Almaty is a major city in Kazakhstan and the main entry point if you are flying into that country. During our recent Central Asian trip, we spent two days in Almaty. This post is about our experience in this beautiful city.
Arriving at airport and travel to hotel
We travelled to Almaty on Air Arabia flight and flew via Sharjah. Almaty airport looked small, requiring a serious upgrade. Nevertheless, both immigration and baggage delivery happened quickly. We withdrew some cash from the ATM at the airport. I had enabled international roaming on Airtel, and it started to work nicely. So far, so good!
From the airport, we took the bus no 92 to the city. Here, we faced first problems with the language. Also, we struggled to understand how to make payment as the QR code that people were scanning would not work for outsiders. One person decided to help us by paying money on our behalf. He refused to take money, telling us that we were his guests. All our conversations happened over Google Translate.
It rained heavily in Almaty that day. While the rain subsided when we alighted from the bus, there was waterlogging everywhere. Our shoes were wet by the time we reached our hotel. My first impressions of the airport and city were not positive, though people seemed to be super friendly. Even the hotel receptionist did not speak English, though she was very courteous and helpful (of course via Google Translate)
Though we had plans to go around the city in the evening, we called it a day due to the rains, and we were tired. The nearby “Govinda restaurant” took care of our dinner!!
Big Almaty lake
Our second day in Almaty started with a visit to Big Almaty Lake. The weather was good that day. I have explained about it in the video below. Our travel to Big Almaty Lake showed that Kazakhstan was not interested in developing tourism. Anyway, things worked out very well for us, and we were back in the city before noon. It allowed us to explore the city.
Zenkov’s cathedral
We started our city tour with Zenkov’s cathedral, a Ukrainian-baroque Russian Orthodox cathedral built in 1907. The area was lively with Sunday goers and kids playing in the park surrounding the cathedral.
The cathedral is located in Panfilov Park. If you want to know more about Panfilov, visit this Wikipedia site. Very interesting. A lot of Soviet stuff in the park.
The most imposing structure was the Monument of Glory, a war memorial. The monument is an homage to the Kazakh soldiers who fought during the world wars in the past century. The eternal flame gives homage to the soldiers sacrificing their lives. A total of 27 million Soviet people lost their lives in the Second World War. A huge price paid by the country.
I was surprised that the timeline mentioned was from 1917-1920 and 1941-1945. We all know that the First World War happened between 1914 – 1918 and World War 2 from 1939 – 1945. Why a different timeline in the monument? If you understand Soviet/communist history, you will know the answer.
Parks and monuments
From Panfilov Park, we started walking south. As we walked on the street, we were amazed by the beauty of the city. A nicely planned city, Almaty has wide roads, footpaths, fountains and gardens. It was a sheer pleasure to walk on the streets of the city. At the same time, we were also depressed by the state of Indian cities. We have swanky malls, apartments and buildings, but infrastructure and quality of life are pathetic. Sigh!
We passed through various statues and monuments, mostly dating to the Soviet era. Very impressive.
Abay Opera
Another Soviet building. This marvellous opera house also has inspiration from Greek architecture. We did not get into the opera, but the outside view itself was gorgeous.
Freedom Square
We walked further to reach Freedom Square. Located next to a wide road, this monument honours Kazakhstan’s independence.
The area opposite Freedom Square was undergoing renovation. The Presidential palace was burnt during the violent protests of Jan 2022, and efforts were in place to restore it.
A lot of monuments in this area.
Almaty central mosque
We had reached the end of our walk. But we had missed one major attraction, Almaty central mosque on the other side. We took the metro and walked to reach this place.
The white building with a golden-coloured dome looked beautiful.
We ended our packed day, which was filled with a lot of experiences.
Almaty to Bishkek
Next day morning, we took the bus to Almaty. The bus was at 8 AM and we reached the bus stand 30 minutes before and got tickets. The five hour bus journey to Bishkek was uneventful.
Information and tips
- Kazakhstan has visa free entry for Indians. More details can be found here.
- People do not speak English. It is better to learn some Kazakh or Russian language. Google Translate helps in bridging language issues.
- While public transportation is good, Google Maps does not list it. It makes it difficult to use public transport. Metro is easier to travel, but there is only one line! 2GIS maps were recommended for Central Asian countries, but I could not make it work.
- The Yandex Go taxi app works very well. Hazzle free service. We used Yandex Go to travel to Big Almaty Lake and Bus Stand.
- You can easily spend 5-6 days in Almaty doing day trips to nearby places.
- Almaty has a European city vibe. Kazakhstan can called be a poor man’s Europe as the flight and stay costs are less. For Indians, there is no need for a visa!!
- There are a few Indian restaurants. Global chains like Papa John’s also serve Vegetarian food.
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