Almaty is Kazakhstan's largest city, and it reminds one of Salt Lake City, Utah. It is close to the mountains, and the country's premiere ski resort is within a few minutes of downtown. Unlike the desert steppes in Atyrau and Astana, Almaty is green, mountainous, and a renowned outdoor playground. The scenery near Almaty appeared in our post about Nomad lifestyle. In this post, we have scenes from the city and from the conference Jim attended.
Almaty means "apple" in the Kazakh language, and the symbol appears frequently.
A fountain in the park in the city center on a beautiful day.
The Golden Warrior Monument is on Republic Square in Almaty. The monument celebrates the independence of Kazakhstan, the identity of its people, and the role of the city of Almaty as capital of Kazakhstan until 1997.
The design of the monument was inspired by Kazakh folklore and the 1969 archaeological discovery of a Second or Third Century BC Saka or Scythian noble buried in a golden suit of armor with a sizable hoard of gold, earning him the moniker "Golden Man."
The University of Almaty
Families around the world enjoy parks on a sunny day!
It's no different in Kazakhstan.
Here is a classic example of Soviet-era building. Shops on the ground floor and four stories of apartments above. This style of building appears throughout the former Soviet territories (except not quite so much in Georgia - they were better at avoiding the Soviet housing rules than other territories).
We were in Almaty for a legal conference Jim attended with several colleagues from TCO and Chevron. Here you see, L to R, Alexander, the head of litigation in Atyrau; Samat, the Managing Counsel for Chevron's Eurasia Business Unit in Almaty; and Aset, the General Manager of Legal in Atyrau.
And three more colleagues from Atyrau, L to R, Timur and Yerken, both young lawyers, and Dana, the manager of the compliance group. We are so blessed to have such good colleagues and friends in Kazakhstan.
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