Wrapping Up Central Asia

My last two posts about the September trip to Central Asia focused on Uzbekistan; the first part dealing with Tashkent, Samarkand, and Shahrisabz while the second talked about Bukhara and Khiva. However, the trip also included four days in Almaty, Kazakhstan and another four days in Istanbul on the way back home. Let’s look at what Almaty has to offer, as well as some of the sights in Istanbul we didn’t explore back in December 2019.

Helen and I at the top of Shymbulak peak near Almaty

Almaty

After having spent the past twelve days in Uzbekistan which was very affordable, arriving in Almaty was a pretty big shock. Given Kazakhstan is the wealthiest country in Central Asia from their oil and gas industries, things were relatively more expensive in Almaty, but still more affordable than North America and Western Europe. A SIM card costed $11 USD which was more than double the 55,000 Som it costed in Uzbekistan (55,000 Som or $5.50 CAD), while a 14-kilometre Yandex ride from the airport to the city centre was about 3,200 Tenge ($9.50 CAD). The Wanderlust Hostel didn’t include breakfast, but it was affordable at 12,600 Tenge ($36 CAD) per night with decent rooms and cooking area. The air was relatively polluted in Almaty, though nowhere near as bad as in Cairo back in 2018. Finally, credit card use was widespread in Almaty whereas carrying cash was recommended in Uzbekistan.

It's easy to be a millionaire in Uzbekistan - Not so much in Almaty

We stayed close to our hostel for the first day which started with the Ascension Cathedral and 28 Panfilov Guardsmen Park. The Cathedral was not only colourful on the outside, but the inside had tasteful chandeliers, Orthodox style religious paintings, and gold trim.

The surrounding park was lively with some activities for children and carriage rides, along with several Soviet monuments.

The Green Bazaar north of the park was not as great as the ones in Tashkent and Samarkand, but they did have excellent horse sausage and vendors will sometimes give you food samples before buying. The Lotte Rakhat chocolate factory was a great place to get some food souvenirs. However, we don’t recommend Lanzhou Noodles due to their poor service and mediocre food quality.

The second day took us to the Central Mosque (above) on the way to the metro. They didn’t allow taking photos inside, men and women had separate entrances, and the style was more modern than other mosques we had seen so far. The cable car up to Kok Tobe was expensive at 6000 Tenge ($17) and the views were compromised by the pollution. They had a bunch of children’s rides along with a cheesy vibe.

The Central State Museum was affordable at 500 Tenge ($1.50) and decently curated with a yurt inside. However, some of the exhibits didn’t have English language translations. We had lunch before the museum at Qaganat – a cafeteria style chain – which is affordable and a must-go. We ended up going to another Qaganat before leaving for Istanbul.

If you ask any Almaty local where the best place to go is, chances are they will tell you to go to the mountains. We did that on the third day by taking a Yandex to Medeu and Shymbulak ski resort. Taking the three gondolas to the top – Combi 2 station – costed 6500 Tenge ($18.50) return and much more worthwhile than Kok Tobe.

Looking down to Combi 2 where the third gondola ends

We hiked to Shymbulak Peak (3450 metres) which offered breathtaking views including of Almaty and of clouds rolling in. There was a small café which we got hot chocolate, a flat white, and some fries which was reasonably priced for a ski resort. The ski resort had no shortage of facilities – including a ski and snowboard school – and there were some hikes you could do from Medeu.

Almaty visible from the distance

We ended the day with some beshbarmak – Kazakhstan’s national dish of meat, flat noodle, and broth – at Navat which we highly recommend.

Our final day in Almaty led us to discovering a Harry Potter café at Auezov Theatre station which Helen was thrilled about, while the nearby art museum was beautifully curated.

There were also some nice pedestrian streets with a couple of displays about the Almaty Open tennis tournament that was happening.

The flight to Istanbul via Air Astana was very good and they even give you a small kit bag. Overall, Almaty was not a bad addition to the Uzbekistan trip with beautiful mountain views and some good museums and parks. Two or three days there should be plenty.

Istanbul Redux

While we stayed in the Sultanahmet neighbourhood last time around, we chose to stay near Galata Tower, though Google Maps initially pointed us to the wrong location. We revisited some of our favourite spots such as the Kilic Ali Pasa Hammam, the SALT Galata library, Sulemaniye Mosque, Iznik Classics (for ceramics), Hayvore (for seafood), and Karakoy Gulluoglu (for baklava). We were pleasantly surprised by the baklava ice cream this time around.

SALT Galata remains our favourite place for views of Istanbul

We explored a couple of new neighbourhoods including Nisantasi, which is a wealthy neighbourhood not unlike Toronto’s Yorkville. They had a tasty and affordable borek shop called “Sanli Sariyer Borekcisi” while we don’t recommend the Pera Museum near Istiklal Cadessi. You’re better off spending the 200 Lira ($8) elsewhere.

For the Asian side, we went to Uskudar to explore the Kuzguncuk neighbourhood with their cute looking homes pictured above and Beylerbeyi Palace. We didn’t think it was worth the 400 Lira ($16) admission and felt Dolmabahce Palace was better.

We went to Great Camlica Mosque which is Istanbul’s largest and pretty impressive, though it doesn't have the historic charm that the Sulemaniye Mosque has. Uskudar overall was a chill and affordable neighbourhood.

Last, but not least, we went to the Museum of Innocence. If you read the book – which Helen did – you can get free admission by getting your book stamped (or pay 400 Lira if you didn't). The museum offered a time capsule of life in Istanbul during the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Istanbul remains one of our favourite places to travel with lots of things to do and good food, while Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are underrated and worth visiting. As with all vacations abroad, the question remains where to travel next! 😊