1000 Kilometers Later: Astana

The evening of Sunday, July 20th, I went by train to the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. I stayed in Astana for only about 3 days, taking a train back to Almaty on the 23rd. This is the last excursion i made before my upcoming flight back to the United States.

Pre-Planning

As mentioned in the previous trip post, I planned out my trip to Bishkek without affiliation with the AIESEC organization. Like Bishkek, I planned out my trip to Astana on my own accord.  However, unlike Bishkek, I only knew I was going to go to Astana less than a week before the day I would depart. This made planning somewhat more frantic and, while I came up with a concrete plan, it was still a nervous experience. Also, it's worth noting that unlike Bishkek these plans had to keep in mind that I would have no guide with me, and that any questions, navigation, or other assistance would need to be procured by my own knowledge of Russian.

Map of key points in Astana
Note however that I didn't know the exact location of the apartment when I started

However, the most ridiculous part of the pre-departure phase of the trip was my experience buying the train tickets. The problem began when, while I expected my passport to be available on the night that I was going to buy my tickets, the time for me to acquire it was delayed by a day (My passport was being registered with customs). As documentation is required to purchase a train ticket, this immediately presented a problem. So,  (having luckily been offered guidance by a local friend) I went with a guide to the train station, where we firstly needed to set on was finding a way to print my digital image of my passport to see if we could use it (When my original tickets for Astana were purchased, a photo of my passport was used instead). Finally, after looking everywhere, we found a firm open at 11:30 that was willing to let us use the printer. After this, the problems only continued. None of the ticket machines worked or wanted to accept my documentation, and would always come up with a new reason to not work. Finally, at about 1 am the machines agreed with us with some help from an assistant at the trains station.

From there, at about 2 am we exhaustively arrived at the flat, where my friend was extremely glad to see me safely arrived. From there, I gladly passed out on my couch, and had no further problems preparing for the trip ( My passport was returned to me the next day, and now I never lose it from my side).

Sunday, July 20th: Departure

Now, I knew that Global Village, a concluding event with all of the interns in which we present our countries to locals ( I'll talk about it in my final blog post), would be happening on July 20th. Unfortunately, however, I didn't know that Global Village would be in the evening, but rather thought it would occur at around noon on Sunday. Due to this, I had purchased my ticket for around 7pm on Sunday.
However, it later turned out that Global Village would run from 4-8pm. While I didn't have much for Global Village, I still enjoyed the time significantly, and was sad to leave it early. Taking a taxi, I reached the train station about an hour and a half early. Considering I didn't have any AIESECer to guide me through the train station or make sure I didn't miss an announcement, this was a reasonable precaution.At about 6:00, the train arrived.

The walkway outside our compartments on the Talgo train

 Honestly, I was shocked with how nice the vehicle turned out being.Extremely modern, even in my low class tickets the seats were comfortable, spacious, and included a bed to sleep on.The views were also nice, but after a point were really just endless steppe.

and to your right you can see everything for the next 8 hours

It was only 9 or 10 when I cashed in for some much needed early sleep, in what may have been the most comfortable bed I've slept on in the past month.

Arrival: Monday, July 21st

I woke up naturally around 6:30am, with 2 hours remaining on the train ride. Being on a bunk with an older man below me, I didn't want to jump down and wake him, so for the remainder of the trip I simply relaxed on my bed and listened to music.

My bed and the compartment, just prior to arriving

When we arrived in Astana, exiting the train was calm and quick, far from the chaos one normally sees on a plane.Astana's difference from Almaty was quickly apparent. While the section of the city the station is in is far smaller than the usual scene in Almaty, the technology is all extremely modern. 

After taxis continuously told me that they would charge no less than 1500 Tenge to take me to the Museum of the First President, and the information desk seemingly refused to give me information on bus routes,( Or as she angrily said in Russian: "I AM NOT A MAP!") I decided to walk to the museum.

