Sweet place you have here

Day 61 - Almaty

It was a gorgeous autumn day in Almaty, perfect for a free walking tour with a small group of only seven which made for a relaxed and chatty tour. Our guide Aiguerim (Amy for short) was excellent, starting with a brief history of Kazakhstan, beginning with the original nomadic tribes, then the invasion of the Mongols (Genghis Khan), through to USSR and independence. 

We have noticed that while a lot of people look Russian most of the population look more Asian. Amy explained that they were 80% Asian and 20% Caucasian, the main language spoken is Russian but Kazakh is also taught in schools, alongside English. 

We visited the Green Market with a variety of produce stalls, we were able to sample some horse meat (processed similar to salami), as well as different milk based products like cheeses and sweets that the nomads ate for energy while roaming the steppes.

From there we visited the Rakhat Candy Factory Outlet, a shop that sells chocolate and sweets by weight. M thought you could just have one of each type of lolly, but was told off twice by staff and other customers for mixing different sweets in the one bag, later finding out that each different type had to be weighed and priced separately. 

This is just one side of the bag

The tour also included visits to notable building and descriptions of their architecture, according to their time in history. There was the Ascension Cathedral, a wooden building that  has survived some huge earthquakes), and different types of apartments named according to the Soviet leader at the time (Stalinka, Kruschevka, and Breszhnevka). 

In the Guardsmen Park we saw the eternal flame as well as some impressive monuments to heroes from the Soviet Era. We finished the tour at the Opera House which is conveniently located right next to the apartment we're staying in.

We finished the day by revisiting a couple of places for some shopping - souvenirs for K near the Green Market, while M went back to Rakhat for more chocolate and lollies. Then it was time for an early night as we needed to get up at 4:30am the next day to be at the airport.