Almaty

Where is it?

Kazakhstan. Never in my wildest dream did I ever think I would visit the "tans" lands. Yes, all around the place are countries which end with "tan".

Our guide, another beauty tried her best to speak English; a language I believe not used and spoken by many locals. Aimee was the name of our guide and she related that she is also very well versed with neighbouring lands like Turmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Among these, Uzbekistan is her favourite because it still holds much natural beauty unfazed by pollution of any form.

But she is all praises for her mother land too; Kazakhstan.

That's Aimee. Not the Ting beside her though.

You notice that Kazak is huge, don't you?

She gained her independence in the 90s and has since been on the road to achievements. Actually, to be on a tour for more than 10 days in the cold can take a toll. So, Almaty fell on our laps at the courtesy of the Kazak government.  In fact, the government is on a major effort to lure tourists and to introduce the place to us.

A land of this size and the population is puny; only 17 million with 85 percent of them belonging to the Muslim faith.

 This was a warning to us before we left Istanbul for a 6 hour flight to Almaty.

Believe me, I had never been on a land this cold.

It was cold and seeing snow is the norm.

You see what I mean? It's winter wonderland.

So, to get out of the coach for a walk needed much coaxing.

It was just too cold!

We were taken to the wet market after breakfast .

The breakfast was a change after all the kebabs.

We wondered if Kazak was so backward that we had to see the wet market.

But no. The market is different.

Look at the lush display of fresh fruits.

But language was a real barrier.

Hardly anyone transpire in English.

But I must say we were truly impressed at the butchers all of kinds.

They sell horse meat, chicken, lamb, beef and pork.

All the butchers cut their slices alongside one another.

No segregation and no discrimination.

I know he is cutting horse meat.

We were astounded by the way the butcher held the axe and cut the horse.

He smiled at us.

 The cold provides natural refrigeration.

All meat stay fresh a long while.

Strolling through the stalls was with great effort because of the cold.

I could not enjoy as much as I wanted.

So it was with gladness that we quickly went into the coach for warmth.

Aimee too us around the city of Almaty, the old capital.

She said that it was much, much colder in Astana, the new capital situated in the north. Oh we were sure glad we were not there.

The city square and their heroes of the past.

The horse is like the elephant to Thailand; a national symbol.

 The landscape is monotonous for everywhere was covered with snow. But it is also an experience of a lifetime for I hardly see and touch snow. Esther is also like a national heroine as she is unafraid of the snow.

 At the top of an amusement park, the family took the photo of the year.

 Sara was obviously suffering again from separation anxiety but she sure was glad that we were going home the next day.

The girls and the Beatles.

We notice this pop group is popular in Kazakhstan.

Their songs are played all over the park.

This is the house of music. All sorts of local instruments are in the hall for play.

Overlooking Almaty from a peak.

We just wanted to remember this peak.

 All over the place, ice and snow had to be scooped and removed.

Even the tourists like to help scoop.

This is the oldest church in Kazakhstan.

The birds were a common sight. But they come in great flocks.

Birds of a feather surely flock together.

 Playful Esther with the aunty from Sarawak. They are great pals.

 This is another square where foreign dignitaries gather in the city.

Somewhere among the trees, was on planted by our former Prime Minister on one of his official visits here.

To entertain the girls, dad made a snowman.

It was real small but representative.

Though she has gained independence from the Russian Government only a few decades away, Kazakhstan has malls that are of international standard. It reminded me of the ones in London. The goods are also reasonably priced but are only transacted in 'tenge' and not even in US dollars.

At the airport, we could hardly change enough and the money changer would only take US or Euro dollars and not any other monies.

We wanted to shop longer but time did not permit.

We hardly had an hour of shopping.

But it was an experience seeing the mall.

On the evening before we left for home, we had a real Kazakhstan feast.

The girls enjoyed but dad and I stayed behind in the hotel because of the pain in the knees. The cold had further worsened it.

But at the end of the day, we have to appreciate and praise our very own tour guide, Zaiton for being so thoughtful remembering Esther and the Ting girl for their February birthdays.

As you can guess, the birthday girl must be saying she was not fully dressed and made up for the occasion...

So, with Almaty we bade goodbye to one another and thanked God for his protection, mercy and divine intervention on our visit to Anatolia and Almaty.

Thank you dear God for a blessed trip.