(This is a continuation of my previous post on my trip to Astana, capital city of Kazakhstan.)

We took a cab from the sparkling new city across the river to the Right Bank, where most of the city lies. Before the beginning of the current remont Tselinograd was a fairly standard Kazakh/Soviet city. From all the pictures/materials that I’ve seen (mainly the odd ‘Akmola Encyclopedia’ published in the mid-1990’s) it had the same square, theater, roads etc that you’d find elsewhere. So heading to the older neighborhoods I was very eager to find that familiarity lost in the plastic grandness of the Left Bank.

New construction on Sary Arka

The cab was, like much else in Astana, overpriced: 500 tenge (about $4.15) for a 10 minute ride that would cost 300 in Almaty. Strangely, taxis in the Almaty, the richest city in Kazakhstan, are the same price or cheaper than many other places. The minimum fare is 200 tenge, which is identical to that in a regional center like Kizilorda. I’d put it down to simple economics: in a system where literally any driver can decide to be a ‘taxi’, Almaty has the greatest supply of drivers, so competition keeps the fares down. 

Our first stop was the real downtown around Republic Avenue, the western part of the city. This part of the city has also undergone a facelift, with many new buildings or fresh coats of paint, especially around the waterfront. The Ishim river runs through Astana, and has been augmented/reformed to give it a nic breadth through the center. Conversely, no major body of water is to be found in our fair Almaty.

Indeed after living there for a year and driving by man-made Lake Kapchagai (some 130km north) I nearly wet myself. So Astana’s waterfront is aesthetically very nice, especially on a warm, clear summer evening. During the other nine months of the year it’s probably not as pleasant. The area also had a ‘movie set’ feel to it, but on a different scale. I saw 2-3 story buildings, quaint side streets, small freshly planted trees (for another comparison, Almaty has absolutely monstrous trees) under streetlights. Almost Americana.

One other impression I got around this neighborhood was of a cold place. Not so much cold as in impersonal, but as in ‘holy #$%@ this place is cold in winter (although it’s very likely the two are related). Maybe it was the hard angles of the white, rectangular slabs of apartment blocks resembling chunks of ice. Or the flatness of the terrain harkening the emptiness of the steppe.  The breeze was constant, and, I can imagine it sweeping through in January or February like an atomic blast, only freezing rather than melting everything in its path.

Republic Avenue

Republic Avenue is the main thoroughfare here, wide and open with set back brightly painted apartments containing shops on the street level. The space is large and comfortable; the air fresh. Life is organized and settled, even a bit sterile. Things become more interesting, however, as we made our way east to the older part of town (remember, ‘old’ in Astana is a relative term, think Soviet). And while on the Left Bank the only remotely familiar sight was a branch of the supermarket chain Gros, filled with comforting Maxi Chais and Pirozhkis; over here signs of the Kazakhstan I know began popping up. 

Balcony Life in KZ

We had to switch buses on while on the way to Eurasia University, and I spotted a grilled chicken stand (1000 tenge for a whole bird). The buildings were smaller and a faded beige/clay color or brick. They reminded me of Taraz in the south, but really it could’ve been anywhere. What I love about these buildings is that, thought uniform in design and construction, each has evolved by continuous remont, visibly by the widely different styles of balconies.  As a matter of fact, a balcony was being redone as we were standing waiting for the bus. 

Fishin'

We continued East, near the the University, and approached the balka, or canal, that comes up from the River Ilysh. A statue of a playful Pushkin looks over the water besides Ablai Khan Avenue. People were enjoying the day off by fishing, but it was otherwise quiet. As it was June, school was out and the campus clear of students. Crossing back east over the balka we spotted an unusual sight in Kazakhstan: a synagogue, bright blue, shiny and new, situated next to a just as modern highway overpass. 

Kvas for sale

The neighborhood here was distinctly Kazakh. The dust of life thats apparent everywhere in this dry country. I even saw kvas being sold on the street. A traditional Russian carbonated beverage, usually made from bread, kvas is usually sold from big yellow barrels like this one on the street. 

