2018 Tian Shan

Almaty city in Kazakhstan and the surrounding areas are the homeland of the apple tree. City name in Kazakh means "of apples". Apple is a symbol of the city. There are still wild apple trees in the area.

And yet!

Kazakhs told me on many occasions: "the apple comes from Kazakhstan, and yet Kazakhs eat Polish apples, why?"

If Wikipedia statistics are correct, then Poland produces probably more than 3.6 million tonnes of apples each year, which is the highest amount in Europe, and while it pales to the Chinese production power of 44 million tonnes yearly. Kazakhstan borders China, and is far away from Poland, so why the Polish apples here in central Asia?

Poland produces vastly more apples than it can eat or sell to neighbours. It used to flood the Russian market, however, since 2014, the Russian Federation started an embargo on apples from Poland. Since then, rumour has it Poles have tried any possible method of exporting apples to Russia - including sales via Russia’s traditional allies such as Kazakhstan, Belarus and Serbia.

Picture from gazetabaltycka.pl.The entire issue became a source of memes in Poland, with “eat the apples to spite Putin” or “one apple a day keeps the Russians away”. I wouldn’t look for russophobic tones in it, these and similar situational jokes around the embargo were just cheap laugh for the masses, and were quickly shrugged off.

Of course, Polish apples are okay, but if you ship them several thousand kilometres away, they’re going to be less than stellar. I suppose the Chinese brands shipped via Ürümqi would be more fresh, if one dares eat food from countries outside the hysterical health standards of the European Union.

Kazakhs told me that the types of apple trees evolved in Poland are being imported back into Kazakhstan, if these rumours are to be believed (as I am no expert in all this), Polish apple trees yield bigger apples, more of them, and for a longer time (isn’t it just a matter of a much milder climate, though?), while still under the state-of-the-art quality standards of the EU, and with competition from the Union just waiting for farmers to make a mistake.

Where now?

Kazakhs should eat their own apples, too - I agree with that. It’s an important part of the culture and the homeland of the plant itself, so seeing the country flooded by foreign fruit leaves a sour aftertaste. Can it be changed in the near future?

Unlikely - in 2018 Polish apple industry had a “klęska urodzaju” again (play on words “klęska nieurodzaju” - disaster of bad harvest, whereas “klęska urodzaju”  means a disaster of great harvest), producing 20% more apples than the average from the last 3 years, and almost twice as much as in 2017, with prices being record low, and 0.5 million fruits speculated doomed to be thrown to trash due oversupply. Well, Kazakhs, get ready, we just had a historic record harvest.

http://wyborcza.pl/7,155287,23833527,kleska-urodzaju-w-polskich-sadach-kto-zje-500-tys-ton-jablek.html

Kombi-2 station (3200 metres) is the uppermost station of the cable car in Almaty. The entire cable car line starts in Medeo that can be reached by bus 12 or by taxi, and which is about 20 kilometres off the city. Medeo-Chimbulak is the first connection. Medeo is on about 1500 metres. Then comes Chimbulak-Kombi-1. Chimbulak is on 2100 metres. On Kombi-1, at 2850 metres, there is the hotel where I am staying right now, called S.N.e.G. Finally, Kombi-2 is on 3200 metres, and it is the starting point for attacking mountain peaks, for paragliding, and in winter for skiing.

You might notice the deep, blue sky. These photos have not been edited, the navyblue is natural.

S.N.e.G. Hotel in Chimbulak located at 2850 metres above sea level. It is located on Kombi-1 cable car station and can only be reached by cable car. It is the middle station, which is right next to the hotel’s building. Kombi-2 station is the uppermost and is on 3200 metres above sea level.

S.N.e.G. seems to be a language play, sneg (снег in Russian, śnieg in Polish) is a Slavic word for “snow”. What the abbreviation stands for, I am yet to find out.

So far, the most luxurious hotel I have ever been to - not so much because of what’s in, though that too (I am used to hostels), but because of the location and view. I noticed that in the registry almost all people bought just 1 night, while I bought 3, is this why I received a room with such great view onto Chimbulak ski resort at 2100 metres and Almaty city at 900?

Shower doesn’t bring me wine, but it does massage and sing.

Inside, I have a couple of things that I am not used to seeing on my journeys:

- TV with a private bar underneath. - A little observatory corner: second window with clear view onto both land and the sky, where I comfortably set up my telescope and can use it to watch the resort, the city, surrounding nature or the stars. - The shower is kinda futuristic to me, in the sense that it has a massager option and a radio. Singing shower, huh. - There was a bumblebee in my sink? God bless the hotel that brings me pets. I caught the little fuzzy fellow into a cup and let him outside. He seemed drowsy, so didn’t cause me any trouble.

Lastly, considering the altitude, some meteorological data from my own devices is as follows: Temperature: during the day +25°C in sunlight and +7°C in the shade. +15°C if clouds come and go. -2°C to +2°C in the night. Data for 31st of September. Atmospheric pressure: 728.9 hectopascals. Compared to the average of 1010 hPa in my home, this is 28% less air (both Nitrogen and Oxygen) than at home. I’m curious what it will be at 3200 metres. Wind: as I noticed, 0 to 3 force Beaufort, however, last time when I was in the cable car, it went up to 7 - 8 Beaufort force. Snow? Yup, outside some was just melting. I wonder if I will see more.

Yurts. Plastic, though... a pity. But, on this trip I have seen normal yurts too!

Yurts are native to Central Asia. They are mostly known in the world from Mongolia and Kazakhstan, but apart from them, apparently also in Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Siberian (Russian) republics of the region such as Tuva and Baikal region.

Big Almaty Lake (Үлкен Алматы көлі, Большое Алматинское Озеро) is located 15 kilometres off Almaty city in northern Tian-Shan mountains on 2500 metres altitude above sea level.

Origin of the lake seems to be of some dispute. Most sources say it is tectonic, which would make sense. I heard opinions that it is simply post-glacial. 1.6 kilometres in length and 0.75 to 1 kilometres in width. Maximum depth 40 metres.

The lake is one of the places most visited by tourists from Kazakhstan and abroad alike. Southern part is leading to Kyrgyzstan, but in the current day the path is closed due to disagreements between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. This is a shame, as Kyrgyzstan also has a fantastic lake on the other side, Issyk-Kul. Unfortunately, Issyk can only be reached by going to Bishkek first, so from Almaty it takes 10 hours in one way. Border control can be seen in this zone from both countries, so one has to have passports here.