The trek was pleasant, but I really did about 5 loops around the area of the Museum

This one hour trek didn't include much sight seeing, but it did provide some interesting perspectives on differences between Almaty and Astana in that part. For one, I found Russian was far less common on the streets of "old Astana." Store signs are in Kazakh, street signs are in Kazakh, people are more often speaking Kazakh. This changed some when entering the new city, but for the time being was quite confusing as I tried to reach the Museum.

Finally, after about 30 of walking followed by 30 minutes of searching a small radius for the museum (the roads weren't labeled in that section), I found the Museum of the First President. And of course:

"Closed on Mondays"

On a brighter side, after the museum everything was extremely easy to find, as once you reach a certain point all of the major monuments and buildings are visible from far.

Part of the Astana city view from the river

After the Museum of the First President, I crossed the river into Astana Park, which was hardly notable , being largely torn apart as to accommodate a carnival. However, in the distance one could already see the rather amazing architecture of Astana, including the Khan Shatyr, Baityrek Tower, and Presidential Palace, along with multiple private skyscrapers.

The Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center
The highest tensile structure in the world

After reaching the Khan Shatyr, I took advantage of the opportunity and rested in the food court, purchasing some water from a grocery store in a lower floor and using the free internet to assure my family and AIESEC of my safe arrival.

After a bit of rest, I continued from the Khan Shatyr down what I would refer to as the Kazakh "National Mall."Following the Khan Shatyr, I came to the Bayterek tower. 

Much to my pleasant surprise, the golden ball at the top of the Bayterek is actually a hollow viewing deck, and one can purchase tickets for access with a mere 500 Tenge. Unfortunately, the gold tint of the glass caused problems with taking pictures, but I still managed to get enough memories from this point of the sights.

Path from Khan Shatyr to the Bayterek Tower

The Presidential Palace, with the Palace of Peace and Acord slightly visible in the background

At the top, one could see all of the amazing architecture new Astana displays. However, the more interesting sight for me at this height was rather the size of the city. One doesn't realize when walking through it, but from above one can see how incredibly small the spread of the city is. Additionally, whereas Almaty had mountains in the distance, in every direction from Astana there is nothing but flat steppe extending until the horizon.

After Baiterek, I continued until the Presidential Palace. This part was actually extremely unnerving for me, as, whereas the Baiterek tower had a sizable amount of people in and around the tower taking pictures and sight seeing, the area near the Presidential Palace was empty. By "empty", I don't mean one or two tourists, virtually, basically, or any other hyperbolic modifier. I was literally the only non-military person in sight.

Picture before getting out of there because that was incredibly unnerving

Judging by the fact I didn't get yelled at by the guards, and there were no blocks from the Baiterek to this area, I'm assuming that there was no rule against going to this area. However for some reason none of the tourists visiting the Khan Shatyr and Baiterek seemed to continue to the Presidential Palace. Somewhat discomforted by this, I quickly went past the Presidential Palace and continued towards the Palace of Peace and Accord, across the river behind the Presidential Palace. Once again, the Presidential Park had literally no one in its vicinity. This gave me idea that I could actually take some pictures of myself without help by setting up my camera with a timer and running back to walk towards it again.

*Crickets chirping*

So now I have quite a few pictures of me emphasizing how much I have been walking.

Finally after a considerable time just walking on my own, I reached the entrance of the Palace of Peace and Accord. Once again, this location offered a rather stunning view of an entirely new set of architectural feats.

Once again, for 500 Tenge I was able to visit the Palace of Peace and Accord and, with a guided tour translated in English, visited the precipice of the pyramid. The symbolism is incredible for the structure. I would include all of the ways the inner and outer designs were decided, but this post is already long enough as it is.

Afterwards, I continued to the Independence Square, which included in its vicinity the largest mosque in Central Asia, the "Kazakh Eli" Monument, and the National Museum, which had only opened less than a month ago on Astana Day.

Unfortunately, just like the Museum of the First President, the National Museum was closed on Monday. Even with this, the sights were wonderful.
After concluding my tour through independence square, my day of sight seeing in Astana was finished. Seeing the US Embassy along the way, I later decided to ask them by e-mail if I may be able to enter and see the inner workings of a US Embassy abroad, but they politely responded that they are too short staffed at the moment).

