2nd Day in Almaty

Our first adventure for the day was a brief stop at the Memorial for Kazakhstan independence. It’s actually one of the nicer memorials that I have visited.

On the top of the column in the middle of the memorial is a replica of the golden man on a winged snow leopard.

At the four corners of the Memorial or four statues, one and older man, two older woman, and then a statue of a young boy and a horse and a young girl on a horse. The statues represent the past and the future of Kazakhstan. Also around the memorial are eight panels depicting different scenes from the history of the country. Here are two of these statues and one of the panels.

This book sits at the foot of the column. It represents both the past and the future of the republic. It does this by having half the book pages that have writing and half the book has empty pages.

Another picture of the mountains taken from the memorial

Our next stop was a museum of musical instruments. We saw more examples of the instruments that were played for us yesterday plus many more. We were entertained by one of the students at the Conservatory playing a dombra for us.

This percussion instrument looks like a Purim grogger.

The kobyz has two strings made of horsehair. The resonating cavity is usually covered with goat leather. This instrument just absolutely fascinates me.

At the museum, our guide also describe the significance of the national emblem and the flag of Kazakhstan.

Sent a represents the hole in the roof of a yurt. Cross was used to tell time of day and passing of seasons by the position of the sun and stars in relationship to the cross beams. Horses from the golden man.

The blue represents the sky while the yellow in the center is the sun. There is an eagle below the sun. The design on the left is a nomadic symbol. The sun’s rays are shaped like grain, which is the basis of abundance and prosperity

Our last stop for the day was the green market. I’ve never seen a market so clean. There was no odor, no flies. I got to try a couple of different versions of horse meat, which tasted a lot like beef. I bought some chocolates and some cheese curds that were quite delicious. We learned that it is genetically been shown that apples originated in the region around Almaty. While tulips also came from here.

Our guide, holding a pointed twig from an aspen tree, which is supposed to award or or be used to kill evil spirits.

The big yellow blob is butter that’s actually stored in a cow’s stomach. The stand is where I also bought the cheese curds.

The opera house which is across from the restaurant where we ate lunch.

After our adventures in Almaty , we got on our bus to drive to our next country which is Kyrgyzstan. We will stay in the capital Bishkek for two nights. I am struggling to pronounce the name of this country.