Duncan and Sara 2019

From Almaty airport, it's an hour and three-quarters north to Nur-Sultan Some views of the city on the way in from the airport... The settlement , Akmolinsky prikaz , was founded in 1830 , a defensive fortification for Siberian Cossacks. Successively renamed Akmolinsk , Tselinograd , Akmola ('white grave'), it replaced Almaty as the capital of Kazakhstan in December 1997, and was renamed Astana in 1998 (very sensible - that means ' capital city' in Kazakh).   But, on 20 March 2019, it was renamed again to Nur-Sultan (the first name of the long-ruling, retiring Kazakh president). We've only got one night so we're staying right in the centre, a bit glitzy and soulless with the lozenge-shape Nurzhol boulevar d arranged on a massive scale with marbled flower-beds, seats, stairs and bushes. A different perspective is from the square's centrepiece, the 105m (344ft)-high Bayterek Monument a w...

After a good nigt's catch-up sleep and hearty breakfast, it's a short walk up to Central Stat e Museum, one of the largest in Central Asia, established in the 1930s and contained within this building since 1985.   The museum houses the most significant collection of Kazakh historical, archaeological, and modern cultural and political artifacts.  A few highlights...     And a nice cafeteria in the basement for chicken+veg lunch  It’s a 1 mile walk to the Kok-Tobe cable-car which feels rather like an out-of-season seaside town with horrible piped music, sad-looking golden eagle for costumed photos; good view of town though, the mountains and tall Almaty Tower The Ferris wheel gives that little extra height       but the 'Beatles'(!?) statue is quite bad Coffee and view-admiring until sunset   ...