Kazakhstan, Astana - Walking down Amangeldi Imanov St, Imanbayeva St, Kenesary St, Rakhimov St

In ex-Soviet countries there is a tradition to make swan figures out of old car tires. The younger generations hate this, claiming that swan figures are an embodiment of bad taste, but nothing can stop them from spreading, because for many people it's then only affordable way to decorate and brighten their neighborhoods.
But we are not here to judge and choose sides in this eternal conflict. We are here to walk. And today's walk starts with a swan figure. It ends with a swan figure as well, because I managed to find two of them nearby. In other words, let's connect the swans!
To tell you the truth, it takes about a minute to walk from on swan to another, but where is fun in that? We are going to take a longer and more scenic route, checking parts of Amangeldi Imanov St, Imanbayeva St, Kenesary St and many other streets along the way. And, of course, we are going to take a deep dive into the Astana neighborhoods. Let us go!
0:00 - Start of the walk! We are standing near the first swan figure. The exact address is General Sabir Rakhimov St, 31/1. We are about to head south from here.
0:28 - And that tall building is the one with the cosmonaut projection from this memorable walk: • Kazakhstan, Astana - W... .
0:40 - We are going to head south from here, but first let's take a little detour. There are monsters around the corner.
1:06 - The monsters.
2:25 - Corner of General Sabir Rakhimov St and Amangeldi Imanov St. Let's head west. This part of the course replicates the aforementioned "cosmonaut" walk, so I won't comment on it again. Let's just enjoy this part silently, appreciating the fine weather. It's finally getting warmer!
5:07 - Look at the flowers.
5:16 - Corner of Amangeldi Imanov St and Imanbayeva St. We'll head north. On the previous walk we took the opposite side of the street, so this is our opportunity to check this side.
7:38 - United Germans Public Foundation "Wiedergeburt". Never been inside, for I am not a German, but this place looks intriguing. Wonder, what's going on inside.
8:34 - Corner of Imanbayeva St and Kenesary St. Let's cross to the other side and double back a little, because there is something I promised to show you, but never delivered. This is our chance!
9:01 - 7th Continent business center. One of the previous walks ended here: • Kazakhstan, Astana - W... . But that's not what I wanted to show. Have patience.
10:26 - Yep, here it is. A Star Wars graffiti. Death Star, Darth Vader. Welcome to the dark side!
11:40 - Now, that's disturbing!
12:09 - Another look at United Germans Public Foundation.
12:16 - Let's head back.
12:40 - The Two Towers.
12:56 - A statue of a pitcher.
13:08 - Before continuing, let's take a quick side quest. Another curiosity I wanted to share.
14:29 - A food challenge! That's a rare thing in ex-Soviet countries. The memories of great hunger and things like the Siege of Leningrad are still fresh, so people don't play with food here. But it's nice to see such a challenge. The society is healing, I guess.
14:42 - Now, back to the main course. Heading east on Kenesary St.
15:21 - Back to the corner of Imanbayeva St and Kenesary St.
15:56 - Traffic lights are equipped with buttons allowing to request a green light for pedestrians. I have a conspiracy theory, that they don't actually work. It's all just smoke and mirrors. Don't have any proofs. Yet.
17:19 - Stairs just make any walk better. Let's examine the Two Towers backyard.
18:42 - What's interesting about this spot, is that here I first noticed what I believed to be a secret mural. That glimpse of color behind the brick building. I'll get closer in a minute.
19:47 - From here you can see the top part of the supposed mural. There's definitely an image of a flying bird.
20:21 - It turned out, this brick building is a police precinct. And immediately I drew this bright picture in my imagination of secret mural, that the police stole from people and hid behind the barbed wire.
20:38 - Some more glimpses of the "secret mural". Well, in reality it happened to be just a big printed banner. What a disappointment! I discovered it by actually going in there and checking. But I did it off-camera, cause I didn't want to provoke the local law enforcement. In this video I just had to walk the other way, so just trust me on that one.
20:53 - Let's head east on Louis Pasteur St and check some more backyards.
21:42 - We already learned that Astana just loves exposing its pipelines. Another nice example to the right.
22:00 - Turning north. Even more pipes! I can't really explain why, but I enjoy the pipes a lot. Can't get enough of them.
22:36 - Just look at this industrial masterpiece!
The description continues in the first comment.

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Continuation of the description:
23:29 - Heading east on Otyrar St.
24:33 - Back to the yards, moving south.
24:42 - Local vendor is about to open his store.
25:25 - The fenced area to the right is a space for drying clothes, carpets and so on. Many backyards in Astana have this feature. I don't know if it was designed with this intent, but that's how people use it. We will encounter some more examples during this walk.
26:23 - Turning east.
27:29 - A mural. The authors are listed at the bottom of the mural. Someone partially blocked the names with AC unit.
27:59 - A better look a the mural.
28:32 - Another look.
28:51 - Final look. But the dog can't be seen from here.
29:05 - Moving west on Kenesary St.
29:24 - The restaurant to the right also has some drawings. Wasn't sure whether to include them in the video or not.
29:49 - Some man turned on a chainsaw, effectively ending my dilemma.
30:06 - Corner of Kenesary St and General Sabir Rakhimov St. We are going to head south. Into the backyards, of course!
31:20 - You see, these things are used for drying clothes for sure!
31:40 - That's our target, the second swan figure. This one in accompanied by improvised mushroom (younger generations, brace yourself) and a turtle.
And now, my walk has ended...
The walk took place on 1 June 2024.
Walker: Evgeniy.
Kazakhstan playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PL1Rdi3F_iOYiOlb7McF8l_VwNt1XWR6C-.html&si=NBEkyISdagWwPaW9
Kyrgyzstan playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PL1Rdi3F_iOYi_GILCE0LmWWyt71eoBByf.html&si=pNErb3ceCapftr-z
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