Day 10 (July 9, 2025): Astana is astonishing!

Today started off with frustration. It was meant to be the midpoint laundry day of the trip. So, after a wonderful breakfast in the Sheraton Club Lounge, we set out with all our accumulated dirty laundry from the last nine days to find either a place that would wash it for us or a self-service laundromat where we could do it ourselves. After wandering unsuccessfully for far too long, we gave up and returned to the hotel. It was actually noon by the time we set out again to start our touring.

I’m not even sure how to start to explain Astana. Several things are quite evident, however, and merit being noted. The first is that the city has grown exponentially in a very short period of time. The second is that the city continues to grow exponentially, with no slowing down in sight. The third is that, when the government moved the capital from Almaty to Astana, it envisioned using the flat endless prairie - or “steppe” as the prairie is known in the former USSR - of northern Kazakhstan to create an expansive city that would impress. The fourth is that, with all that flat expanse of land at its disposal, the planners were very liberal in designing the layout of everything. As a result, the distances between sights is huge and, even within a single sight, you have to walk and walk and walk to get around. The fifth is that Astana’s planners were definitely inspired by the drippy, glitzy, consumptive attributes of fast-growing metropolis cities, like Dubai and Doha. And finally, the sixth is that oil profits enable governments to build impressive infrastructure. That fact is very evident when you compare Kyrgyzstan, with very little oil reserves and resulting rough-around-the-edges infrastructure, with Kazakhstan, which is rolling in oil profits and has the glitzy infrastructure to prove it.

Today, we were in and out of numerous Yandex rides, and we walked over 7 km. And still, it feels like we’ve just started to nibble around the edges of what Kazakhstan has built here in Astana. We will share what we did see today, and the next two days will hopefully complete the inventory of the cities key sights.

We are staying at the Sheraton Astana, which is the building next to the high tower in the photo above. That tower is called Qazaqstan Tower, and it is tallest building, not only in Kazakhstan, but in all the central Asia. The entire grouping of buildings you see above is called Abu Dhabi Plaza.

Astana is building an above-ground metro system to serve its 1m+ population. It will have just one line but 18 stations. It seems to be in the final stages of construction. Above you can see the size and look of the standard stations being constructed. This particular station is adjacent to the complex where our hotel is located.

The hotel clerk who checked us in told us that, a couple of decades ago, Astana was nothing but a small town. Now, the expansive prairie in this part of the country has been harnessed to create a metropolis that is truly astonishing. The city is expanding at an insane rate, as exemplified by the cluster of towers above, all under construction simultaneously. There are literally hundreds of apartment blocks and office towers which have been built in the last decade.

Nurzhol Boulevard:

Now, let’s get into the main sights of today. Just to situate things for you, a massive tract of land runs west to east in the center of the city, which was developed to be the main showpiece of the new Astana. Nurzhol Boulevard is a wide pedestrian boulevard that runs the length of this tract. The Presidential Palace is at the far eastern end of the tract, and the iconic Baiterek Tower is in the very center of it. We spent a few hours exploring the area from Baiterek Tower to the Palace.

Every city seems to have its icon. And here, Baiterek Tower has definitely become the symbol of, not only Astana, but also all of post-independent Kazakhstan. Baiterek translates as “tall poplar tree”. The tower was completed in 2002.

Walking eastward on Nurzol Boulevard and looking back at the tower.

Walking eastward on Nurzol Boulevard and focusing on what’s coming up! Namely, the Presidential Palace.

The Presidential Palace. Our blog entry for Almaty also shows a Presidential Palace, but that is the President's residence when he is in Almaty. The one shown above is his main residence. Construction is underway in front of the palace, so for mini blocks all around the palace, police were prohibiting cars and pedestrians from accessing any closer than I was able to capture in the picture above.

Just to take a tangent for a moment to talk about the massive size of the buildings here. I’ve included a few examples below, just to show how office towers and apartment complexes go on and on and on, in terms of their length.

By the way, note all the gold tinted glass in the building above!

Some Key Institutions:

The Supreme Court of Kazakhstan.

The city’s stunning Philharmonic Concert Hall.

A new Opera House is in the final stages of construction.

This is the ballet theater.

And, while we didn’t explore the city’s athletic facilities, I am including a photo of Astana Arena above. In 2011, the Asian Winter Games were held here. So facilities, like the Astana Arena above, were built to accommodate that event.

Gashyktar Park:

Khan Shatyr - “tent of king” - is a tent-shaped mall and entertainment centre. It is the largest tent-shaped building in the world.

Inside the tent!

Expo 2017 Site:

Nur Alen - which translates to ‘shining world’ - served as Kazakhstan’s pavilion during Expo 2017 and contained a renowned exhibit on future energy. We had been hoping to see that exhibit, but apparently, it just closed after eight years. The entire sphere is now undergoing renovation and we were unable to go inside.