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Kazakhstan

We arrived from Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan via air on September 23, 2020. Kazakhstan is a landlocked country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, with a coastline along the Caspian Sea. In the photo is a car decorated for a wedding that day.

Kazakhstan Museum of Folk Musical Instruments is a musical instrument museum located in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The wooden building was erected in 1908, The museum exhibits musical instruments of outstanding performers of the past singers-improvisers and composers.

Across the street from the museum is the Almaty's Panfiloov Park is named for the Panfilov division, a group of World War II heroes who gave their lives in the defense of Moscow. Inside the park, there’s a memorial to fallen Soviet soldiers that’s based on that famous story of heroic sacrifice. At one end of a long black plinth is an eternal flame dedicated to fallen soldiers of the Russian Civil War and World War II. At the other end is a black stone memorial, with the stoic faces of soldiers from all 15 Soviet Republics. Emerging at the front of the statue is a single soldier with arms spread up and out as if in flight, one hand wielding a fist full of grenades.

One of several statues of the soldiers in fighting. According to official Soviet history, on November 16, 1941, the Red Army’s 316th Rifle division took a heroic last stand on the road to Moscow.

The 28 infantrymen, named the “Panfilov” division after their commander, held their ground and destroyed 18 German tanks, buying precious time for the defenders of Moscow to get into position. All 28 men died, the last in a military hospital, where he recounted the details of the battle before succumbing to his wounds.

This statue, at the front of the statue, is a single soldier with arms spread up and out as if in flight, one hand wielding a fist full of grenades. However, the military prosecutor’s office was forced to open a special investigation after two of the martyrs were discovered to still be alive. The investigation found that the entirety of the Krasnaya Zvezda’s story had been fabricated. There had been no last stand and the dramatic quotes were invented. However, the 1948 memo was not released to the general public until 2015, and by then the story was well entrenched as a national myth.

People walking in the park with lots of pigeons waiting for someone to feed them.

The side entrance to The Ascension Cathedral, also known as Zenkov Cathedral, in Almaty Kazakhstan , is a Russian Orthodox cathedral located in Panfilov Park. Completed in 1907, the cathedral is made out of wood but without nails. Its height is 168 feet tall, and is claimed to be the second tallest wooden building in the world.

The belfry was erected on September 14, 1906. The cathedral survived the 1911 earthquake with minimal damage, even though it was built without any nails, which some bishops attributed to divine intervention.

Some speculate the decision to refrain from using nails was due to their contribution to the crucifixion of Jesus.

The inner structure of the cathedral was made in art workshops in Moscow and Kiev. After the Russian Revolution the cathedral was used to house the Central State Museum of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. From 1930 to 1940 it was used by notable public organizations. The first radio transmitters in Almaty were situated in the cathedral's belfry. Today it is still a work of art worth visiting.

Almaty, formerly known as Alma-Ata, the name Almaty translates to Apple, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of over 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of the Soviet Union, then Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union.

Tram built in the Medeu Valley of Malaya Almatinka River on the S.E. outskirts of Almaty where the rink is located. . We visited on the weekend when hundreds and hundreds of locals walk and run up the road and then path to the top where the gondolas stop. It is a hike for sure.

Another photo of the exterior of the stadium.

The Medeu is a high-altitude sports complex near Almaty, located at an altitude of 5,073 feet above sea level. It is considered to be the world's largest high-mountain skating rink. On the opening day of the skating rink (February 5, 1951), it established two world and six all-Union records.The Medeu was fully renovated in 2011 for the Asian Winter Games, and became a major training base for the ice skaters of the USSR. Over 200 speed world records were set there in numerous sports, including speed skating and others. Medeu remains an important center for the training of winter sports athletes from Kazakhstan and other regions.

The landscape is spectacular especially in the late summer and early fall months.

Gondolas over head.

A smart Car for the Tourist Police in the Mountain area. Not quite sure where they would put the criminal if they caught one.

Stadium located in the valley of the hillsides.

National Flag of Kazakhstan

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