 I made my way back to the Khan Shatyr where I could keep contact by E-mail with AIESEC and reach out to my family. From there, I learned the location of the flat where AIESEC would be providing me accommodation, and headed there for the night.

22 Kilometers later, quite exhausted

Rest: Tuesday, July 22nd

Having already seen most of the sights of Astana city, I really only had the museums left to see and had two days left for them. With this, I decided to spend most of the second day getting to know the interns in AIESEC Astana who had so kindly agreed to host me.

Whereas AIESEC Almaty has a considerable host of over 20 interns, AIESEC Astana has 3 interns in their entirety. Two girls are from Hong Kong, and one guy is from Turkey.

They were extremely gracious hosts, preparing all meals of the day and always providing interesting conversation. Being the experienced one in the group, as most of them hadn't been in Kazakhstan for more than two weeks, I offered some advice and suggestions as to my own experience with my internship.

In addition, on this day, Bretislav was arriving from Almaty by plane. Thus, as the AIESEC Astana interns left for their own work (They work in the evening, as opposed to our morning/noon work), I stayed in the flat so that I could let in Bretislav when the time came.
Bretislav arrived shortly after they left, and we spent the remainder of the time talking about our work experience over the past week since he left for the summer camp.
The rest of the day went pretty quietly, with us not going out anywhere major and eventually going to sleep at a fairly early time.

Wrapping Up: Wednesday, July 23rd
As my last day in Astana, I focused on completing the museums and then arriving early to the train station as to not allow any room for error. Joined by Bretislav, we took the bus back to Independence Square, starting the trip from the opposite side as I did two days ago. Once again, the area was almost entirely empty.

*Crickets still chirping*

As the museum only opened at 10:30 (it being 9:30 at the time), Bretislav took the opportunity to see the Palace of Peace and Accord while I relaxed some in the lobby, having paid for the tour yesterday. (The receptionist recognized me when I walked in and was very confused at first.)

After purchasing some souviners at the base of the pyramid, we headed back to the National Museum, and were grateful to hear that there as well there were tours to be hosted in English.

The National Museum of Kazakhstan: Less than 1 month old

In addition, whereas in the Palace of Peace and Accord we would join a Kazakh tour and have everything translated secondly, Bretislav and I were treated to our own individual tour guide who went through the museum at our pace.

Unfortunately, there was only one room where we could take pictures

The museum was wonderful. Extremely extensive and extremely interesting, it kept us busy for a considerably longer time than we originally expected. It's also worth noting that this was all true with only about half of the "halls" open and on display. 

In conclusion, I walked with Bretislav to the Presidential Palace and afterwards to the Bayterek(The trip was considerably harder than it was the day I went, as on Wednesday the wind in Astana was so strong that occasionally it prevented us from walking.), where we split. 

He continued his tour by going up to the top of the tower, while I headed to the Khan Shatyr to solidify my bus routes and make sure everything was in order to leave. Everything went without a hitch at this point, and I easily and without problem left Astana by train at 6:45 pm that evening, ending my time in the capital city.

One Last Look: Kyrgyzstan Day 3

Sunday, July 13th

On the third day we woke up earlier than before, understanding that we would need to move quickly through our itinerary if I wished to still make it to the dormitory before its curfew of 11pm. To begin the day, we walked opposite of Ala Too Square as to get to the "Osh Bazaar" on the eastern side of the capital. During this hour or so of walking, we encountered many Soviet monuments and designs unchanged since the fall of the Soviet Union.

"Мы шли в бои за коммунизм"
"We went to war for Communism"

Finally, we reached the Osh Bazaar. The location was, in a word, chaotic.

The bazaar is  by no means a tourist attraction, as it is focused on food and everyday goods. Souvenirs or anything even specific to Kyrgyzstan were extremely difficult to find, even as we could find animals such as chickens, cats, dogs, and rabbits.
The bazaar itself is also a sort of maze, as only a small part of it is open aired, with the rest situated under a series of metal roofs haphazardly crafted over stalls.

