On Sunday the orphanage was closed to visitors so Erken and Dinara took us for a tour of Astana. First we went to a large monument in the center of the new government district. From the top we could see all of Astana. It was a really great way to see the surrounding landscape and layout of the city since we didn't have a window seat on the flight in.
After the monument we went to an amusement center that had lots of neat exhibits from around the world, including an aquarium. We also got to walk around a giant model of the country with hundreds of replicas representing buildings, government, and industry from around the nation. During the day Erken showed us lots of Kazakh artifacts and told us a lot about the history of the country and its people. We also got to share a nice walk in the park. It was exciting seeing all the families and couples walking around and interacting with the street vendors. Contrary to what we expected, Astana is a very plesent, clean city with lots for families to do.