It’s always interesting to see what is on the itinerary of a photo tour.  You can expect that sometimes you see surprising things. Photo tours are  always different than traditional tours.  

I wondered when I saw “Morning at Metro Stations in Almaty, Kazakhstan” on the itinerary  of my trip to three Silk Road countries last year.  Why would you photograph a Metro station. They are typically pretty grim. 

But I trusted that I won’t be disappointed and I wasn’t.  

We explored three different stations in this modern city that was once part of the Soviet Union. We saw color. Interesting lines. Sleek design.  

But I was curious about why the Soviets would have such design focused transportation centers.  I remembered being in one in ST. Petersburg that was jaw dropping.

I did a little research and found that extravagantly designed Metro stations were a focus for Communists leaders.  They used them to communicate the idea that Communism would deliver “Communal luxury.”  

Interesting.  The American dream has always been owning a car whereas a world class subway system was used as part of the Soviet dream. 

I didn’t created any fantastic images but it was enjoyable. 

What else was planned for visiting this part of the world?

We went to a  tourist attraction where the staff dressed up in historic costume and let us take pictures. 

Lovely?

Later that day we photographed this beautiful church inside and out.  Gorgeous.

We also drove out to an older church because on previous trips, our photo leader said the group captured spectacular reflections in the pond. 

Imagine his surprise to get there and find that for some reason the pond had been mostly drained.  We all adjusted and he got over his disappointment.   We were fine.  

Off we went to photograph something else.   

The photo tour was with Fantastic Photo Tours. https://fantasticphototours.com