The only picture I have from within the bazaar. Crossing from one metal roofing to another

Still, I managed to find some souvenirs and Zhanat took advantage of the prices to buy some useful material for her own place.

After the Osh bazaar we walked South-East with hopes of seeing the Hippodrome, a stadium which hosts horse races and traditional Kyrgyz games on holidays and other special occasions. This proved the most difficult part of the trip as many Kyrgyz didn't seem to even know how to get to the Hippodrome. Also, with visible street names being incredibly rare and the Hippodrome being just off the area covered by our map, we often found ourselves double backing and reassessing our direction.

This is just for an idea. Our route wasn't near direct.

However, after an exhausting trip throughout what is probably a rarely traveled part of Bishkek, we reached the Hippodrome.

Honestly, it's not so much a stadium or a "Hippodrome" as it is a flat field with stands at one side. Still, it was interesting to see.

After seeing the Hippodrome, we were not willing at all to take the walk back from the Hippodrome to the hostel and then further to see Ala Too Square. Luckily, right next to the Hippodrome there was a city bus stop that could take us exactly where we would need to go. 

This brings me to another topic: Bishkek City Buses.
I thought that Almaty buses were rushed and crowded. Heavens, they are first class compared to the norm in Bishkek. While considerably cheaper (A bus in Bishkek costs 10 Som (about 30 Tenge, about 20 US cents)), these buses are rather mini buses in which even I couldn't stand up straight. Moreover, there is no concept of "too many people" for the buses here. If there is a person willing to pay to ride the bus, that person will be put on the bus, no matter how many people are already in it. As a result I found myself crammed on one knee next to the driver still unable to lift my head entirely with the sloped roof.

Enduring this for some 10 or 15 minutes, we finally made it to Ala-Too Square. Amazingly, we made such good time that we arrived at 10:55, 5 minutes before the changing of the guard in the square. This change was certainly a spectacle strongly reminiscent of Moscow's own changing of the guard.

After watching the entirety of the changing of the guard, we continued to the National Museum at the back of Ala-Too Square. Paying literally 5 times more than a domestic student (Domestic students pay 30 som, whereas foreign students pay 150 som), we toured the museum for as long as it had material. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed in the museum, so I have nothing to show for this part.
The Museum is really only comprised of two floors of historical material and a floor of some modern art. The second floor is devoted entirely to the Communist movement and Soviet history in Kyrgyzstan. Including some incredible statues and depictions, this would be more interesting however if these were not depicting Russian history but rather had more to do with Kyrgyzstan. Still, the other glass exhibits did focus on Kyrgyzstan's place in the Soviet Union. I didn't see much discussing post-Independence Kyrgyzstan, but then again the exhibits were all in Russian and Kyrgyz and thus I had difficulty understanding most of it without Zhanat's help.

The State History Museum, behind Manas and the flag of Kyrgyzstan

The third floor was covered virtually all history other than Soviet history. This was an interesting floor as it included pre-civilization culture and included many artifacts from the huns and great Khanates. Most interesting, however, was the mural on the roof. It was a beautiful mural, depicting all the countries holding hands in the name of peace. Seeing countries ranging from Venezuela to Malaysia, I quickly set on finding the United States. However, I couldn't find it. It wasn't long after until I realized the mural depicted all these countries holding hands in the name of peace AGAINST the United States, which was represented by a cowboy in an American flag shirt wearing a skull mask while riding a missile. I really wish I had a picture to show it, but for now you can just imagine my own reaction seeing that at the conclusion of the museum.

After the museum we had seen everything we planned for in Bishkek, and earlier than expected we set out for Almaty. The bus ride was the same as before, with the exception of having an American joining us in the bus.

Us at the end of our trip. Not long after, he caught a train to Astana

Beyond this, to make coincidence further, he's half Puerto Rican! Whereas this was just part of a small excursion for us though, he is set in an extremely long-term trip crossing Asia and Europe without planes, relying on "couchsurfing" for stay. His stories are already extremely interesting, and I'm certainly looking forward to hearing more from his own adventure.

