A fortnight into the trip and it was time to leave Astana for the old capital of Alamty in the south-east of the country. Surrounded by the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains to the south and east this city is still the largest city in the country despite losing it's capital status in 1997. It's the birthplace of Primary Health Care (the Alma-Ata that gives the name of the declaration for this is the original name of the city). Being surrounded by mountains I was prepared for a bit of hill walking. I like that if you're walking north and west you're basically walking downhill; South and East would take you uphill, a nice quick way of getting bearings.
The plan here was to try to get some culture but also to visit the rollercoasters in this city, most notably the only Alpine Coaster in the country up in the mountains. Our research into this country had revealed more here than in Astana but we didn't expect many of them to be particularly great. The big amusement parks don't really exist here, this is out-of-the-way exploration for the most stupid of enthusiasts.
The flight to Astana was fine but very strange they used the theme tune from Legend of Zelda as their landing music. We appeared to exit the hotel through a back door, it was so non-descript and I quickly spotted the bus stop around the corner that would take me into the city. That bit went way easier than it did in Astana.
I had an issue with my hotel, when I arrived at the one I'd booked it was covered in scaffolding and netting and whilst hotel staff tried to find someone who could explain what was going on I was able to use the google translate app to translate a note on the reception desk. It turns out the city had chosen to undertake some water works in the area as part of a hotel renovation scheme. That had taken away hot water which meant the hotel was unable to open to customers. Fortunately they'd arranged for me to stay at another hotel nearby and arranged for a taxi driver to take me there; it was much more grander hotel so I didn't complain. The bed though was like lying on stone.
On this day I would only be able to visit one park and with it being a Friday evening I thought I'd go to the main city park with a little sightseeing along the way. I also believe there was some sort of public holiday today so expected more people to be out. Fortunately that was a downhill walk, but I was prepared for a slower journey back.
The bus from the airport passed this stunning mural but my reactions with the camera weren't great. A quick search online revealed a better photo and some background revealing an art festival that had a number of artists coming to the city to paint large pieces like this; cool! The bird is apparently the one that the locals liked best and I can see why. It was done by Kyrgyzstani duo DOXA.
My intended hotel.
My new hotel and I was on the 19th floor.
My little walk was great on account of the amount of shade that was being offered. I missed this in Astana and I was quickly preferring this oxygen rich city to the last one.
Zenkov's Cathedral is a stunning Orthodox that would have looked a whole lot better if it wasn't covered in the same green netting that my first hotel was. It opened in 1907 and as there was a service going on I didn't venture inside.
To the east was a park with some amazing communist sculptures and the city's eternal flame. These pieces were immense.
The park was easy to find, with maps of the city at most main junctions and as you got nearer markings on the ground. I made sure by bringing a wifi router and using google maps too.
The park is huge and serves all of the city with a zoo, water park, amusement park and general recreation within it.
People were charging to have photos taken next to these so I took this secretly. Naughty me!
This is a dinosaur park but it had just closed as I'd gotten to it.
The ride selection was pretty good but I was struggling to find the rollercoaster. A small kiddy one similar to the ones I'd seen in Astana.
A nice lake at the back serves as the boating lake and main focus for the park visitors.
Who needs 4D, 5D or however many Ds? With this one you can have 100,550Ds. That's my all time highest D-themed attraction.
In the end I had to resort to searching online where it was revealed that the coaster was in it's own little selection of rides in the south-west corner of the overall park, nowhere near the other rides which are more central. It also didn't help that it appeared to be down but I realised one operator was responsible for this and another ride close by, which was running. A quick flash of the cash and pointing to the coaster was enough communication for him to pop over and open it up for me. Not sad at all!
For dinner I went to a recommended restaurant close to the park. Here I tried some local cuisine and chose Beshbarmak, the national dish. Consisting of boiled horse on sheets of a pasta type layer. It was alright but not a dish I'd likely choose again. I also had the restaurant to myself which was unsettling but apparently just due to the time of day. Once again UK dinner time is earlier than the rest of the world's dinner time :)
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