With almost 1.3 million people living in it, Astana is by no means a small city. This combined with the fact that it is a recently planned capital city means that there is a lot of “stuff” to see in it for travellers of all kinds. In this article, we will be covering the best places to visit in Astana on the Eastern bank of the Ishim River, which includes the old city center and a not so old square that apparently houses some of the finest real estate in town.
My first look at the eastern bank came during a long walk I took alongside the Western bank of the river. The view of the side that I have not been to before from Ak Orda was quite tempting to say the least. You can see the Highvill residential complex on the left side of this photo, where you can find the best Japanese food in town at a small joint called Café Momo. I have heard only good things about that area in general, and being so close to embassies it is full to the brim with expats of all sorts.
A closer inspection reveals that the so-called Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, or just the Shiny Glass Pyramid as I like to call it, is much smaller than I anticipated. It hosts certain cultural events, like concerts, but I was not there for anything interesting at the time. In fact, by the time I could go there the trees were already ready for winter, just compare the two previous photos and you will see what I mean.
Unfortunately, not all is tidy and shiny in Astana. As I often say, nothing good comes from a job hastily done. If you force a relatively small town to become the capital of a bustling new country, and try to make it as pretty as possible, as quickly as possible, you will run into some problems. The skeletal remains of what was once Palace of Creativity is an excellent example of this. It is being rebuilt now, because when it was first built (less than a decade ago mind you) safety standards seems to have been regarded as safety suggestions… I will leave it to my Kazakh friends to talk about the loss of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash on this case as it is not my place to do so. However, similar yet less visible issues plague the rest of the city every now and then as well. Due to a lack of drainage system in some parts of the city (perhaps all of it), it is common to have floods during spring, when the snow melts. My apartment was made inaccessible by such an event twice already, where you just have to take a taxi even if the road takes 20 minutes to walk at most.
Slightly to the left of the Palace of Creativity one can find the Hazrat Sultan Mosque. It is one of the finer looking mosques in town. In fact, despite not being the biggest by any means, its intricate details on the outside are the best in my opinion. I did not want to get inside at the time as I was extremely hungry, though I did hear that on the inside it cannot compete with Astana Grand Mosque.
This monument, found in between all the aforementioned landmarks, is dedicated to Kazakh Eli, which translates to Kazakh Nation. There is nothing much to write about it since this whole area seems to be in disarray. On the left of it you can see the Palace of Creativity that is now being rebuilt, and to its right is a similar story with the Palace of Independence. The whole area was devoid of any souls too, there were not even any police officers that you can find randomly waiting around in certain other parts of the town. With that being said, I can see how this massive area would be useful for celebrations and parades, but I was not visiting it at such a time. In fact, I think there was a New Year’s celebration that took place here. Once the constructions are done, it should return to its former glory in no time I bet.
Speaking of monuments, my favourite one in town just has to be the Defenders of the Motherland Monument on the bank of the Akbulak river, a subsidiary of Ishim. It is not the biggest one (of this kind) that I have seen so far, but it is pretty cool with the wheat detail on top of it, and with two wonderful wings.
Let us take a closer look at said wings. On the left side we are greeted by some old Kazakh soldiers, all the way back from the more nomadic roots of the nation. They are donned in their own traditional armour, and are seen fighting atop horses.
In stark contrast to the previous wing, the right one includes Soviet troopers, armed to the teeth with the now legendary PPSh-41 submachine guns and RGD-33 grenades. Though an opportunity seems to be missed by not including some troops on T-34 tanks to complement the horse riding warriors on the left side. Nevertheless, such stark contrast is matched with the Russian (instead of Kazakh) inscription found on this wing of the monument.
After being amazed by my latest find, I started to wander a bit aimlessly towards the old city center of Astana, when the town was called Akmola. Well it was also called Akmolinsk and Tselinograd at certain other times as well. On the way I chanced upon this beautiful graffiti. You will not find this on any travel guide to the city, and probably not on any other travel blog or vlog. This is the reason why I like walking everywhere, if possible, and it made me glad that I was walking this route even though it felt like -10 degrees outside.
After passing the Turkish embassy and then the Russian one, you arrive at the Military Historical Museum of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. I was there at an extremely unlucky day as though it was not written anywhere online, I was told that they were having a sanitation day. Some soldiers were inside taking a few group photos, though there were many janitors as well. A friend of mine called them for me on that day to make sure that I did not misunderstand what was going on, only to find out that it was indeed a sanitation day. It is what it is. Thankfully, some of the best exhibits are actually found outside the museum (well, I hope that is the case at least), like a decent array of tanks and planes which you can see freely. So, there was a silver lining to the story.
Alongside the two aforementioned embassies and this museum, one can find the Atatürk Park. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk being the founder of the Republic of Turkey found himself a place as a statue all the way out here in Astana, a token of the friendship between peoples. It is one of the cosier parks of the city as well so despite its small size, a visit should be worthy. Though the city is home to a ton of parks, not all are old enough to have these sort of taller trees, that is why these more central parks, regardless of their size, are sometimes the best option to escape from the scorching summer sun.
Let us end our tour of the eastern bank by this sculpture of Kenesary Khan. This is found on the exact opposite side of the Central Park, near the Arbat Street. From here, you can get a good view of the western bank of the Ishim River, about which you can read all about by checking my previous article!
It would be an exaggeration to say that Astana is a touristic town, however, I also disagree with some travelers and locals alike who find it extremely boring and worthless. It is, at the end of the day, a political project. This alone makes it worthy of a visit in my book. It is a statement on Kazakh nation and the path it is headed on, and it is certainly a very different city compared to all other ones Kazakhstan has to offer. Given the distances involved, I would not really advice any normal traveler to make the way from south of the country (where most visit) to here just to see Astana, however, if you are already in North Kazakhstan (likely on a more Soviet-oriented trip to visit cities like Karaganda or Petropavl) you might as well spend a few nights in Astana. In fact, given the cheapness of taxi, you can likely be done with seeing everything in two full days, so it would not bloat anyone’s itinerary all that much as well. Feel free to reach out to me to share what you thought about Astana as a foreigner if you end up visiting it!