Making excellent time, we arrived in Almaty at around 9. While we had trouble with the buses, once it started raining we simply hailed a taxi to take us to our perspective homes. 

Arriving before even those that were still in Almaty returned to the dorm, I concluded my trip by gladly collapsing on my bunk bed.

Issyk Kul: Kyrgyzstan Day 2

Knowing most of the day would be spent headed to and from Issyk Kul, Zhanat and I woke up at 7 am as to have time to start exploring Bishkek. Shortly after waking up, we headed for the closest sight available, Ala Too Square. Here there were several monuments within a small area along with various government buildings. In the center stood statue of Manas, a national legendary hero, and behind him the national museum.

The statue of Manas with the Kyrgyz State Museum in the back

However, we went quickly through most of these monuments as to get to the World War II monument by 8pm, expecting that to be the time of the changing of the guard. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. The changing of the guard only happens every 3 hours in Bishkek, and while it begins at 8, it does so in Ala-Too Square, where we already were, not the World War II Monument.

Unfortunately, by this point we needed to head back, and at 9:30am, we rejoined with Zhanat's friends and left by car for Issyk Kul. The route to Issyk Kul was certainly interesting as, whereas Almaty has mountains to one side and near endless steppe to the other, Kyrgyzstan is almost entirely valley and thus one is virtually always surrounded by mountains. 

On the way, there were yurts everywhere, far more than I had seen in Kazakhstan, and often not to cater to tourists but simply to sell food out of.

Various merchant yurts at Issyk Kul Lake

Contrary to the grassy, rolling plains leading to mountains that we saw leaving Almaty, the road to Issyk Kul was largely arid, sharp hills. After a certain point, the only vegetation visible remained close to a single river which we drove close to for the majority of the trip.

Confirming for myself, as I was a bit nervous about returning on time to see more of Bishkek the next morning, I asked in the best Russian I could muster "В какой город мы едeм?," to which they quickly replied what I had expected, Balykchy, the closest town on Issyk Kul to Bishkek. However, as we reached Issyk Kul some hours later, I realized we were not stopping but continuing along the road.After some 40 minutes without stopping while Issyk Kul was in sight, I asked again if we were still going to that town. Instead, we were now going to Чолпон-Ата (Cholpon-Ata), on the north of the lake as opposed to the west.

I was very nervous about this, however they assured me that we would still be able to return to Bishkek in good time, and that Cholpon Ata was a far better place to see the lake than Balykchy. When we arrived, the reason why they preferred this location as opposed to the western end was obvious.

While in Balykchy, some mountains were just visible in the distance and made a lovely sight, in Cholpan-Ata, the mountains were right by us clearly in the view at all times. The view was stunning and certainly worth the additional time.

The water was absolutely freezing, so we had difficulty managing to get ourselves in. Before we really swam in the water, one of Zhanat's friends came to us with a proposition: For a price of around $8 USD, we could parasail over the lake. Neither Zhanat and I had ever parasailed before, so this was a certainly interesting proposition. We ended up taking it, and I'll let the pictures tell the rest of that story.

After parasailing, we swam some before renting out paddle boat for two for less than $1 USD. For about an hour with that, we paddled (or rather I paddled while Zhanat acted out the mast of the ship :) ) across our section of Issyk Kul multiple times. When not using the paddle boat, we walked up and down the beach area of Cholpon Ata, simply exploring and looking for interesting sights.

When we returned, Zhanat's friends admitted that they would rather stay the night. Understanding that I wanted to see Bishkek before heading back to Kazakhstan, Zhanat was kind enough to join me in returning to Bishkek by bus. After arriving, we passed by many monuments once more at night, as Bishkek proved far more alive than in the mornings.

Where the streets were empty in the morning, now festivities ran as kids shot up light up toys into the air and dozens of stands were set up offering food and games. While it would have been interesting to explore Bishkek at this time with so many people around, we focused on getting back to the hostel.

Finally, a long walk later, we arrived at the hostel and not long after passed out, understanding that we would need to wake up early again the next day as to see more of Bishkek before returning to Almaty.

