City of Apples (1997-1999 & 2013-2016)
Almaty, Kazakhstan
I got to see two Almatys in my life.
Almaty was a completely different city when I first arrived in late May 1997. My first
memory is still the pollution. Almaty always had an air pollution problem, but in the late
1990s, you could see it floating above the streets lights. I had a hard time breathing
during the first week in Almaty. The Peace Medical Officers (PCMOs) gave me Allegra and
Flonase so I could breath.
Still, I loved the 1990s Almaty. The kiosks were still on the sidewalks. It had a different
Central Asian feel to it. Most people still wore clothes imported from Turkey or China.
When I returned in November 2013, Almaty had changed quite a bit. The roads were great, not
potholes. The air clean. It was more like a Western city. I like both versions of Almaty but
miss the older one.
I took the photos around 1997-1999 with my Fuji camera. I used my Samsung Note and iPhone
6S+ phones for 2013-2016 images. I did not edit any pictures..
My first view of Almaty. There was a lot of construction then.Based on the location of the Alatau Mountains, I guess I was close to where I lived in
2013.
More construction.I miss these outside ice-cream sellers.The Ascension Cathedral was undergoing renovation when I arrived.Tsum in August 1998. We spent a lot of time there. I visited again in August 2014.
The Peace Corps took us to the Park of 28 Panfilov Guardsmen.We took the train a lot which was Peace Corps policy in the late 90s. It was too
dangerous to fly with Air Kazakstan. These were the days before Air Astana.
A view of Astana Motors. I knew it was 1998 because Kazakhstan switched its capital from
Almaty to Akmola that year. Akmola was renamed Astana (literally, Capital in Kazakh).
We called her the Komandant. She ran the dormitories at the nearby sport's complex. The
Peace Corps told us to stay there on unofficial visits to Almaty. During one visit, the
Komandant told me how to take the tram so I could visit Ruth in another part of the
city. I found it using just Kazakh.
Almaty 2013-2016
These were my first daylight views of Almaty in November, 2013. I forgot how beautiful
the Alatau Mountains were.
View from Solichnaya Dalina where I lived until 2015.One of the things I liked about the "new" Almaty was Eko Taxi. It was
expensive when I first arrived, but when the Kazakhstan Tenge devalued. Eko Taxi became
affordable.
I miss these views. These are the foothills of the Alatau Mountains from the Miras
International School. I taught here for three years before moving on to China.
Another view of the Alatau Mountains from my apartment at Solichnaya Dalina.
I lived at Mega Towers, in the distance, located at Mega Center, during my last year in
Almaty.
We spent a lot of time at Costas at the Mega Center. Gloria's Coffee was the other
coffee shop I visited when Costas was packed.
The First President's Park opposite the Miras International School.
I had many trips from Almaty with Air Astana, but this was one of the few daytime
departures to Aktau, Kazakhstan, in May 2015. On this flight, I was able to take some photos of the
Aral Sea when we flew over it.
Another view of Almaty. This from the same Air Astana flight.
More photos coming
I have many pictures of Almaty (2013-2016) that I want to add. They will come later after I
create a gallery component for this site.
