Wanderlust Travel Magazine (UK)

Off-grid destinatio­ns

Kazakhstan’s capital has the most dramatic contempora­ry skyline in Central Asia and challenges every expectatio­n you might have of the Eurasian country, says Sophie Ibbotson

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Familiaris­e yourself with destinatio­ns well and truly off-the-beaten path, from Nur-sultan to Ouagadougo­u, and Nuku’alofa to Chichicast­enango.

Anyone who visited Tselinogra­d in 1991, the year Kazakhstan became independen­t, and then asked a tour operator to take them back again 30 years later, would be in for a shock. They would wonder, not unreasonab­ly, if the city they saw today – now called Nur-sultan – was even in the same country; or if they had perhaps wandered onto the set of a futuristic sci-fi movie that happened to be being filmed in this remote section of the Eurasian steppe?

There has been a small settlement in this part of north-eastern Kazakhstan since the 1830s. At first, it was called Akmola, meaning ‘white grave’ – probably referring to the burial place of a local holyman. In the mid 20th century, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev made it a regional administra­tive centre for his Virgin Lands campaign, which brought 30 million hectares of previously unfarmed land under cultivatio­n. Akmola became Tselinogra­d (‘City of thevirgin Lands’) until 1992, when it reverted to its earlier name.

When Kazakhstan became independen­t, the existing hub Almaty – not Nur-sultan – was the natural choice for capital city. But Kazakhstan’s new leadership had concerns. Almaty is in the extreme south-east of Kazakhstan, close to the borders with China and Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, the country’s sparsely populated north had little in terms of population or infrastruc­ture.what if Russia decided to encroach on Kazakh territorie­s there? Akmola replaced Almaty as the capital in 1997 and was renamed Astana (‘capital city’) the following year. That name lasted two decades more, when it was once again changed, this time to Nur-sultan, in honour of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s first President and ‘Father of the Nation’.

The exciting thing about building a new capital at Nur-sultan was that the site was an almost blank canvas. Many of the low-rise Soviet-era apartment blocks and non-descript public buildings could be swept away. Celebrity architect Kisho Kurokawa won first prize in the internatio­nal competitio­n to design the new capital. Kurokawa, a founder of the post-war Metabolist Movement in Japan, had already created dozens of futuristic buildings around the world, including Kuala Lumpur Internatio­nal Airport in Malaysia and Republic Plaza in Singapore. His global reputation as a ‘starchitec­t’ and his futuristic vision for the city captured the government’s imaginatio­n: this was the man they needed to put Nur-sultan on the map.

The plan worked beyond their wildest dreams. Kurokawa’s plan caught the attention of numerous other big-name architects, including Norman Foster of Foster + Partners.when designers such as this were onboard, it seemed that neither money nor convention were limiting factors.

Foster designed Nur-sultan’s Palace of Peace and Reconcilia­tion, a dramatic glass pyramid with

a £41 million budget; and then, four years later, the Khan Shatyr Entertainm­ent Center, the world’s biggest tent, which covers an area equivalent to 10 football pitches. Italian architect Manfredi Nicoletti, the pioneer of bioclimati­c architectu­re, contribute­d the design for Nur-sultan’s Central Concert Hall while Danish firm Bjarke Ingels Group won a competitio­n to design the National Library. One of the latest additions to that eclectic skyline is Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill’s Nur Alem, the glass sphere centrepiec­e of the Kazakhstan Pavilion at EXPO 2017. Any architectu­re enthusiast­s could spend weeks grid-walking Nur-sultan’s streets, and with new structures continuall­y rising storeyby-storey from the ground, there will always be something new and aesthetica­lly unexpected to see.

Aside from its impressive architectu­re, Nur-sultan’s other claim to fame is that it has one of the most extreme climates in the world. Only Mongolia’s Ulaanbaata­r is colder in winter, but summer temperatur­es can reach beyond 30°C.this influences when you will want to travel (avoid December to March) and may mean you spend more time indoors, or sightseein­g from a bus, than in some other destinatio­ns. when the weather is fine, however, it’s a great joy to be outdoors, joining Nur-sultan’s residents on the wide boulevards, plazas, and parks.

The pedestrian­ised Nurjol Boulevard is on the left bank of the Ishim River. It is a key part of Kurokawa’s city plan, and runs between the Ak Orda (the President’s official residence) and the Khan Shatyr, with the Baiterek Tower and other notable monuments en route. The fountains dance, often in time to music, and, in the evenings, are choreograp­hed with coloured lights. The fabulous flower displays, which change with every season, make you forget that this part of Kazakhstan is naturally arid steppe.

If you are searching for signs of traditiona­l Kazakh culture, which does at first may seem lacking in Nur-sultan, you need the Zhailau Ethnoaul.this ethno-cultural complex was built during EXPO 2017 but is now a permanent attraction, popular with locals as well as foreign visitors. Unlike in other parts of Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s nomadic population has been settled and urbanised for the past century. At Zhailau, however, there’s a family-friendly opportunit­y to see inside a Kazakh yurt, watch horse sports, meet artisans and admire the national costumes you are unlikely to see elsewhere.

Yes, there is a touch of Disney-fication at Zhailau Ethnoaul and across Nur-sultan. Nothing really is natural, and it’s not necessaril­y what it seems. And yet, this is entirely fitting in a city where almost everything has been created in the past three decades to present a modern vision of Kazakhstan. After exploring those remarkable streets, visitors can only wonder what you would discover there in another 30 years.

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 ??  ?? The right notes The Ishim flows in front of the Central Concert Hall; (left) the Baiterek Tower is a Nur-sultan landmark
The right notes The Ishim flows in front of the Central Concert Hall; (left) the Baiterek Tower is a Nur-sultan landmark
 ??  ?? Architectu­ral astonishme­nts (clockwise from this) Statues guard the National Museum; the Palace of Peace and Reconcilia­tion; Nur Alem; Nur-astana Mosque; The Khan Shatyr
Architectu­ral astonishme­nts (clockwise from this) Statues guard the National Museum; the Palace of Peace and Reconcilia­tion; Nur Alem; Nur-astana Mosque; The Khan Shatyr
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