I’m surprised. I’ve only flown about 1.5 hours towards the east and yet I find myself in a completely different atmosphere. Its strange and I feel a bit lost trying to figure out and compartmentalize what I am seeing. My first impressions of Almaty Kazakhstan are mixed and not what I expected.
Vague
The city feels not modern nor old. Arriving from Uzbekistan, I think my brain was expecting similar history, Islamic architecture to dominate the central part of the city. Instead, there is none, literally none. I learn that in 1887 and again in 1911 there were catastrophic earthquakes, so I have to assume that the historical buildings were not reconstructed but instead destroyed completely.
Logical
Streets and avenues are wide and laid out with an organized pattern. This I believe is a result of the soviet era that lasted for 75 years. I like the wide sidewalks and tree lined streets; they are wonderful features to easily explore this city with. It does take considerable time though to walk around, as the blocks are large and the city is sprawling.
Clean
There is no garbage laying about, streets are clear of debris. No overflowing garbage bins. I see a city that is well organized and clean. Down into the underground tunnels I go, to cross these wide streets and even these long cavities are absolutely clean. No graffiti, well lit, music playing in some.
Soviet Era
Up until 1997, Almaty was the capital of Kazakhstan, it then changed to Astana. Perhaps because of this, there is a lot of preserved soviet era architecture and monuments. I do like to see this as it’s a unique sight for me personally. I was expecting more brutalism though and this architecture has quite a bit of embellishment, something I have not seen before.
Well I’m not sure what to think if I am being honest. Almaty seems like its trapped in a time warp. Sure, there are some new buildings, my apartment complex for one, but that Lego like architecture is towards the outskirts of the city. The city centre itself is something of a curiosity, I’m intrigued!
