Central Asia

Our last long drive, followed by a little bit of Georgia in Almaty that night. Very pleasant. Almaty is the most developed (wealthiest) city in this part of Central Asia.

Our last long drive, followed by a little bit of Georgia in Almaty that night

In Almaty we had a new guide: Sat. Our first stop was in the mountains which, Sat said, would be cooler than the 35C in town. It turned out we were going to Shymbulak, the highest ski resort the world. Three long stages to the top, where there is a glacier. Colder and colder.

Shymbulak the highest ski resort the world

Obviously, it's out of season but I was able to do some imaginary skiing, looking down from the lifts.  For those interested, here is the ski-map.

Descending, we drove to Panfilov Park in the midst of which is Ascension Cathedral, also known as Zenkov Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox cathedral completed in 1907 and notable for being constructed entirely of wood without the use of nails. Although, it turns out, the wooden panels are bolted together. It's one of the few Tsarist-era buildings to survive the 1911 earthquake.

During the Soviet-era, the building served as the Central State Museum of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, and its bell tower even housed Almaty's first radio transmitters. In 1995, it was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church and has since undergone reconstruction as a cathedral.

Our guide, Sat, was not into Russian churches. He was noticeably uncomfortable. He's Muslim, but not strict: "I don't pray five times a day". But here there were people praying to 'graven idols'. Not kosher nor Protestant and definitely not Muslim. They're all going to Hell.

Actually, it's a very pretty church with a couple of fine Virgin and Child icons that survived Lenin, thanks to Stalin. One of these is 'Kazanskaya', the Mother of God of Kazan. According to legend, this icon was miraculously recovered in 1579 after being lost for over 140 years. This is probably a copy after original icon was stolen and likely destroyed in 1904. Nevertheless, prayers to this one in 1812 helped Russian soldiers fend off Napoleon.

Zenkov Cathedral
Sat was not into Russian churches.

I tried to explain to Sat that the issue of icons has created more than one world-changing schism in Christianity and we should be interested in all religions as they all played a significant part in the history, without which, we three would not be here to observe them. Weird as some religious beliefs might seem to us.

I tried to use the Mormons as an example of a recently invented religion, complete with the angel Moroni, but he'd never heard of them.  Of course, Islam also posits angelic apparitions by Jibril (Gabriel), in it's foundation myth. So, I gave up.

Panfilov Park is named for the heroes of Panfilov - the Panfilov Division's Twenty-Eight Almaty Guardsmen or just the 'Twenty-Eight'. This was a group of soldiers from the Red Army's 316th Rifle Division who took part in the 1941–1942 Battle of Moscow during World War II. According to the story, all were killed in action on 16 November 1941 after destroying 18 German tanks and stopping the enemy attack; the Twenty-Eight were collectively endowed with the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Historians have since labelled the story as much needed propaganda, at the time, and a fabrication. Yet, it makes for an imposing sculpture.

Not the World War dates we know

The war memorial and eternal flame also remembers the wars of 1917-1920 and of 1941-1945.

Sat, said that it was a memorial to the two World Wars and didn't want to hear anything to the contrary. I pointed out that the first are the dates of the Russian Revolution, not World War One. WW1 started in 1914 and many Russian troops were killed right from the outset. They are not remembered here.

And the Second World War started in 1939, but then, Russia and Germany still were allies, invading Poland together in 1939. 1941 was when Hitler unexpectedly invaded Russia, bringing it onto the Allied side. Sat walked away.

Maybe he wasn't across this, what do they teach in local schools? Yet, on our way up the mountains he had been incensed about the Marxists purging the ruling elite and Muslim intellectuals to gain control of populous. I've mentioned the purging of intellectuals, and those in authority, by the Russian Empire, elsewhere on this website. Stalin wasn't the first Russian to order a purge. Mind you, back then, it was often in response to an Islamic fatwa called against them.

Sat felt that these purges had weakened the gene pool in Central Asia, reverse eugenics? 

Included in the tour was the National Musical Instruments Museum.

National Musical Instruments Museum
Top left: The instrument that Sat would play tonight - the Kobyz
an ancient Turkic bowed string instrument, associated with Kazakh, Karakalpak, Bashkir, and Tatar cultures,
it is considered a sacred instrument embodying the spiritual world of the nomad.

Sat is also a trainee conductor (classical) and is about to take up a scholarship in Hong Kong. He invited us to a concert that evening at which he would play a traditional Kobyz like one of those in these photos.

The Kobyz was very interesting but a bit weird, almost like some Aboriginal singing with a didgeridoo. Fortunately, most of the concert consisted of classical Baroque music for the cello, violin and archlute.  The only downside was a long explanation, before each piece, in Russian. Я не понимаю

Baroque String Concert
The only downside was a long explanation, before each piece, in Russian.
Click on the second photo to see and hear the videos

Although it was included in our tour itinerary, the Central State Museum had been closed. So we went ourselves the following day.

The Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan demonstrates a vibrant civilisation from the 11th century BCE.

Central State Museum
Even the ancient stone tools are sophisticated

One is free to photograph anywhere except in the Anthropology gallery with special (historical) emphasis on skull shape. These days they are into teeth.:

"Studying of ethno-odonatological aspects of Kazakhstan’s population (from the Bronze Age to the present) is one of the areas of Anthropological Research, which is carried out in the framework of the primary laboratory processing of odonatological materials, univariate and multivariate statistical analyses on these materials. On the basis of these studies comparative tables dendrograms, histograms and polygonale compiled. Cleaning, restoration, classification of teeth on quadrant, as well as statistical analysis of all the studied materials are also carried out. Along with the study of the Kazakh traditional heritage, the Center also examines the history and culture of other nationalities living in Kazakhstan. Result of this work is the exhibition “Kazakh Diaspora” in the third hall of the museum."

Some 60 different races illustrated with skull replicas, drawings and many photographs. Following Darwin, the differences in appearance and (implied) abilities are attributed to different environments and gene pools. Although it's perfectly scientific but it's very non-PC in these days of pan-humanity. Food for thought!

Kazakhstan has long borders with both Russia and China so they are very interested in the outcome of the Ukraine war. Tanks across the border?  The president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, likes to keep the peace.

Top left: The president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and diplomatic relationships
Top right: The flag and the constitution - see my earlier comments
Bottom left: 22nd annual summit of heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
held between 15 and 16 September 2022 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Schmoozing Xi and Putin, along with Modi, Erdoğan and several other dubious characters.
Bottom right: Military readiness - there was also a display of military hardware
most dating back to Soviet times. No match against China or Russia

Let's hope they don't have to fight.

A shopping mall in Almaty.

A shopping mall in Almaty. It could be any developed country in the world.

This is a very liveable city. We're leaving tonight with pleasant memories.