When Khan Shatyr finally opened last year, we decided to take a look (8th of July 2010). It is certainly striking when you walk down Turan Ave, with a pretty unique shape on the horizon. When we arrived, it became obvious that the opening had been a little rushed, but it was still worth checking it out. There is a vertical rollercoaster in the middle, which I’ve not come across before in any British shopping centres 🙂
One of the fast food outlets definitely caught my eye, but I’ve since learnt that it may just be a Spongebob Squarepants reference, rather than anything more unsavoury. At one point we found some tables and chairs, and decided to have a quick sit-down, as Anna was a little tired from all the walking around. We hadn’t been there five minutes before a staff member came over and told us we couldn’t sit there. Was the table reserved? No. Were they about to clean it, or close off that area? No. The reason was that the restaurant wasn’t to be opened for a few days at least, and this meant that no one was allowed to sit at the anonymous tables.
Moving on, we found a cafe that was open, and started to look through the menu. I noticed that the on-table promoted drinks were not that generous – the prices were approximately the same you’ll find in some pricier places, but the amount was exactly 1000 times less! (See the photo below, obviously a mis-print 🙂 ). You need to pay a fairly high price to use Kahn Shatyr’s beach, but you apparently also get use of some of the other facilities, and given the land-locked nature of Kazakhstan, I guess they feel they can charge a high premium for the novelty of a sandy beach!
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- Khan Shatyr, Astana, Kazakhstan
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- Main Entrance To Khan Shatyr
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- Khan Shatyr’s Rollercoaster Ride!
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- Looking Up In Khan Shatyr
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- Inside Khan Shatyr
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- Green Supermarket, Astana
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- Interesting Name For A Fast Food Outlet!
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- Looking Down At Khan Shatyr
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- Anna Chilling Out Before Being Told To Go Away 🙁
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- Small Insect-Sized Drinks
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- Khan Shatyr’s Beach
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- Another Shot Of Khan Shatyr’s Beach Floor
