Current affairs

The river splits Astana into old and new; poor and rich; neglected and embellished; genuine and pretentious; down to earth and built to the sky. But if the bigger picture is too much and you just want to go for a walk, the river is a good neutral route; away from the pretence but also the mess and pollution. The current is ceremonial at best and the well lit buildings reflect off the usually still water surface.

Still, that is, until a raft of revellers send their wake ashore, causing temporary ripples through what feels, at times, like a temporary city.

Cruising along the Ishim.

But I think those who live in Astana and have semi-decent jobs - the growing middle class - are glad to have a clean, forward looking, brightly coloured city with a sense of future and freedom. I tend to take these things for granted as I criticise the tack and the folly (there's so MUCH!).

Rowers revel on the river.

What a beach

Sun and a beach. And the Radisson hotel.

Mostly distinguished simply by being a beach rather than being a good beach, this is the center of Astana in the summer; a small but popular beach on the shore of the Ishim and on the edge of the park. Thousands of kilometres from the ocean.

Toilet ... pictures

I like these because they're unambiguous, and they have character.

Are you a thief or a headmistress? Choose your own adventure

They're in Alibaba, a resturant near the river with a big outdoor, shaded area with a straw roof. There are tweeting sounds coming from birds hanging in cages; the cages are covered in ornate blankets because, apparently, the birds only tweet in the dark. Sad. But there's a really good atmosphere at the resturant and it's great to be able to sit outdoors.

The food is good at Alibaba's - the horse meat shashlik is a particular highlight. Usually lamb shashlyk is best but here the horse is genuinely nicer. Shashlyk is a posh word for 'a bunch of bits of meat'. The servings are notably small though.

Kaz Munai Bench

Kaz Munai Gaz is the national oil / energy / kleptocracy company and they have an emirates-inspired HQ in Astana with a huge arch over the centre-line of new Astana's line of symmetry which runs from the President's palace to Khan Shatyr.

Two benches, three bins. Almost as disproportionate
as Kazakhstan's oil revenues.

Down on the humble ground in front of the Kaz Munai Gas HQ lies this shocking combination (above) of two neighbouring benches, with three bins between them. I feel that this is excessive. Morally repugnant.

Wall of tall glass: tacky towers abound.

The line of symmetry in Astana is a wide and very long pedestrianised area and it's actually wonderful. Lots of grass and benches and gardens and fountains and public art of questionable quality. Astana in the summer is really quite pleasant.

Khan Shatyr: EuroHike's new luxury camping offering.

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3rd July 2012, corrections and clarifications: link added to 'morally repugnant', to explain the joke; 'excessive' changed to 'disproportionate'.

Local views

What with the weather warming different things now actually look different, as opposed to the winter when everything was white! Here a couple of things within a short walk of my palace.

'They'll NEVER find me here. A GENIOUS hiding place'

Super-zero temperatures permit rainbows; unfortunately
blu-tac is not available in Kazakhstan and this rainbow,
presumably stuck on with tape, has slipped almost to the floor.

The velodrome.

Secret police

For 9 months, every time I've seen a police man officer I have been turning on the camera on my phone and, with the phone to my ear and pretending to listen to my voicemail, I have been surreptitiously taking photos of the officer men's gigantic hats (larger than Saturn's rings, I estimate).

I have had two main difficulties with this: firstly, the flash tends to go off, and this raises suspicion; and secondly I am a terrible judge of the direction in which the camera is pointing. So I have a track record of arousing suspicion and as a reward I have a collection of useless photos of kerbs at 45 degrees.

A police man. Officer.

So yesterday I decided to walk up to a police man officer - he, no less, of traffic cop beeping horn phenomenon fame - and take a picture right in his face. He followed me, enquired grumpily about the photo; I showed him, and he said some things I didn't understand. Of course we have been here a while so can now understand about three words of Russian, including 'ne nada' which roughly translates to 'no need'. Well, it translates exactly. Anyway, I said a good British combination of sorry, ok, fine, sorry, yes, fine and was sure to keep my head down as I walked off. Of course the man, though he may be of the law, is completely wrong. I NEEDED the photo ... How else can I convey the sheer massiveness of his hat?!

Dasvadenya winter

A jog through the fields opposite.
Serving suggestion: listen to Jimmy Cliff.

The front garden looks like an
aerial view of Mozambique

The winter is a faint memory now and Astana has transformed from a pristine vacuum of life to a vibrant city which could even be described as charming at times. People are out and about, families playing, couples on walks, groups of teenagers hanging around (but none particularly menacing). There seem to be pregnant women everywhere. I suppose there was nothing else to do in the winter.

The weather is always warm enough and never too hot. Rumour is that they poison the mosquitos (if so, it works); the sun is usually out, and the breeze is usually light. The evenings stay light forever, and even when it's dark, it's warm, and you can sit outside and enjoy a beer (but don't get caught ... eek).

Summer means you can enjoy the city's many public works
of art. Some, like this, are actually enjoyable.