Almaty
Sometimes i wonder why do we travel? Is it to overcome the boredom of daily life, to experience a new culture,new food, meet new people? If that is so, then why people travel in packaged tours, where the food, the co travellers, the curated experiences are all tailor made so that you do not have to go out of your comfort zone.That destroys the very purpose of travelling. Travelling for me is to know myself rather than the place,and when you are outside your comfort zone,you discover yourself in ways you never thought of.Many of my colleagues think that travelling is a waste of money.Then what is the purpose of money,to hoard up things,to insure the future for ourselves and our children,while ignoring the present? I didnt wish to start this Travelouge with so many questions,but as I am getting old, random absurd questions are pounding my head. And regarding the debate between traveller and tourists, who do you think wins. I have always preferred to be a traveller, slowly absorb the culture and the beauty of a country,along with its people and customs. But with holidays being scarce, worse work life balance than our previous generations, do you think travelling like a traveller is possible now a days. The most precious commodity in today's generation is time. We toil day and night to buy time for us. And with time being so scarce now a days, we all are fast becoming tourists , travelling mostly to show off in social media about our accomplishments, rather than actually"seeing " that place. Most people now a days posts selfies (the worst form of egoistic behaviour) in front of famous "tourist spots", few post authentic experiences,or a natural beauty. We travel to "see" places,not feel them. And lastly, there is the law of diminishing marginal utility, as consumption increases, the utility from each additional unit declines. This applies to travel also. As you travel to new places, experience new cultures, your search for more exotic locations and experiences, which surpassed the previous one. I think this Travelouge is more about asking questions rather than finding answers. Questions are piling up faster in my head, than my heart can answer them. How do you decide where to travel? Is it the budget, the ease of travel, the tourism infrastructure,the time of the year or the peer pressure (may be from friends or Instagram photos). That brings the spotlight to the elephant in the room, social media. Social media has unfortunately destroyed the joy of travel. You can see the place well before you get off your plane, the joy of discovery,the spirit of an wanderer has been crushed by the fake photoshopped pictures of Instagram. It has made unrealistic expectations in our minds about places. Tour blogs describe the bright side of a place, rarely the darker secrets are spilled by the travel influencers. And also the FOMO has made tourism a plague like thing, not only famous tourist spots, but lesser known hidden gems are simply trampled by mass tourism (again thanks to the Travel influencers). But is all lost,No.
This Travelouge about Almaty is also about hope, that the joy of travelling is still possible, it is still possible to experience a place inspite of seeing a thousand of faked videos and photoshopped photos about that place.And lastly like life, travelling can always throw surprises at you,test your patience and endurance. Traveling truly tests your character.
Choosing Almaty and convincing my wife to go there with kids was never an easy proposition. Nobody in our freind circle have heard about the place. In fact one of my colleague on hearing about that place, advised me not to go there as it is an ISIS hotspot! And bad luck started throwing all sort of hindrances at us- first my wife's exam dates clashed with travel dates, then I made a wrong flight booking. Inspite of all the initial hiccups, we finally landed in Almaty at the dead of the night. The hotel arranged for a pick up, but the basement room that we were allocated was too cold. The start of the tour was disastrous, as our bodies tried to cope from the hot humid weather of Kolkata to the chilly negative temperatures of Almaty. Also the Delli Belly (due to food poisoning from the food we had at Delhi Lounge) caused more problems for us.
So,the next day,after breakfast we decided to go to the local ski site at Shyambulak.The hotel helped to call a taxi by using the local app(yandex), and were promptly dropped at the Ski point, where with some broken English I was able to get the tickets for the highest level of the Gondola ride. The ride through the snowey mountains was wonderful, the pictures don't do justice. And contrary to popular belief,as we found out,lots of Indians do come to Almaty for vacation.Getting back to the hotel proved to be a problem. We couldn't find the buses, the app required a sim connection,which foolishly i didn't have and there was no wifi. We met an Arab couple who helped us book a cab, and that way we met our tour guide cum driver for the next couple of days. The taxi driver could speak a little English (language was the sore point of the entire tour, nobody spoke English, only way was Google translate). With broken English and Google translate,we decided that the day after tomorrow we will go on a tour outside the city to visit the charyn canyon and The Kolsai lakes.
After dropping my wife and kids at the hotel, I went for the famous Turkish bath, a once in a lifetime experience. The structure bears signs of the Russian influence, and nudity is not a taboo here. If you are of the adventurous types, there are lots of erotic massages all over the city, and also lots of karaoke clubs, gentleman clubs and night clubs, which has made Almaty the new party destination for Delhiites.
I always prefer to walk in a new city,it gives a new perspective about the place ,the people.So whenever I had free time, I used to take a stroll in the city, sometimes with my family, sometimes alone. Almaty is a modern Western City, where people follow the civic rules. The city is beautiful,with lots of boulevardes, outdoor cafes, children parks, gardens, old Russian buildings blending perfectly with the new skyscrapers,with snow capped mountains embracing the city in every direction. The city population seemed to be pretty young,and racially it is potpourri of Asian, Chinese, Russian, Mongolian, Uzbekistan and Taziks. Islam is the main religion,but the only people with a burqa are the visitors from Dubai. Is it a safe city...yes,very much. But I found a few beggars(just sitting with hand outstretched), and a few drunkards ( vodka is very very cheap,and sold in supermarkets). As we went at the mid April, we could witness the beauty of the Spring in its full glory. There were beautiful flowers everywhere, and the dry trees were springing back to life in shades of green.
The next day we went to the famous Zenkov cathedral,built in 1079AD, made entirely of wood without nails. I have never seen Russian orthodox churches before, and truly it was marvellous both from outside and inside,with its golden interiors shinning in the flames of the golden candles.
