Nestling at the foot of the Tian Shan mountains, the tree-lined avenues of Almaty give it a very different feel from Nur-Sultan, its successor as capital of Kazakkstan. Even the municipal flower beds are different: petunias and marigolds in the … Continue reading Exploring Almaty
In the Central City Park in Nursultan is a colourful monument comprising figures bearing globes painted to represent the countries of the world, originally created for the 2017 Expo. It’s fun to walk round spotting the countries you have visited, … Continue reading Around the world in just one park
As a country girl at heart, after a day pounding city streets, I long for a park. Our second day in Kazakhstan did not disappoint, as we drove out of the city of Nur-Sultan to the Burabay National Park, where … Continue reading The invisible elephant
It was our first day in Kazakhstan and after a mere 2 hours’ sleep and some excellent jam-filled croissants, we met our local guide Olyssa for a city tour. Our first stop was the Hazrat Sultan (Holy Sultan) mosque, opened … Continue reading A Day in Nur-Sultan
Apples are big in Almaty. Really big. The city is even named after them – alma is the Kazakh for ‘apple’. Apples are everywhere, most strikingly in a public artwork of a yellow car bursting with red apples. The wild … Continue reading The Other Big Apple
Olyssa broke the news over lunch. Our programme for our final afternoon in Nur-Sultan included a ‘Kazakh Cultural Show.’ This had not been on our itinerary. I naively assumed it would be a display of music and dancing – not … Continue reading Cultural Experience
Smells of cooking shashlik and dill filled the air as we strolled through the street market of a Uighur village. Tomatoes and peppers were for sale by the sack load. At the edge of the village was a Soviet-era … Continue reading The Charyn Canyon: the Grand Canyon’s little brother
As capital cities go, Tórshavn is on a modest scale. Very modest. It’s about the size of an average UK town, which means it’s easy to explore on foot. The historic area of Tinganes sits on a rocky promontory separating … Continue reading Highlights of Torshavn…. including cake
“The view from our prison is the best in the world.” Our taxi driver was pointing out local landmarks on the drive from Vagar airport to Torshavn. With grey rocky hillsides covered with rumpled grass broken by mountain streams, and … Continue reading Faroese exploration
“Have you ever been to a Cat Café before?” “Yes, in Vilnius.” I think my answer slightly confused the owner of what claims to be the first Cat Café in the Midlands, located in Stratford-upon-Avon and called (what else?) the … Continue reading Another town, another Cat Cafe
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