Kazakhstan 2023

My Kazakhstan travel summary (2023):

Visited: November 2023

Duration of visit: 6 days (total Kazakhstan: 10 days)

Capital city: Astana

Population: 19 million (2024)

Kazakhstan travel blog reading time (2023): 12 minutes

• Zenkov Cathedral and a vibrant café scene in Almaty, the capital of apples.
• Exploring Astana’s futuristic landmarks in rainy weather.
• Connection with nature, diversity, multiculturalism, and religious openness.
• Hiking along the water pipeline to the picturesque Big Almaty Lake.
• Connection with the nature, multiethnicity, multicultural and openness to various religions.
• Wide use of electronic payments, especially Kaspi app.

In autumn 2023, Kazakhstan travel adventure was the final destination of my journey through Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. Due to limited time and cold weather, I focused only on the two main cities: Almaty and Astana.

Although these two major urban areas cannot fully represent the entire country, I still formed my own impressions of this ninth-largest nation with the longest border in the world.

In this article I describe the first part of my Kazakhstan travel adventure: Almaty, a vegetarian in a meat nation, Astana: a capital built from nothing, world class architectural landmarks in Astana, World Expo 2017, Big Almaty Lake.

More articles about my Kazakhstan travel adventures are available here:

Almaty is Kazakhstan’s largest city, with over 2 million residents. Located in the southeast near the Kyrgyzstan border, it sits at the foot of the scenic Zailiski Ala-Tau mountains. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1997, and today remains the country’s center for business, education, and tourism.

The name Almaty is believed to come from the Kazakh word for apple “full of apples”, referring to the region’s rich variety of wild apples.

I settled into a small but well-maintained Airbnb apartment that was already warm and heated. I made the most of the day, knowing rain was forecast for the next day.

Almaty is a large city with scattered attractions, where the affordable public transport system combined with taxis works perfectly. Unlike some other regional metropolises, its inexpensive metro has only one line, and the stations are less impressive than those in some former Soviet cities.

I quickly noticed that cash is rarely used in Kazakhstan. Most electronic payments go through Kaspi, an app unavailable to short-term foreign visitors. Since buses require digital payment and taxis often lack change, I usually asked passengers to pay through Kaspi and reimbursed them in cash.

The café scene is vibrant, with coffee shops on every corner.

The ground floors of apartment buildings seemed mostly dedicated to businesses, shops, cafés, bars, restaurants, and exchange offices. Street blocks are long, avenues wide, and intersections large, with traffic light timers counting down to the green light.

People are very friendly and welcoming.

During the next few days of my Kazakhstan travel adventure, I explored the most interesting places to visit in Almaty and filled my days with exciting things to do.

A cable car took me to Kok Tobe hill, 1,100 meters above sea level, offering a spectacular view of Almaty with the mountains in the background.

The famous Beatles Statue was the only attraction that caught my attention.

An amusement park, zoo, shops, playgrounds, and restaurants block the city view but attract locals. Looking over the city, I noticed yellow clouds caused by pollution from mining, oil, and gas industries. Still, the panoramic view is one of the highlights of the city.

Back in the city, I passed Hotel Kazakhstan, the first high-rise building in Almaty and still a city symbol. An old bus parked in front provided me a nice photo opportunity contrasting with the city’s modernization.

Zenkov Cathedral, an historical Russian Orthodox cathedral, is the second tallest wooden church worldwide (after Săpânța-Peri Monastery church in Romania), constructed between 1904 and 1907.

A unique feature of Zenkov Cathedral is that builders erected this wooden structure almost entirely without using nails.

The five-domed, three-aisled cathedral with its built-in bell tower was only slightly damaged in the 1910 earthquake, while most nearby buildings were destroyed.

The most difficult period came during Soviet rule. In 1927, the Soviet government closed it, destroyed its library, and removed its bells. In 1995, local authorities restored its religious role, and Orthodox services resumed after renovation work.

During my visit, only a few visitors quietly lit candles, prayed, and admired the beautifully decorated interior. As with several other attractions in the city, nearby trees partially blocked the view for photography.

The Green Market is one of the oldest marketplaces in the city, where trade has been carried out since 1868. The present-day market building, designed in 1975 in the Soviet constructivist style, was under renovation during my visit.

A wide variety of fruits, vegetables, smoked fish, and dried fruits fill the stalls at competitive prices. Dozens of women display perfectly cut pieces of honey and meat, chatting on their smartphones while waiting for customers.