Time came to head back, so we got into another overpriced taxi and started back to the western side of town. Driving along Abai I could see the creep of the modern construction seeping into the older parts of town.  Dust, dirt, metal fences enclosing the sites, wooden planks over the roadside irrigation canals acting as improvised sidewalks. 

Cranes, cranes everywhere...

Just visiting there’s no way to tell how much of the construction was ongoing, and how much frozen. The financial crisis and extreme mismanagement have meant a lot of building firms have gone under in the country, and in the two largest markets especially, that means a lot of unfinished projects are left waiting.

These neighborhoods revealed another Astana. One not worried about, plans, progress or politics. One more concerned with getting by in 2008 than in 2030 (referring to the well-publicized strategic development plan of the President). A place worn, lived-in. But just as the new overtakes the old, the same signs of life that existed here will spread into the new neighborhoods. What the city needs is time, and people.  The former will come of course, and the city will evolve naturally. But the latter? It’s hard to say. 

One thing that is sure is as more and more native-born Astanites grow up they will make the city their own. Many will be sons and daughters of the internal migrants coming from nearby regions. Just as Almaty’s population is booming with people from Shymkent, Taraz and the south, Astana’s growth has been fueled by incomers from the surrounding area. Many people i met were from Karaganda, Semipalatinsk or Kostanai, for example. Residents who moved earlier, 6-12 years ago, are already local. 

This is one reason Astana is not completely damned to be an administrative hole like Canberra or Brasilia. The fact is that it is already the ‘Second City’ of Kazakhstan, having surpassed Karaganda in population, though not yet vibrancy. (If Almaty is New York and Shymkent Dallas, then Karaganda would be Chicago) It will continue to pull in these migrants as long as the situation remains stable. While the same government ‘elite’ who were forced to move from Almaty will continue to have roots there, the new core will remain. Like Washington DC has dual populations. One is always shifting, in and out, either students (like I was), or those working in the government, policy or international sectors (like I may be someday). the other is stable and native. 

Young Astanites

Both populations will be critical to building and shaping the city’s character as a whole (which so far is still lacking). For better or worse Astana is also linked to the future of the country. Nazarbaev often calls it his ‘dream’, in speeches and writing. But it is also useful as a barometer of Kazakhstan over the next 20 years.

The biggest concern is the overextension of development because of poor regulation. Some people criticize the city as being generic and planned, but the real threat is overdevelopment, and useless building projects harming the city life. Astana will likely never be as big as Almaty, or at least not for a long time, but the rate of construction has been just as high. Just who will fill up these new living and business spaces? 

Four days in Astana, and only 1 1/2 to snoop around, are not enough, and I look forward to my next visit, later this month, to explore some more of the neighborhoods, and see even more bizarreness (like the Pyramid). I also want to check out more of the Northern identity. Kazakhstan, like the US, is has two distinct regions: a more traditional south, and the heavily Russian-influenced north. Just this past week I was meeting some friends from Taraz (southern), and some people from Semipalatinsk (northern). I can’t quite describe the difference yet, but it was clearly felt. Astana itself is a bit of a bubble in the north, so it was hard to delve deep into the matter. The only quirk I noticed was Kazakhs using the Kazakh greeting of ‘kolaisin’ more often than the standard russian ‘privet’ heard in Almaty. In both cases, however, the speaker will most likely continue in Russian.

While my stay was short, this piece has also been written from the past year of experiencing the Astana mythos publicized by the government. Astana is not just a city, but a brand, being advertised and sold on billboards, songs, magazines. In July, the month of the city’s 10th birthday, there were an even higher number of fluff reports articles thrown out. Even in the first day of school all across the country, a lecture was devoted to tell the student’s about this ‘ideal’ city. This is why people have very strong opinions about the city, because these artificial expectations are so high. I’ve tried to ignore not only the propaganda, but also the simple criticisms and comparisons people make about Astana.

