Kazakhstan Part 2 Astana: A Special Futuristic City By Carla Marie Rupp and Jason Rupp
Culture, hospitality, and nature are a big part of visiting Kazakhstan, the largest Central Asia country. We covered what we could in our three-weeks-long visit and we loved the Kazakh foods, attractions, and friendly people.We traveled to Kazakhstan to attend a travel blogger conference called TBEX, which opened and ended with a glorious ceremony, and during our time there Jason joined a tour to the futuristic capital city Astana. Here is Jason’s account and photos of that visit.
The KOMPASS Tour Operator company was the leader of my tour in Astana (capital of Kazakhstan). I met my tour group at the Almaty airport and took a domestic flight of 90 minutes on Air Astana, the national carrier. Astana was formerly called Aqmola, founded with that name in 1830. The city had other names (Akmolinsk, Tselinograd) before it was named Astana, which means ‘capital,’ in 1998. Briefly the city’s name was Nur-Sultan in 2019 in honor of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, but the name went back to Astana in 2022. It has a population of 1.7 million and is a really fun, futuristic city with outstanding architecture. An ultra-modern, futuristic city, it built up rapidly on the Kazakh steppe from a small town. Now you can see gleaming skyscrapers, quirky architecture, and world-renowned, avant-garde buildings designed by top international architects such as the 97-meter-tall Bayterek Tower, shaped like a huge lollipop and based on a Kazakh myth.
We visited many epic spots; there are a lot of beautiful places in Astana to admire. I liked the fantastic spherical structure, and stepping inside it took my breath away: Nur Alem is a masterpiece originally built as the centerpiece for EXPO 2017. This iconic 100-meter glass sphere has since evolved in “Alem.ai,” a hub for artificial intelligence and future technology. When I walked through the Museum of Singularity there, it felt like being in a sci-fi film, with the modern art and interactive artificial intelligence exhibits inside. You see light installations and immersive projections. It feels unreal. It is a living center for innovation, future energy, all blending cutting-edge tech with brilliant design; an architectural wonder.
Visiting the largest mosque in Central Asia, the Nursultan Mosque was breathtaking. It is a mix of modern architecture and traditional craftsmanship. It is said to have the largest dome of any mosque in the world and this mosque can hold 235,000 worshippers at once. It also has the largest handmade carpet on the planet. I was in awe. The sheer scale is breathtaking and its 100-meter mosaic wall is made of 25 million pieces of colored glass.The National Museum of Kazakhstan is another must see place, its collection includes 175,000 exhibits that tell the story of the country’s history, art, and culture. It opened in 2014 on the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev and complements Independence Square, which is home to the “Kazakh Eli” monument, the white marble Hazret Sultan Mosque, the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, and the Kazakh National University of Arts.
Besides visiting museums and mosques, I found time to go to Aitmen Barbershop. I like to make barber videos wherever I travel for my YouTube channel, which is about travel & pamper. I even let Galimzhan Seilov’s 8-year-old son Ramazan video me for a few minutes. He was proud, since it is his dream to become a Youtuber like me. Thanks to YouTube superfan Damir for taking me to this barber experiece.
Astana is a beautiful city built on the Isham River, the left side having wide boulevards and futuristic government monuments, the right side being more residential: it has a Soviet vibe because of older buildings. I’ll always remember my sunset boat ride on the river and how fun it was. I was able to view the city’s wild and dramatic architecture from the boat and see all of the people enjoying the promenade, with local ice cream sellers and a lot of street musicians.
In Astana, you find modern lodgings and delicious foods. I stayed at the comfortable ibis Astana hotel and found kind and hospitable people everywhere. Air Astana easily connects Almaty with beautiful Astana. The tour I joined with KOMPASS Kazakhstan was amazing, and I would recommend this tour company for any tours here. You might get a group horseback ride as I did!
Jason Rupp is a freelance travel journalist who runs a popular YouTube channel with his name Jason Rupp, using the theme he coined he calls Travel & Pamper. He can be reached at [email protected] and dontmissthe plane_JasonRupp on Instagram. Carla Marie Rupp is a travel journalist reached at [email protected].