Today we start our walk at the usual place, the statue of Kenesary Khan near Ishim river. And we are going to visit the local Arbat, the Central Square, a few small parks and many other notable places. This part of Astana is called the Old Town. It used to be the center of the city back in the day, when Astana was known under a different name - Tselinograd.
0:00 - The statue of Kenesary Khan, the bridges, the Stargate. Two of the previous walks started here ( • Walking along the Ishi... , • Kazakhstan, Astana - W... ), so we are very familiar with the spot.
0:29 - Notice the bench that looks like pencils. Next to it there are some interesting swings. At the time of my arrival the swings were occupied by the jolly girl, but I wanted to record the swings so I waited for 15 minutes, but it only got worth, the girls multiplied and occupied the pencil bench as well. That's why you only get the glimpses of both.
0:35 - This time around we are going north, away from the river, following Azerbaijan Mambetov St. The sidewalk of this street is known as the Arbat. It is a reference to the famous Moscow walking street. The local Arbat is full of curiosities as well.
0:56 - United Nation's building.
1:28 - The logo of one of the oldest construction companies in Kazakhstan - "Алматыгорстрой". I tried to record in from the distance in previous video: • Kazakhstan, Astana - W... .
1:58 - Statue of a guitar player. Someone famous?
2:10 - I remembered the existence of the secret statue and had to backtrack.
2:34 - The secret statue.
3:32 - Schoolchildren's Palace named after Makhambet Otemisuly.
4:27 - A lamppost playing contrabass.
4:44 - Four walking guys. Someone famous? Just kidding. The Beatles statues.
5:10 - Love Carriage.
5:21 - A lamppost playing harp.
6:01 - A lamppost playing trumpet.
6:14 - Reconciliation Bench.
6:28 - A lamppost playing sax.
6:41 - The Iron Throne.
6:58 - A theme breaking, bicycle riding lamppost.
7:11 - Angel Wings.
7:16 - A lamppost playing accordion. I feel a certain bond to this one, as if I used to play an accordion in my past life.
7:29 - Heading west on Buqarbay Batyr St.
8:40 - A little park. It is marked as Yoga Park in Google Maps, but I seriously doubt it.
10:14 - Graffiti of a duck.
11:01 - Statue of hands. Or moose.
12:23 - A mural of Kazakh man and woman riding horses. They have windows installed, I believe.
12:31 - Corner of Buqarbay Batyr St and Beibitshilik St. Let's go north on Beibitshilik.
13:54 - Mural dedicated to Aleksandr Zatayevich (Aleksander Zatajewicz), a composer, music ethnographer and researcher on Kazakh folk music.
14:02 - Book shelves mural.
14:57 - Going back to the Iron Throne.
18:10 - A lamppost playing tuba.
18:33 - A lamppost playing keys.
18:37 - "My beloved city".
18:54 - A lamppost playing drums.
19:11 - A lamppost playing balalaika.
19:36 - Astana spelled.
20:04 - A lamppost playing electric guitar. Most likely, a drug addict.
20:16 - A lamppost playing banjo.
20:23 - A lamppost playing violin.
21:11 - Corner of Azerbaijan Mambetov St and Kenesary St.
21:16 - A quote from Gabit Musirepov about the importance of native language.
21:27 - Somewhat eerie, but cool statues of man and woman. The man looks like an automaton, the woman looks like an undead.
22:29 - A statue of I don't know what. And behind it there is another piece of wisdom. Something about character being a reflection of soul. I think, it's al-Farabi.
22:47 - A whole park of obscure ancient statues. One of them resembles my dad, another looks like a Moomin. I think, one of them is holding his... Nah, it's probably just a kobyz.
26:04 - That's a funny one. An old woman carrying a child on her back.
This description turned out to be too long for youtube. It is continued in the first comment.