The park outside is a dedicated to the fallen heroes of 2nd World war, and is thronged both by locals and tourists. You can easily spend a hour or two, strolling through the park or feeding the pigeons,or riding a horse or a horse carriage.
Our guide cum driver called us at 6am the next day, and we packed our bags and bolted our spirits on an adventure. The initial drive was very boring, through the countryside, with small rivers and wide bare fields for company. And then the mountains started,not really mountains as you see in Ladakh or Himachal, but Steppes.The Urban dictionary defines Steppe as a large flat unforested grassland. It was exactly like that,with the black tarmac piercing through the greenary and small green undulating mountains (that looked like hils )kissing the blue sky in the background. The peaks of the mountains were snowpacked, giving me the feeling that as if we are travelling on the plateau of the world.As Wanderda( a travelinfluencer I like) has rightly said, when God was bored from his creation,He pressed his thumb on the Tian Shai mountains, and that's how Kazakhstan was born....miles and miles of flat Steppe. We were getting a little bored by now, when suddenly the colour changed from green to lush yellow,with specs of pink and white, flooding both sides of the road. It was a marvelous sight, a sight no Instagram Facebook photo can capture. The next stop was at the Charyn canyons. I have never been at one,and it was truly spectacular with tall chimney like rock formations arising on both sides. The place was windy and my younger daughter was getting impatient from the cold. The walk through the canyon was cut short, as sometimes as a father of two kids you have to take tough decisions between enjoying the beauty of nature, and doing what is best for your family. So I carried my son back on my shoulders,while our guide and wife alternatively carried my daughter back to the warmth of the car. Our next stop was the Kolsai lakes. But rather than the lakes,the journey that was more exiting. With Russian songs ,and exotic churches in small villages separated by vast slopes of green meadows crisscrossed by the black tarmac , hordes of wild horse for company, ancient herders on horseback with their hounds and grazing sheeps, and the small Yurts perched among the roling hills, it's a scene that can't be described,that you have to imagine. Maybe the drone videos that you see on Instagram pages can do some justice to the beauty of the place. Alas, I am simply a tourist,with no drones to enjoy the vastness desolateness of this nature.The true meaning of solitude can be felt here. On the way, we also saw the black canyon..the white river cutting deep through the black asphalt rocks. There were places that mimicked the moon landscape (like that you see in Lamayuru Ladakh India). But the wildness, the wild horses running along with the car, the flocks of white sheep amongst the green meadows.....it's beyond any human comprehension to summarise what we felt that day. The overcast condition made the Kolsai lakes ordinary...besides we were tired and hungry,and doing a horse ride to Kolsai lake 2 (there are two connected lakes) was not an option (although I would advise that this should not be missed). We had an uninspiring but a warm freshly cooked rice with vegetables at a local restaurant. During the return journey,our driver cum friend cum saviour suggested Turgen valley. We decided to give it a try.It's a small valley amongst the mountains with a resort and children park. There is a provision for trout fishing which the children enjoyed very much. We could catch only two fish, which was promptly barbequed and served with some rice and french fries and bread. We came back and checked in the jewel of Almaty, the Hotel Kazakhstan, a Soviet era hotel. Even if you stay anywhere in Almaty,don't miss this hotel....it is one of those hotels that has a soul, has a history! The view of the city with the surrounding mountains is simply amazing! The next day we just idled away visiting the nearby children park, a walk along the boleavurde to a nearby shopping plaza and a quick tour to the state museum. What separates first world countries from third is not how rich they are,but by the attitude of the people. There were traffic in the city,but no honking,no breaking of rules. Right of pedestrians is always respected. Small parks were everywhere,with gardens and flowers making them beautiful in the spring sun and restrooms for ladies in malls and museums, even child creche were present. The people seemed to be a little reserved at first,but maybe that is due to the language barrier,or maybe they follow the maxim- mind your own business. Outside the city,I found the people quiet friendly, inquisitive and wanting to have a conversation,which sadly was limited due to my limited Russian knowledge.Next day, we woke up early to catch our early morning money saving flight (Air Astana,one of the best Airways I have ever alighted on), and a few hours later we were crossing over the Hindkush to enter the planes of Punjab....and that's it....Dasvadaniya!
Before ending this rather unromantic boring Travelouge,a few useful tips-
1. You don't need a travel agent to visit Almaty
2.Best season - May for the flowers, January for snow
3. Download Yandex app, register it with Airtel, it's a life saver (food delivery to travel...just like Zomato/Uber)
4. Kazakhstan is a cashless economy,with most payment by Kapsi app(which a foreigner can't use). So exchange your money to Tenge, you will need it for your taxi rides and local shopping.(Green credit...the bank where you can exchange,or at Hotel Kazakhstan)
5. Dollars are accepted but rare.
6. Plenty of options for non veg food (but still the largest chunk of Indian tourists I saw are vegetarian Gujaratis)
6. Qazamat, the cheap Amma canteen style restaurants for cheap healthy food
7. Lots of fruits and cheap vodka and bread. The best way to know a place is to visit the supermarket.
8. Places to see- Zenkov cathedral, Panflov park, Big Almaty lake, Turgen valley, Charyn canyon, Kolsai and Kandy lakes (can be done only by staying overnight at Kolsai lakes). But the problem is that tours are too much expensive on TripAdvisor. Best is to go there and book a tour either via your hotel or book a cab like us.(You will have to negotiate the price). Also there are several group tours available,you can find them on Google,but you can only book by paying in cash.
The photos have been dumped randomly without any captions,just like the article above....full of incoherent thoughts!
