San_Marino - San Marino
Foto: The St Nicolas Cathedral (bron: Ronald van der Veer)
Kazakhstan - From the hotel, we walk to the St. Nicholas Cathedral. A light turquoise-colored cathedral with golden onion-shaped domes. Built in 1909, the cathedral features a beautifully ornate iconostasis inside. A heavy chandelier, filled with candles, hangs above the pulpit. Impressive! This church is one of the few buildings in Almaty that survived the devastating 1911 earthquake. After the earthquake, Almaty was rebuilt with relatively modern architecture. Broad roads are laid out in a grid of horizontal and vertical streets. At Respublika Alangy stands a monument to the Golden Man. The golden warrior costume was discovered near Almaty and dates to the fifth century. Also on this square is the city government building, with a distinct Russian look. In Panfilov Park, established in 1975 to honor the 28 heroes of the Panfilov Division, stands the Zenkov Cathedral. With its colorful roof, it’s a Russian Orthodox cathedral. The interior is even more beautiful than that of St. Nicholas. Although you wouldn’t guess from the pillars, the entire structure is said to be built of wood. When we tap the pillars, we’re not entirely sure. On the way back to the hotel, we get caught in a rainstorm. It had looked threatening all day, but now the skies open up. We take shelter under an awning. The hotel is only 300 meters away, but the rain is just too heavy. Water streams across the road. When it eases up a little, we make a dash for it. Almaty is a fun and actually very normal city. The shopping streets are fine. Unfortunately, due to the early 20th-century earthquake, the city has lost much of its historical architecture. In the evening, we go to a local restaurant just outside the city center—a tip from a Kazakh we got back in the Netherlands. The taxi driver (anyone is a taxi driver here when it suits them) can’t find Restaurant Paradise. He makes a few phone calls. Apparently, there are several restaurants with that name. After ten minutes, we arrive at the right one. The parking lot is full, and inside it’s crowded too. "No space, no space," they tell us. Even when we ask how long the wait might be, there’s still no room. Now what? Back to the city? But where to? We decide to walk back to the main road and try to flag down another car. Coincidentally, there’s another restaurant at the intersection. It looks cozy. The menu is only in Russian. A man from another table comes over to help — he speaks German. With his help, we manage to order a nice meal: shashlik, fries, and salad.
AksuZhabagly Nature Reserve
Kazakhstan - In a four-wheel drive jeep, I head to Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Park. Lammert and Elmira come along — they’ll be our guides in the area. Just outside the village, the road quickly worsens. The driver often has to switch to low gear. I’m jolted around ...
Dead trees in Lake Kaindy
Kazakhstan - From the village of Saty, it’s still twelve kilometers along a dirt road to Lake Kaindy. The road is little more than a cart track. Oncoming cars can only be passed by pulling off into the roadside. Suddenly, we reach a river. Other drivers advise us ...
The beautiful Charyn Canyon
Kazakhstan - A good asphalt road leads us to the Charyn Canyon area — a rugged rock formation carved out by the Charyn River. At the location marked by our GPS as the canyon entrance, we wait for the motorcyclists. But they’ve found the entrance somewhere else. ...