One of the largest Gulag labour camps from the former USSR: The Travel Professor investigates
Karaganda is an industrial town in the centre of Kazakhstan. The city has many monuments and statues. Just outside the city, is Dolinka, the site of Karlag. Karlag was one of the largest Gulag labor camps.
Karaganda Vlog #7: A Walk in the Park II
Walking around the park in wintertime, taking one last look at the Lenin statue (it was removed from the center of the city less than 24 hours after I shot this video).
Five stans of Central Asia C.i.222's photos around Almaty, Kazakhstan (the 5 stans)
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Entry from: Almaty, Kazakhstan
Entry Title: Five stans of Central Asia
Entry:
It was a very long day traveling to Central Asia
This travelogue with pictures will be one of the longest I will ever post, because it covers five countries in Central Asia, and I took over 2,000 pictures. What surprised me the most was the simple fact that these countries we visited were living a pretty good standard of living, and that many of the sites we visited were well preserved and maintained. The friendliness of the children can't be overly expressed; it's probably the only part of the world where young children approach you to talk with you. It's probably a good opportunity for them to practice their English. Our travel group was made up from people all over the US, and many were college professors and/or administrators, and we had a doctor and his wife from Minneapolis, my roommate from Florida is a retired Colonel in the Navy, a restaurant chain owner from North Carolina, and some common folks like me. It was a good group.
We essentially followed the Silk Road route in this region, and saw some interesting artifacts from that period in addition to meeting the people, and eating their food (and vodka). The architecture is a mixture of Islamic, Russian, Persian, and Chinese basically finished in
colored tiles. We also learned a little about Tamerlane (Timur Empire), the supposed grandson of the Genghis Khan who conquered much of Central Asia which began in the early 14th century and lasted until the mid-1850s.
The people, especially the children are very friendly towards American tourists. They approach us freely and start to speak English as if it's their first language, but many speak over five languages. In some countries, over 90% are Muslim, but it's against the law to promote religion in some of their countries.
Since this journey was made almost three years ago, I will not be able to remember enough to provide a travelogue, so the pictures will have to suffice.
There are about 600,000 Koreans living in this part of the world. Many can be seen at the bazaars selling their typical Korean salads. Before taking this journey, I worried that I would
stick out as the only Asian in our tour group, but that fear disappeared quickly, because the many living in that part of the world have Asian faces.
The only shock of preparing for this trip was the cost of the five VISA applications; with the pictures and processing fees, the total was over $800.
I had the opportunity to travel to this part of the world with Road Scholar, because a gentleman I traveled in Israel with asked me to join him. The itinerary started in Almaty,Kazakhstan,
followed by Issyk Kul, then on to Tajikistan, Kyrgystan, and Bishkek, Samarkand:
Tashkent, Uzbekistan ...
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Photos from this trip:
1. Frankfurt airport; hate this place
2. Our hotel in Almaty
3. Internet cafe across the street
4. Russian orthodox church
5. Memorial monument
6. Almaty museum was closed
7. Our lunch in a Mongol gert
8. Skating rink in Almaty
9. We rode down the hill on these cable cars
10. Some were riding down on these sleds
11. Our drive to Krygyzstan
12. We stopped at this animal market
13. We stopped to look at this mini Grand Canyon
14. We stopped often for animals
15. Crossing the border into Krygyzstan
16. Water slide at Issyk Kul
17. Our guide in Kazakhstan and Krygyzstan
18. Another picture of Issyk Kul
19. At our hotel grounds
20. Silk Road tower on our way to Bishkek
21. American University in Bishkek
22. Lenin is pointing towards American University
23. Bishkek National History Museum
24. Changing of the guards
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Monumental Art of Kazakhstan (1976) - Documentary on Soviet Mosaics
Shared, translated and captioned by Monumental Almaty (MonumentalAlmaty.com, @monumentalalmaty)
Source: Central State Archive for Film, Photo, and Audiorecordings of the Republic of Kazakhstan
В Караганде началась операция по переносу вождя
В Караганде началась уникальная операция по переносу самой крупной в стране статуи Ильича. Это уже вторая попытка низвергнуть вождя революции с его постамента на центральной площади города. В 2001 году снести гранитного Ленина не дали последователи его заветов.
Dissolution of the Soviet Union | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred on 26 December 1991, officially granting self-governing independence to the Republics of the Soviet Union (USSR). It was a result of the declaration number 142-Н of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former Soviet republics and created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), although five of the signatories ratified it much later or did not do so at all. On the previous day, 25 December, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, resigned, declared his office extinct and handed over its powers—including control of the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes—to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. That evening at 7:32 p.m., the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag.Previously, from August to December all the individual republics, including Russia itself, had either seceded from the union or at the very least denounced the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR. The week before formal dissolution, eleven republics signed the Alma-Ata Protocol formally establishing the CIS and declaring that the USSR had ceased to exist. Both the Revolutions of 1989 and the dissolution of the USSR also marked the end of the Cold War.
Several of the former Soviet republics have retained close links with the Russian Federation and formed multilateral organizations such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eurasian Economic Community, the Union State, the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union to enhance economic and security cooperation. On the other hand, the Baltic states have joined NATO and the European Union.
Dissolution of the Soviet Union | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred on 26 December 1991, officially granting self-governing independence to the Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It was a result of the declaration number 142-Н of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former Soviet republics and created the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), although five of the signatories ratified it much later or did not do so at all. On the previous day, 25 December, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and final leader of the USSR, resigned, declared his office extinct and handed over its powers—including control of the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes—to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. That evening at 7:32 p.m., the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag.Previously, from August to December all the individual republics, including Russia itself, had either seceded from the union or at the very least denounced the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR. The week before formal dissolution, eleven republics signed the Alma-Ata Protocol formally establishing the CIS and declaring that the USSR had ceased to exist. Both the Revolutions of 1989 and the dissolution of the USSR also marked the end of the Cold War.
Several of the former Soviet republics have retained close links with the Russian Federation and formed multilateral organizations such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eurasian Economic Community, the Union State, the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union to enhance economic and security cooperation. On the other hand, the Baltic states have joined NATO and the European Union.
First human spaceflight | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:01:20 1 Early life and education
00:03:48 2 Soviet Air Force service
00:05:59 3 Soviet space program
00:06:09 3.1 Selection and training
00:09:49 3.2 Vostok 1
00:13:45 4 After the Vostok 1 flight
00:18:44 5 Honours and awards
00:19:45 6 Personal life
00:20:43 7 Death
00:25:34 8 Legacy
00:26:46 8.1 Tributes
00:31:26 8.2 Statues
00:33:39 8.3 50th anniversary
00:34:51 9 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio:
Other Wikipedia audio articles at:
Upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
Speaking Rate: 0.7527992686552112
Voice name: en-AU-Wavenet-C
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин, IPA: [ˈjʉrʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ɡɐˈɡarʲɪn]; 9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet Air Forces pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space, achieving a major milestone in the Space Race; his capsule Vostok 1 completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961. Gagarin became an international celebrity and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, his nation's highest honour.
Vostok 1 was Gagarin's only spaceflight but he served as the backup crew to the Soyuz 1 mission, which ended in a fatal crash, killing his friend and fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. Gagarin later served as the deputy training director of the Cosmonaut Training Centre, which was subsequently named after him. Gagarin died in 1968 when the MiG-15 training jet he was piloting crashed. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale awards the Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal in his honour.