The renowned Medeo Skating Ring in Almaty is the highest Olympic-sized skating rink in the world. It is also famous as the world’s largest high-mountain skating rink, covering an area of 10,500 m².

Hockey, figure skating, and speed skating are practiced there. However, I could not visit it due to unfavorable weather conditions.

The same happened with another popular place to visit in the area, Charyn Canyon.

It was lunchtime, and I passed a busy restaurant where people were stopping for a meal.

“Let’s try the food where locals have their lunch break,” I thought, and entered a small, unnamed self-service Kazakh restaurant.

The canteen offered six types of soup, dozens of main dishes, salads, desserts, bread snacks, and drinks. After getting advice from one of the cooks, I ordered pumpkin soup, a fluffy cheese-filled bread, and compote. Most other dishes contained meat, and the salads were not appealing.

Almost all Kazakh dishes are based on meat: beshbarmak, kuyrdak, syrne, laghman, manti, and many soups.

Although Kazakhstan is not among the world’s top meat-consuming countries, I still had difficulty finding meat-free food.

Fruits, bread, and pastries were the main parts of my menu, along with easily available international food. In late autumn, markets and fruit shops offered delicious apples, persimmons, and grapes with a natural flavor.

Kazakhstan offers many bread varieties, including shelpek, a traditional flatbread, and tohax, a round bread with a central indentation. Baursak, a fluffy fried bread, is mainly prepared for special occasions. Samsa is a baked pastry filled with meat or vegetables, made with either simple or layered dough.

Astana became Kazakhstan’s new capital in 1997 and has since grown into one of the most modern cities in Central Asia. Its transformation from an empty area into a metropolis, together with its changing names, tells an interesting story.

Originally called Akmola (Akmolinsk in Russian), it was renamed Tselinograd before becoming Astana in 1997. From 2019 to 2022, the city was called Nur-Sultan after Kazakhstan’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Astana was planned and built almost from nothing in just a few decades.

Several of the world’s most renowned architects received creative freedom to design this exceptionally distinctive city.

The central landmarks include the Baiterek tower, Palace of Independence, Khan Shatyr, and the pyramid-shaped Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. Astana also hosted the World Expo 2017, highlighting its international importance and modern development.

Almaty has always been Kazakhstan’s largest city, but it is located far in the south near Kyrgyzstan. Astana was chosen as the capital because of its good location, connection to economic centers, transport links, space, and future growth potential. It is a planned city created to move government offices and build a new urban center.

When Kazakhstan became independent in 1991, many people in the country were Russian. President Nazarbayev wanted to prevent Northern Kazakhstan from separating or joining Russia, so he created a new capital in the center of the country. Astana was built from an almost empty area near the Ishim River and became a symbol of his leadership.

25 years later, Astana has become a well-planned and organized city. It offers visitors interesting places to visit, good working conditions for officials, and a high quality of life for residents. The main challenges are harsh climate conditions and isolation, with very few populated areas within 1,200 kilometers.

The forecast proved correct: a rainy day with temperatures around 5°C, grey skies, and some wind. I came prepared with a jacket bought in Dushanbe and an umbrella from the hotel. Soon, I noticed that locals didn’t use umbrellas and didn’t mind getting wet. My old sports shoes quickly soaked through, and even plastic bags could not keep my feet dry.

My first stop was the Museum of the First President of Kazakhstan, dedicated to Nursultan Nazarbayev. The charismatic leader ruled the country from independence until 2019. However, the taxi driver took me to the Nazarbayev Center instead of the museum. I changed my route and visited the Central Concert Hall and the Presidential Palace first.

A large platform with restricted traffic connects the area, where only a few security guards stand. Dressed in raincoats, they monitored passing vehicles while I walked alone through the cold and rainy weather. My fingers grew numb, I struggled to take good photos, and I felt uneasy under the guards’ close observation.

I walked along Nurzhol Boulevard towards Baiterek, Astana’s most iconic monument and observation tower. The landmark represents a folktale about the tree of life and a magical bird of happiness. A young guide took me to the egg-shaped observation deck and explained the surrounding buildings hidden beneath the low clouds.

The observation platform, located 97 meters high, commemorates the year Astana became the capital. The view over the new city was not as spectacular that day, as the low clouds limited the visibility.

On the top floor, I placed my hand on ex-president Nazarbayev’s gilded right-hand print while looking towards the Presidential Palace.