South of another Border: Kyrgyzstan Day 1

Day 1: Friday, July 11th

Well, this was more than slightly delayed. For this, as there were so many parts to tell and so many impressions to include, I decided to post these as separate stories rather than one large compilation of my experience in Kyrgyzstan. It's in more of a journal format than the past ones, but I felt that was the best way to go over the weekend.

After completing my days's work at the orphanage, I skipped the provided lunch and headed back to the dorm with K, who had some travel agency business to take care of. Spending my last time of the week in the internet room (yes the internet room), Zhanat arrived to guide me and make sure I didn't accidentally end up stranded in Tajikistan.
 

Zhanat and I planning out our trip in the dorm

We rode the bus for a few stops before getting off  near the home of one of Zhanat's relatives to drop off her "notebook." Now, I offered to carry her notebook when she said this, as it didn't make sense to me why she would find it necessary to drop off a binder. It was only afterwards that I realized "notebook" meant laptop computer, making a great deal more sense. We walked the remainder to the bus station, only 15 minutes.  Finally, we arrived at the bus station, and for 1,300 T ($7), purchased a ride to Bishkek, over 200 Kilometers away.

 
The bus ride was chaotic. Any traffic laws mean nothing on the road from Almaty to Bishkek. The entire trip is cars playing leap frog with each other while barely avoiding head on collisions. Still, the ride was interesting. On the way I saw multiple herds of animals unconstrained by fences but rather guided by men on horses. Also, I saw multiple yurts, which until then I had assumed were merely artifacts of culture rather than something still used. Amusingly adding on to this, nearly every vendor on the road, even some yurts, had a "Coca Cola" banner hung on the mantel. For almost the entire time, there was a stunning view of the mountains beyond the plains and foothills around us.

 Finally, after 4 or 5 hours, we arrived at the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border. The only border I've ever been across on land is the US-Canada Border. So, seeing the barbed wire, no man's land, and security on this border was quite a shock. We exited the bus as Zhanat hurried me through the gates, warning of the holdups possible. However, the customs in Kazakhstan's side brightened the mood significantly as, when he held up my passport smiled, pumped his fist and said "Obama!" The Kyrgyz side was more solemn, but actually quick. This was very different from the experience I had heard from Marko, MJ, and Bretislav during their trip before. We exited as one of the first of our bus to make it to the other side. After waiting some time for the bus, it finally got through and quickly picked up those available, leaving without almost half the bus.

 
Many differences was immediately clear between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. On the radio, a Russian speaking man would be brief before introducing various English language songs (though sung by Kyrgyz performers). Signs were much harder to discern, as Kyrgyzstan, while adding letters necessary for their Turkic language in addition to utilizing the Russian alphabet, does not add so many indicators as the Kazakh alphabet does.  However the most interesting part was reaching Bishkek itself. As one intern who lived in Bishkek for a while remarked: "It makes Almaty look like New York." I can certainly understand this, as when the bus stopped I never realized we entered a city. I hadn't seen a single building over four stories tall. In fact, I saw far more trees than buildings.
 
After getting off the bus, we struggled to find the hostel Zhanat's friends owned, with unclear bus routes and an uncertain destination. Finally, with the help of a friendly taxi driver's patience, we found the hostel. Unfortunately, all the beds were taken, however this just meant that I got to sleep on the couch at no cost!

 Zhanat's friends were extremely friendly, and we soon left to have a meal before stores closed. I wanted to have Шашлык when we arrived (have I mentioned I love Шашлык?) , but unfortunately this would take too long and we were planning to take our food to go. Instead, I tried a new dish: Куурдак ( Kuurdak ). It was delicious, though actually fairly familiar as it comprised of a combination of beef, potatoes, and onions not foreign in the United States.

 
Afterwards, we relaxed some in a club next to the hostel called the "Black Rabbit" blasting dubstep renditions of songs people from any country would know like "Happy" and "Gangnam Style." I was pleased to meet another American there, (From California), along with many other very interesting international travelers from a variety of countries from Australia to Poland. 

However, I left early as to get enough sleep. The next day, I would be waking up early to see Bishkek before we head out to Issyk Kul.