More spectacular lakes. And rooftop bars.
If we had actually planned this trip properly, we wouldn’t have had to get up at six of the AMs the day after a sixteen hour drive. But we didn’t, so we did.
I had tried to delay the start but Dimitri, our tour guide, had said something about too many pedestrians on the road later in day. It didn’t make sense at the time. It did later.
We are picked up at precisely 7:40, precisely the time Dimitri had said. We jump into his plush black Range Rover.
His family have lived in the country for three generations, his grandparents having fled Russia to avoid persecution. Despite being born and bred in Kazakhstan he firmly identifies himself as Russian. There’s a strange ethnic mix in this country. People tend to be very proud of their heritage but at the same time totally happy to live alongside other nationalities. There’s a lot the UK can learn from. Particularly as we sit from a distance watching flags going up all over England.
Almost before the doors of the car had been slammed, he went into tour guide mode, giving us another potted history of the country. However, whilst we had learned ‘where and when’ from Ellie and Sheriff, somehow, Dimitri managed to add the ‘how and why’. Kazakhs were traditionally nomadic, we have established this. But why? Because it’s too cold to live in the north in winter, and too hot to live in the south in the summer. It seems blindingly obvious when it’s said out loud. And, of course, when your animals have eaten all the grass, time to move on to where the grass, as the old saying goes, is greener.
He also says something that might possibly end up being my favourite (non-posh) quote of the trip.
People from other countries come here. They say, ‘I am going to be king of this land’. Nomads, they say, okay, you be king of this land. They then do what nomads do, they move to another peice of land. Dimitri
They built homes and settled areas temporarily, but used materials that could either be transported to build new hones, or would be biodegradable if left behind.
As a result there are no ancient cities for you to visit. People come to this country for the scenery, not the architecture: Dimitri
On the edge of the city of Almaty lies the Tien Shen Mountain Range, which runs for 2,900km and forms the border between Kazakhstan, China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgistan. At its tallest it reaches 7km high. As a result it’s a bit nippy up there. Whilst we are sat in the beer garden hiding from the 34c heat, we can still see snow on the mountains. Well, it turns out it’s not just snow. There are glaciers in them thar hills. Those glaciers are the reason this area is so lush and green, dispite the baking temperature and lack of rain.
Mountains are formed when two tectonic plates meet and they square up to eachother. In this case, the ancient rumble between the Asian Plate and the Indian Plate (that sounds like a brilliant restaurant) is still ongoing and earthquakes are still quite common. This has to be taken into account when building anything.
The legendary ‘big one’, the earthquake of 1911, blocked a stream in the mountains near Almaty, creating Big Almaty Lake. Natural dams are pretty solid, but not 100% solid. So the Soviets reinforced it with concrete to make sure it did not burst and flood the city. Whilst they were at it, they installed pipes to supply water for the city, and a hydroelectric power station. Every cloud has a silver lining.
There is a road that leads up to the lake. A proper tarmacadam one that you can drive on. But you can’t drive on it.
It’s such a popular spot there were just too many cars going up there. And there’s no car park. Since 2020 you have to park 12km away and walk the rest of it.
The only people that are allowed to drive all the way to the top are the guys that work on the dam. If you ‘talk nicely’ to them (nudge nudge, wink wink) the guys might give you a lift to the top. Allegedly.
You don’t need to talk nicely to them though, some tour guides will do that for you. But you have to meet them out of view of the local constabulary. They know what’s going on though. Apparently some of the police might allegedly be open to gratuities, but we can neither confirm or deny. Officer.
Getting caught drink driving results in fifteen days behind bars and a three year ban. But there are ‘ways around’ this that can be agreed with the copper who stops you
Once on the road, it becomes clear why the mix of cars and pedestrians later in the day is not good. After a certain time it’s just not safe to drive the road. Although it’s not entirely safe when there are no pedestrians.
After a thrilling drive through alpine-like scenery we reach the top. The lake is, well, a lake. What makes it special is the magnificent green of the glacial water, the spectacular snow topped mountains that frame the lake, and the clear blue sky that sits on top of everything like a celestial lid.
It doesn’t have magical trees sticking out of it, so it can’t top Lake Kaindy (see blog number eight), but it’s certainly a match for everything else we drove 600 miles for yesterday. If you have a limited time in Almaty, do this. Anything else will be a bonus.
We meet up with another Wales fan on the the top, Dylan. He joins us for our picnic
As we had left the city this morning we noted how clearly visible the mountains were. Until now they had aways seemed to be masked slightly by a haze. Dimitri advises us this is smog. The mountains stop it from dissipating, resulting in a massive pollution problem.
Lots of people drive cars here. Fuel is cheap. It’s an oil producing nation after all. In the boom years it became very rich, very quickly. However, the economy became over reliant on oil and when global prices dropped, the economy tanked. The value of the Kazakh Tenge against the US Dollar is now a third of what it was a few years ago.
During our time we get Dimitri’s views on Putin, Ukraine, government corruption, global warming and uses of local plants.
He is by no means a fan of Putin, but it is interesting to get his take on Ukrane and how it was silly of them to poke the bear. We don’t get into it too deeply though.
He’s a fascinating character and I warm to him. When he tells us he went to London and went to see Battersea Power Station because he is a Pink Floyd fan, we talk about Russian psychedelic music and he agrees to send me some links.
When he drops us off we have to wake up the staff in the Munchen Bar. Local people just don’t go drinking at 11am on a Monday morning, especially on a public holiday!
Then while discussing yesterday’s trip we contemplate the Russian for diarrhea, Megan submits here entry for quote of the trip.
The Russian for diarrhea is Trotsky: Megan Iguana.
I check my e-mails and Dimitri has sent a link to places he recommends. One of them, Sky 17, is a rooftop bar, (bizarrely on the 18th floor, not the 17th, but you have to walk the stairs from the 17th to get there). And it’s a five minute walk from us.
Soon we are sat eighteen floors up, in the midday sun, getting sunstroke, drinking cocktails and looking up at the magnificent mountains we have just visited. Sadly, now the city has woken up, the blanket of smog has returned .
Big Almaty Lake. Almost as spectacular as stuff we drove 600 miles to see, in fact better than a lot of it. But no scrambling about like elderly mountain goats, and home in time for first orders in the pub. Do it.
In the next instalment… a 16 hour train journey taking us the 1,275 km to Astana. Watch this space