When I was studying and work I was working in Washington, DC, I often heard people (of the in-and-out type I described above) comparing DC to New York City. But for me (sometimes nonjudgemental to a fault) it doesn’t seem fair to compare a city of 10 million to one of 600,000. The same thing happens in Kazakhstan, and Astana will never be Almaty, and shouldn’t try. This being said, many of the complaints hold true: there’s not as much to do, expensive, the winter weather is atrocious (although the air quality in Astana seems to be much healthier). 

In the end, regardless of whether you prefer Astana or Almaty, there’s one thing we can agree on: they are both much nicer places to live than the original capital, Kizilorda!

Over the next week or so you’ll have the chance to read about some summer travels, about which, nakonets, I’ve had the time to write. In July and August I ventured outside of Kazakhstan and reached two opposite ends of Asia. In the East were Japan and South Korea. In the West was Russia, including Russia proper and its Republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortistan.

I will share with you not only my impressions of these three countries, with vastly different cultures and people, but comparisons to my current home of Kazakhstan. Aside from comparing the characters of each city, on this trip I was eager to learn if the cliche about some ‘generic’ Asian values being part of Kazakh culture had any truth. As well I hoped to see the originating point of the overwhelming Russian/Soviet influence on this country. 

I’ll divide the 6+ weeks on the road (which included a short a pit-stop back in Almaty) into 10 parts, including one post on my final return home. In Japan I spent most of my time in the historic city of Kyoto, Imperial Capital for over 1000 years. While hosting more UNESCO sights than you can shake a fist at, I was more interested to absorb Japan’s truly otherworldly culture and the daily rhythm of a city that exemplifies the term ‘concrete jungle’.

Aside from short day trips to Nara and Osaka, the next stop of mine was Tokyo. To say this city left me speechless would be a lie, as I’m talking to you about it right now, but at some moments I had no words to describe the colossality  of Tokyo-heck I just had to make up a new word for it!. As each new neighborhood unfolded a I became further immersed in a never ending urban maze of her streets. 

The third and last stop of the East Asian leg was Seoul, an unexpected visit that I was lucky to experience after missing a connecting flight back to Almaty. While in my head I’d expected much outward similarity between Korean and Japanese cultures, vibrant Seoul was quite a shock.

The second half of my trip was to Russia. Lingering only a few miserable hours in Moscow, I spent almost a week beside the river Volga in Nizhny Novgorod, one of the major urban and industrial centers of the country.  From there I went to Kazan’, capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan.  Kazan’ is both a truly beautiful place, and a clever mix between Turkic and Slavic influences, much like Kazakhstan.

Finally it was time to head home to Almaty, but, as I decided to take a multi-day train back, the adventures were far from over.  Physically I passed through Ufa, capital of The Bashkir Republic, and old frontier city Orenburg before fizzling out just across the Kazakh border in Aktobe. Culturally, however, I was far from the steppe, onboard a train which was bound ultimately for Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This being the summer season, I shared my wagon with mostly Uzbek workers returning home for vacation. 

You can see a list of the different parts below and I’ll update the links as each new post appears, so use this page as a home base for the journey. 

Part I: Kyoto, Japan

Part II: Tokyo, Japan

Part III: Seoul, South Korea

Part IV: Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

Part V: Kazan’, Tatarstan (Russia)

Parts VI,VII, VIII: Ulyanovsk-Aktobe by Train

Part IX: Aktobe, Kazakhstan

Part X: Back in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, for those not in the know, is the 9th largest country in the world. Andorra ranks 196th, squeezed between Saint Lucia and some semi-country known as The Northern Mariana Islands. So it was not a surprise to see what would happen when the two countries met in their first 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Match in late August.

Central Stadium at Night

First some background information on both teams. Kazakhstan (which since 2002 competes in European competitions, not Asian) has had some good home form: beating Serbia, tying Belgium, and holding Portugal goalless for about 80 minutes in 2007.