Usually, visitors queue to for a photo, but this time I had it all to myself.

I continue my Kazakhstan travel adventure walking toward the south, passing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The tallest building in Astana – Abu Dhabi Plaza Tower– raising up to 320 meters, seemed empty. The upper part was covered with fog. KazTransOil headquarters feature impressive offices, but their massive structure blocks the view towards the end of the avenue.

As the grand finale, I reached the world’s largest tent structure, designed by British architect Norman Foster.

Khan Shatyr is a shopping center beneath a transparent, slightly tilted neo-futurist tent, with luxury shops and restaurants across several floors. Its special material allows sunlight while maintaining a stable indoor climate year-round. Apart from shops and bars, I didn’t find many interesting things to do.

Sky Beach Club offers a unique rooftop beach experience with a pool, aquapark, slides, and sand imported from the Maldives, open year-round. Even in -30°C winters, visitors can swim, sunbathe, and enjoy summer temperatures indoors.

The regular ticket was too expensive for me, but a 3USD ticket allowed a 15-minute tour of the facilities.

The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation is the second Astana structure designed by British architect Norman Foster. The pyramid-shaped building offers far more interior space than I expected. A free guided tour explained its construction, purpose, and events, while three levels symbolize the underground, life, and heaven.

The Pyramid houses spaces for different religions, a 1,300-seat opera house, a national cultural museum, and other institutions reflecting Kazakhstan’s diversity. The tour repeatedly emphasized its message of bringing religious and spiritual leaders together to discuss differences peacefully and promote harmony.

The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation is my favorite place to visit in Astana.

Astana hosted the successful World Expo 2017, which attracted 4 million visitors under the theme “Future Energy: Action for Global Sustainability”. More than 110 country pavilions presented new ideas about technology, society, and the planet.

Not much of the original exhibition remained in 2023, but the eight-storey spherical building, Nur Alem, still hosted the Museum of Future Energy, an exhibition about energy.

One of the world’s few spherical buildings, 100 meters tall and 80 meters in diameter, is a remarkable and attractive place to visit. The eight-storey museum presents different types of energy, including hydro, kinetic, biomass, wind, solar, and space energy. It was a perfect final stop in my exploration of this futuristic city.

The rain finally stopped in the evening, so I returned to the city center. With better visibility and impressive illumination, I captured some great night photos of Astana before heading to the airport.

My flight was scheduled for 3:30am, but the airline soon announced a six-hour delay. We would not take off before 10:00am because the incoming aircraft had been diverted.

“We will start to check-in at 5:00am. You can go home or wait around here!” a representative of Pegasus airline explained to me.

After hearing that another flight from the same airline had been cancelled the night before, I feared missing my connection in Istanbul and my bus from Budapest.

I spent two hours discussing Kazakhstan, lifestyle, history, and the future with an English teacher before check-in unexpectedly started. What seemed like a nightmare eventually became a tense change of transport, but it brought me home exactly on schedule that evening.

The main reason for my return to Almaty in 2024 was to visit Big Almaty Lake, inaccessible during my Kazakhstan travel adventure previous autumn.

This alpine reservoir lies in the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains, about 15 kilometers south of Almaty, at 2,511 meters above sea level. It has a 3-kilometer shoreline, reaches depths of 30 to 40 meters, and provides drinking water to the surrounding region.

Although most tourists hire a car with a driver for a half-day visit, we chose a different approach. Travelling with a friend, we took a one-way taxi and planned to find our own way back to Almaty.

After paying the park entry fee, we continued to the ramp, where only walking, electric bikes, electric motorbikes, or organized transport are allowed. As renting a bike or joining a tour was too expensive, I decided to walk to the lake. We followed a shorter forest path along the water pipeline. The steep but well-marked trail was much shorter than the 10-kilometer winding road.

In just over an hour, I reached the breathtaking turquoise lake and admired the majestic mountains rising nearly 4,000 meters above sea level.

Most visitors were locals of different ages and abilities, with a few foreign tourists from Asia. I had a snack and descended to the lake shore. The best views came from the middle level, where clear skies and no wind revealed nature’s full beauty.

The descent proved to be significantly easier and quicker.

I decided to approach one of the locals parked near the ramp and ask for a ride back to Almaty. Luckily, my first attempt succeeded. A young tourist agency owner kindly offered us a ride and showed us the nearby village, known for its restaurants, hotels, spas, and swimming pools.