September 25, Astana to Almaty

We started our morning with a run along the Ishim River in Astana. The city has built a fantastic waterfront promenade with a wide walking path and dedicated rubberized running lanes complete with distance markings. It was smooth, easy, and a really enjoyable way to clear our heads before traveling.

After grabbing our bags, we took a quick, uneventful flight south to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s historic former capital.

When President Nazarbayev stripped Almaty of its capital status in 1997, locals responded with a mixture of disbelief, relief, and quiet pride. Many Almatians viewed the steppe new-build in the north with open skepticism, mocking its freezing winters and windswept scale, while taking pride in Almaty’s superior climate, established intellectual scene, and mountain setting. Losing the government apparatus actually allowed Almaty to preserve its relaxed soul. Rather than fading into obscurity, it evolved into Kazakhstan's unquestioned cultural, financial, and bohemian capital, much like St. Petersburg in Russia.

Driving in from the airport, the outer suburbs reminded me so much of Nemenčinė Road outside Vilnius, leafy, green stretches lined with a mix of traditional dachas and sleek, modern commercial buildings.

Our neighborhood near the Arbat pedestrian street is filled with low-rise, five-story apartment buildings tucked under dense canopies of trees. The streets are bustling with people out strolling. It doesn't carry the sterile, overwhelming administrative weight of Astana; instead, it has that easy, comfortable, cultured energy of a former capital.

The diversity here is striking on the Asian-Caucasian spectrum, though we only saw two Black people so far. Russian is spoken everywhere, and that multicultural mix carries over into the food scene, streets are packed with a diverse spread of Korean, Chinese, Georgian, Japanese, and Italian spots.

We dropped our laundry off with a sweet, courteous local lady and headed off to catch up with Mishka, Fainka, and their friends Gulia and Timur, who were visiting from Bashkiria.

We all sat down for dinner at a local place with one of those massive, encyclopedic menus that attempted to serve everything. Afterward, the ladies headed off for some retail therapy at a store Fainka had scouted out the day before.

Then came the moment of saying our final goodbyes to Mishka and Fainka, who head home tomorrow. It was such a blast traveling together across regions, long road trips, and interesting train rides. Once everyone went their separate ways, Dan and I just wandered through the cool, leafy streets, enjoying the city at night.