Minuscule Andorra, on the other hand, only joined FIFA in 1996. Since that time the country has 1 win, at home against Macedonia in October 2004. That in itself is  remarkable  when you consider the country has no professional league and a a population of about 70,000.

Also in the group are England, Belarus, Croatia and the Ukraine, the latter making a visit to Almaty on September 10th.

  

A storm last night brought the first whiff of autumn, crisper air and slightly cooler temperatures. And with autumn comes the beginning of school. September 1st is the traditional day for that in Kazakhstan, and I spent the ‘Day of Knowledge’ in the ‘village’ of Turkistan in the South of Kazakhstan. The main part of the ceremonies concerned welcoming the new 1st formers, and saying

Students lining up for a dance

goodbye to the soon to be departed 11th formers (Kazakh education system has 11 grades/forms). Speeches by the school leaders, singing and dancing were in hand, including the national anthem and that annoying but catchy ‘Astana’ song you can never escape (what is the name exactly? Anyone got a youtube link?).

Through the door...

Everyone was in their ‘Monday best’, with the boys in suits and the girls in black skirts and white shirts. Their uniforms also include giant white fuzzies in their hair (pretty damn cute!). Some variations on the uniform included light blue scarves or ties, or, more bizarrely, some girls wearing what was basically a French Maid outfit.

 Near the end of the festivities the different 1st grade classes were led through a ‘door’ to symbolize their entrance into school while older students gleefully through confetti on them. Afterwards there were no classes the first day, just an special session on Astana, apparently a nationwide occurance.

One of the consequences of the end of summer and the beginning of school/university is the streets are a bit quieter back in Almaty. I was walking through 28-Panfilov Park in town, the centerpiece of which is a magnificent cathedral, when I noticed how much quieter it was…take a look:

Flower Alley with the Cathedral in the background

Plaza beside the Cathedral

In case you were wondering where I’ve disappeared to, I’ve been traveling for most of the past 6 weeks. There’s a lot to catch up on, not to mention finishing writing about my Astana trip. To hold you over here are some pictures of students watching the solar eclipse on August 1st. They came up with an inventive solution: using an old fashioned 3.5″ disk to view it. It didn’t get quite so dark, more like an eerie dimness, but it was still a fun event.

There’s an interesting article from Reuters on the Olympic construction boom in Beijing (and some great pictures). In preparation for the 2008 Games, China has concentrated on building ‘futuristic architectural statements’ to show off the state’s development. International events like the Olympics have long been used by the host nation as this type of showcase. In heavily ideological countries like the USSR and China, the importance reaches a new level. Tristram Carfrae, engineer and designer of the ‘Water Cube’ building, sees this as exactly the case:

“If you look at Beijing’s history of architecture and design as being about monumentalism, about the grand statement, then why should these sport venues be any different?”

New Opera House in Astana by the Presidential Palace

The article covers some of the same issues I wrote about with all the new buildings in Astana, where new architecture is used to bolster the image of the new state. The presence of an authoritarian government in China also plays a big role in the size and scope of these buildings, and Kazakhstan has a similar ability to harness state resources for infrastructure and public buildings.

“Authorities can simply order 1,000 of the country’s best welders to leave their homes and come weld the ‘Bird’s Nest’ together in Beijing,” said Ming. “This is what can be done here.”

Part of a new cable car to Shymbulak from Medeo

Further of note is the fact that Almaty will be hosting the Asian Winter Games in 2011. While the stage is not as big, the government will clearly look to these events to do the same type of thing. It will be interesting to see how they move to ‘clean up’ the city as they draw nearer. More designer bus stops? So far the money is being poured into the facilities of Shymbulak and Medeo- the mountain skating and ski resorts just south of the city.

Finally, the article brings attention to something Kazakhstan is missing for its new buildings: cool ernicknames. Beijing has ‘The Bird’s Nest’ and ‘The Dragon’s Back’ (designed by our pals at Foster). Kazakhstan has ‘The Lighter”. Any ideas for nicknaming some of Astana or Almaty’s new gems? Or some that already exist and I may not know about?

