Wednesday 13 September 2023
Our trip to Kazakhstan started with a taxi, train and bus to Heathrow. A very swift check in and empty security made it all very stress free. The stress started to mount as our 1330 flight to Frankfurt was delayed initially by 30 minutes, then another 45 and once we were in the plane and nearing the runway, Heathrow airspace closed for 15 minutes! We took off 90 minutes late as our generous 2:40 connection time was evaporating in front of our eyes. Fortunately the pilot put her foot down, we landed only 60 minutes late and we had a quick gallop through the Frankfurt terminals to our gates. I nearly derailed the whole thing by joking with the security officer that I didn’t have a gun. Why do people (me!) say such idiotic things? Fortunately he decided I just looked potty and let me pass without incident. I did get frisked though and reprimanded for having a paper tissue in my pocket. After all this we had no time to play at the cool play area.
The flight was fine and I can recommend Air Astana.
Thursday 14 September 2023
We landed at 0500 which was midnight UK time. An easy navigation through customs, baggage arrived intact and taxi was waiting for us. The hotel very kindly offered us a room at reduced rate for the morning so we crashed into bed for much needed sleep.
In the afternoon we put our "let’s-explore-Astana hats on". We started with Nur-Astana Mosque.
Then off to Khan Shatyr, a shopping centre designed by the British architect Norman Foster and claim to being the world’s largest tent.
We walked in and we could have been anywhere in the world over! Accessorise, Under Armour, L’Occitant - global brand names nestled under a fascinating domed roof. We found a coffee shop to recharge and were super grateful for the google app and Russian dictionary we'd downloaded which worked off line: we could just point the camera at a menu and work out what it said. I ordered soup and JC fried chicken. This came not with cutlery, but with black rubber gloves (to prevent sticky fingers) and a bowl (for bones). I leant him my fork (which was pretty useless for soup) so he had a fork/finger system going. The Moroccan and honey tea was delicious. We were in yummy tea territory.
We popped upstairs to see the adventure area and found a dinosaur park with monorail circulating. The top floor has a beach and canal set up apparently but for 20 USD each I wasn’t even vaguely tempted.
We walked eastwards down Nurzhol Boulevard which hosts Astana’s many corporate business/finance offices gawping at the shiny buildings. Astana is very new as a capital (since 1997) and is designed to be a sparkly architectural showcase.
Lovers Park lead on to a curiously named area “round square”.
More shiny buildings, and getting closer to Baiterek Tower. But not before I was profoundly amused by the sad/happy face which accompanies road crossings in Astana.
Anyway, the Baiterek Tower was allegedly designed on napkin by the first President of Kazakhstan, and is 97 m high, to chime with the year of Astana’s elevation to capital. The views were great but photography opportunities stymied by thick glass and lack of outdoor viewing platform.
From here we hiked about 3 km east, past Ak Orda (the Presidential Palace), Supreme Court and other shiny government buildings then over the River Ishim. Our goal was the Hazret Sultan Mosque but I spotted a frog first.
Opened in 2012 this (the mosque, not the frog) can accommodate up to 5,000 worshippers, and is apparently one of the largest mosques in the world.
We trudged back in time to see Ak Orda lit up. Supper saw me have my second soup of the day and omelette whilst JC had meat stuff [food turned out to a challenge for me as expected - I ate a lot of eggs - my record being 4 in one day - fried veg, rice and soup]. And an even more lit up Baiterek Tower greeted us on our walk back.
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