Astana, Kazakhstan and Astana, Kazakhstan to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (days 19 & 20)

 Day 19 - January 25, 2023

Final full day in Astana today. Spent the afternoon and evening with Brandon. There was not a lot of opportunity to take pictures today as the first couple of the places we visited did not allow photos inside.  The National Museum was our first stop. It was quite interesting to learn more about the history of Kazakhstan, from the iron and bronze ages all the way to modern day. The parts I enjoyed the most were the areas that showed the very early tribes from the different regions of Kazakhstan. Probably could have stayed at the museum for around four hours total, but we had a bit of a schedule to follow for the afternoon.

After spending a couple hours at the museum, we headed over to the US Embassy where Brandon gave me a personal tour. It was really great to see the places Brandon has mentioned on our phone calls first hand. I also met some of his coworkers and a few of the people he is there to protect. Not sure I am allowed to tell too much more, but it was nice to get a better picture of what all goes on in Brandon's daily (or nightly) work. 

After a nice steak dinner we headed over to Barys Arena to watch a KHL hockey game. The game went to a shootout after a bit of a slow paced 0-0 game, but unfortunately the Barys ended up losing. After the game we met up with one of Brandon's buddies, who teaches music at one of the English Schools in the city, and drove back with him from the arena.

It has been a really great time here in Kazakhstan, although it has been a bit chilly :D Definitely enjoyed the place more than I had expected I would. Enjoyed the time with my bro about as much as could be expected :) But in all seriousness, thank you for what you do Brandon!

 Day 20 - January 26, 2023

My flight from Astana left at 9am, so it was a bit of an early morning. After the 5 hour flight, we arrived in Dubai. People from all over the world come here to visit, made for some fun people watching while waiting in lines at the airport :D It was a bit of a jump in temperature here compared to cold Astana. It has been a bit rainy here lately and it is somewhat humid. After being deafened by all the car horns and traffic directors' whistles, we left the airport for my hotel.

There was not much to see of the city from the airport, but as we drove, there were beautiful green gardens full of flowers. Then came some of the high-rises, and soon after that, the main downtown area which was absolutely incredible to see!

After reaching the hotel, I had a quick shower and then headed down to the large lobby area where they have a coffee shop and large seating area. Had a much needed coffee after a long morning and then headed out the door across the street to Dubai Mall. 

Dubai Mall is the second largest mall in the world, and it showed! There are so many things to see and places you could stop at. The building is packed with shops, buildings, and even an aquarium. I feel like you could spend a couple days just walking through and exploring. Also makes for a great place to people watch :)

A souk is a marketplace or bazaar. They have a whole area of the mall modeled after the bazaars that would have been here before modern Dubai.

The Dubai Dino fresh out of Wyoming, USA

Loads of people here speak English, which is a bit of a relief after I tried desperately to learn some Russian in Kazakhstan, but found it quite difficult. I was able to read and understand a little, but I found speaking the language much more difficult. I have been using Duolingo, an app for language learning, at each of the places I stopped so far, just so I at least try to understand a bit. I found Turkish much easier to understand than Russian.

Only booked four days here, but after seeing the mall and the city, I think I might come back here after Perth for a few more days to explore some more.