So by now I’ve spent 10 months living and working in Almaty. I’ve had some time to think, what makes Almaty interesting? What sets it apart? Why am I writing about it…besides the obvious fact that it’s the only city I currently reside, and thus my only material for these ramblings.

Before talking about Almaty in specific, let’s consider in general what gives a city it’s character, a sense of place? Certainly there are things that make each city unique. Perhaps it’s quantifiable, e.g. x number of quaint curved streets plus y meters of glittering waterfront times z colorful citizenry. Or maybe its not so specific, an atmosphere, a rhythm. Whatever the case, even without thinking about it whenever you visit a city it doesn’t take long to get a sense of where you are. After some time in Berlin, you are in no way mistaken as to where you are. Tokyo is definitely Tokyo, Paris is Paris, Istanbul is… well you get the idea. The identity of a city is also tied to its country and citizens. Tokyo is quite Japanese, Paris undoubtedly French, modern, sprawling Istanbul is (despite a long and varied multinational history) Turkish.

Kalinina/Furmanova

‘Duh,’ you are probably saying to yourself. What does this have to do with Kazakhstan? Almaty, the former capital and largest city in the country (think New York), lacks a distinct sense of place. Being here almost a year now, I am just beginning to get past this outer layer and discover the unique features of the city, but why so long? If you can list characteristics that make a city unique, can you do the opposite and analyze something generic? What does this say about the country and its peoples? To start with, I can find three superficial causes from three different time periods.

1. No “Kazakhness” of the city. If Tokyo is Japanese, and Paris French, Almaty is not a historically “Kazakh” city. In fact that term itself is somewhat of an oxymoron. Kazakhs were, until the Russians came in the 19th Century, a nomadic people, so not much developed in terms of settlements. Almaty was founded as Verniy, a Russian outpost. And until independence was still heavily Russified.
2. The Soviet Factor. The city dates back to the mid 19th Century, but most of the development occurred in the Soviet era. The predominant face of the Almaty is therefore the same grey 5-6 story apartment blocks you can see from Vladivostok to East Berlin. So it’s not just a ‘Russian thing’.
3. The ‘modern’ new architecture. Alongside these old apartments have sprung up over the past several years many new ‘modern’ high rise apartments. Many of these often beige, orange, blue or glass treasures are of questionable aesthetic and structural quality, but have added an additional layer to the cityscape. More height, boldness, to Almaty’s nonexistent skyline.

Sunset over Samal neighborhood

Almaty does have a character, does have its own soul, but it’s not so easy to find out. These are just some of the obstacles, just on the surface, that you have to get past to find it.

Кош келдініздер to the first official post! So why are we here? Where the hell is Almaty anyway? Kazakhstan you say…?

Personally, when I first knew I was moving to Almaty I looked about for information on ‘real life’ here. I tried to find even some pictures of the city, and found them extremely lacking. Most of the international coverage is on politics or economic development.  Even having studied Central Asia, the only ideas I had about Almaty came from my experience living in another Soviet Bloc city: Sofia, Bulgaria. For a city of over 1.5 million people, and one called the most ‘cosmopolitan’ city of the region, that should not be the case. I hope to try and fill in that gap.

Kazakhstan (and even Almaty) is generally lumped into the generic ’silk road’ category, so one of my other goals is to deromanticize this place. Maybe I’m already cynical, but it’s not quite as exotic as some think. I’ll rather write about my observations of the day-to-day sights, sounds and feel of the city. And while the main topic will be the city itself,  I’ll also try to give a sense of character to the different cities/regions in this 9th largest country of the world, and the near abroad. 

So this site is basically geared towards someone like I was a year ago. Someone with an interest in Central Asia, the former Soviet Bloc, or just foreign cities in general, but who hasn’t have the chance to travel. Or maybe someone who is thinking of coming to Almaty and wants to learn about it, or already has been and wants to reminisce. Enjoy!