Day 4(11 to go!)

Today was cold and drizzly. Shymkent was so warm that I did not bring a jacket or sweater or anything warm. Some of the residents were even in winter coats although it wasn't that cold. I just got back from my mountain tour. I took some pictures on the way there, but they are through a dirty window in a moving vehicle so they are only so so. This fancy building is a gym. As you head towards the mountains, you go through the expensive part of the city. Mansions and designer stores etc. As you drive up into the mountains, you follow a nice stream. You can't see it too well in this picture however.
Once you got up in the mountains, it was cold. You can see the ice skating rink in the background. They also have concerts there and use it as a stadium.
This is the ice rink. This area is called Medeu. They are trying to develop it as they want to some day hold the Olympics here.
The mountains are very close. If you follow the road further on, you get to the ski area called Chimbulak. Medeu is at 1700m elevation and Chimbulak is at 2300m. Medeu is much cooler than Almaty. You can walk up to the top if you want, but there are a lot of steps. There are actually a series of these staircases to get to the top. We drove. When you are at the top, you are standing on a dam. It is to protect the valley below from avalanches and mudslides.
After the mountains, we stopped at a park in the center of the city. It was called Paniflov park or 28 Soldiers park. 28 soldiers from the area were killed in WW2. They died defending a village near Moscow from the Nazis. This monument is huge-maybe 25 ft tall and 50 ft across.
The park is very nice and is next to a museum. I didn't go to the museum, but I was told it is a museumn of the traditional kazakh musical instruments the dombra and qobyz.

They have an eternal flame for the soldiers.

On the other side of the park is Zenkov cathedral that was built from wood including using wooden nails. It was built in 1904.

It is very beautiful in person. there is also a children play area with games etc nearby. Lots of roses, trees, etc also. Overall a very nice park. So despite all my complaining about having to stay 2 extra days in Almaty, it turned out to be a nice time and I have more good memories and pictures to share with the girls when they are older.