welshmattsmith's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Places visited in Almaty, Kazakhstan
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Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)

Shwedagon Pagoda

This gem-encrusted temple is said to contain some of the Buddha's hair which can make the deaf hear and the blind see.
Galle, Sri Lanka

Galle Fort

This fort dates back to 1588 and was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch, and English and sits prominently on the Indian Ocean where azure water lap the coast.
Moscow, Russia

Hotel Ukraina

The tallest hotel in Europe.
Moscow, Russia

'Compassion'

A monument to Malchik, a stray dog who lived in a Moscow metro station until his tragic death.
Moscow, Russia

Tsar Bell

World's largest bell sits on the grounds of the Kremlin in Moscow.
Moscow, Russia

Lenin's Mausoleum

This building holds the embalmed remains of the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Moscow, Russia

Lubyanka

Former headquarters of the KGB.
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Kunstkamera (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography)

The oldest museum in Russia is home to a fascinating collection of nearly two million anthropological artifacts and anatomical curiosities.
Yekaterinburg, Russia

Keyboard Monument

Russia's giant concrete QWERTY keyboard is likely the largest in the world.
Yekaterinburg, Russia

The Church on the Blood

Church built on the site where the last tsar of Russia and his family were killed.
Turkmenistan

The Gates of Hell

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Independence Monument of Turkmenistan

Sumptous memorial to a controversial independence.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Giant Ruhnama

A huge monument to a bizarre book written by Turkmenistan’s longstanding dictator.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Arch of Neutrality

A dictator's gold statue once rotated to face the sun on a 75-meter high marble tower.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Wedding Palace

If you want to get married in the White Marble City of Ashgabat, you should do it in this surreal disco ball building.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque

The controversial final resting place of the equally controversial first president of Turkmenistan.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Central Asian Plov Center

Giant cauldrons overflow with Uzbekistan's favorite rice dish at this cavernous dining hall.
Xiva, Uzbekistan

Walls of Itchan Kala

Ancient barriers wrap around what was once an important stop along the Silk Road.
Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Shah-i-Zinda Necropolis

The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.
Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Tomb of Daniel at Samarkand

An 18-meter-long sarcophagus of a constantly growing dead prophet.
Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Kalyan Minaret

This "tower of death" has acted as an observatory, a religious hub, and an executioner's lair.
Almaty, Kazakhstan

Big Almaty Lake

A brilliant turquoise lake in the mountains.
Almaty, Kazakhstan

Medeu

This Soviet-era athletic and recreation facility is the highest ice skating rink in the world.
Almaty, Kazakhstan

Beatles Statue of Almaty

Beatlemania is still going strong... at least in Kazakhstan.