After we had been here a month, I had an urge to explore outside our city. We had already seen and done so much, but I was ready for more. By that point, we had borrowed a car from someone that walked to work. To drive from the city was not an option- there is literally no place to go. The steppe is a lot like Nebraska….fields and meadows for hundreds of miles with no stops. (Rest areas are a hole dug in the ground with a wall to block the view from the highway.) There are many villages, but no points of interest (many villages do not even have schools).
We took a day trip to Karaganda, the nearest city of 5,000 or more. We rode the new train (also known as the ‘sitting up train’, as opposed to the ‘sleeping train’…!), and managed it well, especially considering how little Russian we knew and that Mike was already back in DC, so was not with us!
When he returned from DC, he had a few days of meetings in Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, so suggested we all join him. As one of the hotels offering government rates was the Ritz-Carlton, I agreed it was a good idea! 🙂
The Ritz is a 30-story building, at the base of the Tian-Shen mountain range. The mountains reach up to 17,000 feet, with many 16,000-ft peaks. They are STUNNING. We were amazed after landing to discover they were snow-topped, even though it was 97F in the city. The hotel is positioned on the top 10 floors of the building, so the lobby is on the 30th floor (rooms are 20-27). I will never forget walking into the lounge/breakfast room and seeing the panorama of the Tian Shen mountains….WOW! Of course the rooms and hotel were great, the food was outstanding, but the view captured us. This was KAZAKHSTAN….!?! To that point, we had only known the flat, open steppe of northern Kz. Fortunately, the hotel had english-speaking guides to recommend, so we took a day trip up into the mountains. After about an hour drive, we stopped at one of the most beautiful sights any of us will ever see….Big Almaty Lake. At 8200+ feet, this mountain lake is crystal clear. Reflecting the clear blue sky, and surrounded by peaks well past 13,000 feet, all 6 of us were speechless (a real challenge). Michael’s first reaction was, “I’m going to live here when I grow up. I could stay here my whole life.” Wow! That’s a ‘Legit’ compliment coming from a 15-year old boy! I was thrilled to have found something we equally adored.
The lake is the main water source for the city, and is therefore guarded by police to prevent swimming or fishing. (Our guide did let us know we weren’t missing out, as there are no fish; it’s too cold for any wildlife and we would not enjoy it. I don’t know if thats true, but didn’t care, as I wasn’t planning to get in.) The police patrol is a deterrent to hiking too close to the lake, too. We stayed up on the rocks to get the best photos…of which we took hundreds.
We were not able to drive any higher since it was a weekend day and so many locals had driven up for picnics, the roads were muddy from rain, and clogged with cars. We knew enough not to argue with the driver’s assessment, so made our way back down to the city, to see First President’s Park.
We spent several more days exploring Almaty, but once you have been in the mountains of Ile Alatau National Park, it is hard to find anything nearing that spectacular beauty.
We were not quite ready to leave Kazakhstan for the other Central Asian countries that were a part of Mike’s region, but were fascinated that the Kyrgyz Republic was directly behind the peak at the backdrop of our photos. Actually, the border is on the backside of the snow-covered peak in these photos. The mountainous region of the Kyrgyz Republic covers 80% of the country. It is known as the Switzerland of Central Asia.
Trips to the other ‘stans’ eventually happened, and we have loved the varying landscapes and cultural differences we have witnessed. We just weren’t there yet, in Month 2. But our trip to Almaty helped us love our new home country so much more, now that we understood the diverse resources and natural beauty of Kazakhstan!
Malschskis 