Sept 12-13 , 2010
The airport in Almaty, The words Aeroport Almaty in Cyrillic lettering. We flew from Prague to Almaty, spent a couple nights here then flew to Ust-Kamenogorsk, then back here to Almaty for one more night and then back to Prague.
Zenkov Cathedral, a 19th century Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Panfilov park.
The side of the cathedral. This building is entirely built of wood.
And the back. We went inside, but were not allowed to take photos inside. There was no seating inside. It was full of people praying, however.
A memorial to General Panfilov's brigade of 28 Kazakh soldiers and sappers who destroyed 47 soviet tanks in November 1941. You can see the cathedral on the left.
There is an eternal flame here. It has become a custom for couples to bring flowers to this memorial on their wedding day and have their picture taken here. We were here on a Sunday and saw about a dozen brides in the short time we were in this location.
A bride and her friends posing before the memorial.
This wooden structure is very close to the eternal flame. It is the former officers' club and present National Instrument Museum. It reminds me of the Scandinavian stave churches.
A glimpse of the mountains south of Almaty. It was rainy and hazy when we were here so we missed seeing these beautiful mountains.
Oops, how did this one get here? Oh yeah, that's a hotel in Almaty.
A park near our hotel and near the Presidential Palace.
Sculpture in the park.
The presidential palace.
The presidential palace and fence. Almaty was the capitol of Kazakhstan until 1997, when the new capital of Astana was built.
The main entrance of the Central State museum of Kazakhstan.
A vignette in the museum of women spinning and weaving. After I took this a lady called out and shook her finger, so I understood I wasn't supposed to take pictures. It seemed a shame to waste this one, though. So go to this museum, but ask before you take pictures. You might be allowed to pay for the privilege
From here we flew to Ust-Kamenogorsk, which also has the simpler name of Oskemen.
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