee to board the minivan to get us to the top of Kok Tobe. The other option was an uphill walk, which we were not prepared to do. So, we finally got to Kok Tobe, from where the entire city of Almaty lay before us.
The construction of the Kok Tobe recreational park was completed in 2006, with the cable car added in 2016. Aside from the amusement park-themed rides and feels about the place, there are several iconic monuments built by the locals, such as the bronze Beatles Monument, sculpted by Eduard Kazaryan as part of the launch of the National Award Music Feature of 2007. A replica of the Wall Street Bull can also be found there, installed by the “Kazantsev Group” to raise financial awareness.
Dinner @ Qaganat
After sunset, we took the minivan back down to the parking lot and caught a Yandex back to the city. It was dark when we arrived back, but we were feeling cold and hungry already by then. We got to Qaganat, one of the many canteen-like diners in the city, apparently a common eating place for the locals. We had to queue up with our trays and pick the food as we went, and paid at the cashier at the end of the counter. At this juncture, we were just happy to fill our stomachs with whatever food.
Summary for Day 2
We had covered quite a number of Almaty’s attractions within the city on this first full day in Almaty. The afternoon weather was warm like back home, but after the sun had gone down, the temperature was much colder. We were slowly getting acclimatised to the weather and also overcoming our jetlag. The walkabout on Day 2 at our destinations also helped to work our muscles as we will have more difficult walks ahead. So, the summary of our journey for the day (walking plus Yandex) is as the map below.
