Kazakhstan; Almaty, City of Apples – 20 July 2012 – 11.029 miles

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We're up early to find a large flock of sheep and goats descending on our camp site. I don't know who was more surprised, us or the shepherd who appeared over the top of the hill on his horse to find a dozen or so tents & bikes on his grazing patch. Having re-directed the flock he disappears off, back over the hill, and returns a few minutes later with another flock and two of his mates – I'm sure he rushed back to get them and said “you'll never guess what I've seen over that hill. After watching us for 10 minutes and waving they ride off to gather the flock and ride on.

From our camp-site its an easy 180km ride to Almaty. As we get closer the flat steppe land disappears and it get decidedly hilly. Almaty itself is surround by snow capped mountains and is full of traffic. It just all appears from nowhere as soon as we get to the “Welcome to Almaty” sign..

Almaty (City of Apples – apples originate from Kazakhstan, honest!) has a very westernised, European feel to it with modern skyscrapers and lots of green, leafy parks full of fountains & statues. But, somehow, it doesn’t seem to have a proper centre. There's the, deserted, Republic Square with the parliament building and the monument to independence topped by the Golden Man on a winged snow leopard and surrounded by bronze reliefs of of important historical moments. There are the grand Soviet era buildings in all shapes & styles. There's Panfilov Park with it's magnificent and incredibly powerful war memorial alongside the cute and colourful Zenkov Cathedral (one of the few surviving tsarist buildings, the rest were destroyed in the 1911 earthquake). Each is worth seeing and interesting to visit but somehow none feel like the heart of the city. Maybe its just too big to have a centre – it was the capital until 1998

The places that are buzzing and alive are the western style shopping malls & coffee bars. Plus Kok-tobe - at the end of a cable car ride on the top of a hill overlooking the city. There's lots of locals up here enjoying the views, restaurants, souvenir shops and amusement park attractions.

In the State Central Museum we finally get to meet the Golden Man whose statue is found in almost every city in the country. It a warrior's costume from 5^th century BC, found in a Scythian tomb 60km east of Almaty. It pretty impressive, made of over 4000 finely worked gold pieces with a 70cm high headdress. As usual there's a vaulted room full of exquisite Scythian gold from 6^th BC to 3^rd AD – it doesn’t matter how much of it I see I'm always impressed.

Getting round Almaty is great fun; you just stand at the side of the road with your arm out and fairly soon a regular car will stop. If he's going your way and the price you offer is reasonable you hope in and away you go.

Tomorrow we start our 7 days, 3600km dash across Kazakhstan and Russia to Lake Baikal.

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Photos

sheep alarm clock - I thought they were supposed to help you go to sleep
they were heading straight for the tent until a, very suprised, shepheard appeared over the brow of the hill

and lots of traffic
it appeared out of nowhere as soon as we reached the city sign

Republic Square & Monument to Independence
topped by the Golden Man on a winged snow leopard...

...and surrounded by reliefs depicting Kazakhstan's history.
The open book represents the constitution & bears the presidents hand print

Republic Square
City Government Building & the domes of the underground shopping mall on the square where military parades used to take place

Grand Soviet Architecture
House of Government where parliament used to meet before the capital was moved - each column is topped by a star

Zenkov Cathedral (1904)
one of the few surviving tsarist buildings, the rest were destroyed in the 1911 earthquake

the war memorial in Panfilov Park
soldiers from all 15 Soviet republics burst from a map of the USSR

families enjoying Kok-Tobe & the Fountain of Desire - Almaty is the City of Apples
Kazakhstan is where apples came from

views down over the city
its a pretty big place and very European in styke

Australian riders getting to know the Beatles
its popular with the local too, we have to queue to get the photo

Kazakh WWII heroes Manshuk Mametova (machine gunner) and Alia Moldagulova (sniper)
they replaced the statue of Lenin

Dawn of Freedom monument
honouring those killed in Republic Square in 1986, in the first Glasnost era protests in Central Asia