Visiting Almaty's Military History Museum

Or its mouthful name, Military History Museum of the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan. Seems imposing. Actually, a bit modest as former Soviet war machine, propaganda temples go. Almaty's slender museum is no match for behemoth's like the one in Minsk.

Emblematic entrance.

Uniforms are always good items to display. Do you turf or surf?

Galleries are modest in scope, more like conference rooms with a bunch of cases.

Heavy metal, canteens and bombs. Fill it up to bring it down. History is written. A letter from President Roosevelt, a big, mash note thank you for defending Leningrad. who else was going to do it?

Flying the colors (red). The flag on the left commemorates the heroic work of the 374 anti-aircraft company.

Getting Monumental In Almaty

Of course Almaty has a nice collection of old, Soviet, Russian, Communist, propaganda, whatever you want to label them monuments. The regime liked statues and making statements in bronze. Comrade, enjoy history on a pedestal.

Behold, the mighty Memorial of Glory. The sculpture commemorates victory during the Great Patriotic War, otherwise known in the West as WWII. A clever design, posing he-man Soviet soldiers into the shape of a map of the USSR.

To the left of the Memorial of Glory is a bronze frieze called, "Oath." Something about a Red Army soldier leading his fallen comrades' horses. Looks a little knight-ish. Also in the same park, a little bronze shout out to military medics.

Girl power. Here's the Memorial of Aliya Moldagulova and Manshuk Mametova, two women warriors who fought in that Great Patriotic War.

Suave. A statue of Gani Muratbaev, helper of the poor, founder of the Youth Union of Kazakhstan in the 1920s. Zipping forward to 1986, a sad, moving memorial to workers who died while putting out the fires and cleaning up at Chernobyl.

Lenin appearance, now relegated to a minor park, bunched up with various communist cronies. Still golden.

Going To Spend A Little Green At The Green Market In Almaty

Every city and town in Central Asia still has big bazaar markets, bustling places filled with food stalls, vendors hawking the staples of the land. Almaty's biggest market is the Kök (Green) Bazaar, a Brutalist styled behemoth that's a joy to explore.

There's been a market on the site since 1875. The current, green shed was built in 1975. Imposing. Shopping, you must!

Oh, overwhelming. View from the mezzanine. Do I buy my kefir or horse meat first?

Let's start with something easy. How about pickled whatever?

OK, ready for some horse meat. And horse sausage and...

...some heads?

Retreat, retreat! The dried legumes, spices, and nuts section seems like a safe place to loiter. And hide.

Getting Green With Envy At The St. Nicholas Cathedral In Almaty

Around the same time the famous yellow Ascension Cathedral was being built, a similar, green, Russian Orthodox church was being constructed in another part of Almaty. Pick color.

Behold, St. Nicholas Cathedral.

View of the steeple and a statue of a confident priest. Is he holding a carrot (church model) and a stick of death (sword)? Tough choice. Heading inside.

Ba-bling. Gold everywhere, endless painting on the walls.

Getting a little creepy with an open casket coffin, containing a saint not named Nicholas. Thanks, just a quick glance. Or maybe stick simply to lighting a candle by a portrait of the main man.

Gazing upward. Seems heavenly.

Going Up To Kok Tobe In Almaty

Almaty is nestled right next to part of the Tien Shan mountain range. You can ski nearby, go on treks. The easiest, closest attraction in the range is a mountaintop amusement, observation area called Kok Tobe. Time to head up.

Station at the top. A cable car takes you up to the area with really small trains.

Amusement park, not so amusing. Fixing the bumper car track. Still bull.

Right, there's that view. It's impressive, a panorama of both city and more mountains. Drop a coin, do some spying.

Kiddie fun with orange, radioactive sand. And penguins. For some reason, there's a big, bronze statue of the Beatles. And it's the most popular attraction. There are a lot of Day Trippers who want to Hold Their Hands. Oof.

A more traditional photo op area. If you're willing to pay to be a Silk Road era plunderer.

Getting Arty In Almaty

Lots of cool stuff to see while walking around Almaty. Art is just around the corner!

Old Soviet car stuffed with apples. The old city name for Almaty was Alma-Ata, which means, "father of apples."

Did we mention apples are important? How about a giant apple, all painted up with an illustration of the grand, old Abay Kazakh State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater? Photocubes, more Almaty area civic highlights.

Hunting for old relics. Here's a detail of an old, Soviet fence around an apartment complex. Celebrating the Olympics with a torch.

New art. A metal cutout pylon. The scene is the Circus building and imposing mountains in the background. Not really art. A permanent poster in a parking lot, showing new military recruits the proper way to hold a rifle. Look and learn.

Back to those big apples. And the circus building. Almaty doesn't hold back on promoting, combining its best tropes.

Soviet Architecture In Almaty

Lots of great, old, iconic Soviet architecture is spread throughout Almaty. Who knew that an old communist war horse could design such modernist, brutalist, funky stuff? Time to take a walk and a look.

Behold the Kazakh Academic Drama Theater. Big place, big name. That's a statue of a relaxed, confident, Mukhtar Auezov, noted Kazakh writer.

The famous Hotel Kazakhstan. It deserves to wear its crown. Speed skating frieze (see what we did there?) at the mountainside Medeo Rink.

Trippy. Spacey. It's the Children's Republican Palace, complete with observatory.

The Wedding Palace. Single people go in, married people come out. Nice mosaic at the entrance. Your Life Here.

Soviets liked round buildings. The circus.

Making some points. The post-Soviet Independence monument, flanked by definitely Soviet period office buildings. Brutalist detail, the jagged corner of a bank building.

College is waiting for you. A former government building, now re-purposed, as the capital of Kazakhstan is now Astana.