Pavlodar

Pavlodar, Kazakhstan - darkometer rating : 1 - The capital of the province of the same name in the north-east of Kazakhstan . By no means a premier dark tourism destination, but a rather convenient stopover when travelling in the region. And a couple of minor points of interest of the Soviet legacy type can keep the dark tourist entertained too. > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos What there is to see: not an awful lot, but if you happen to make a stopover here, then you should pay a visit to the city's two Lenins and other bits of Soviet -era statuary. One set is found in a park towards the northern end of Lenin Street [now renaned "Astana Street"). Apart from an eponymous Lenin, wearing a cap and coat with one hand placed confidently on his lapel, it also contains a concrete relief slab with the usual troika of Marx, Engels & Lenin as well as a standard T-34 tank on a plinth by the park entrance. ------------------------- [ UPDATE September 2016: a reader of these pages informed me that this park has been 'renovated', at the expense of this Lenin as well as the tank and the Marx-Engels-Lenin monuments. Allegedly the Lenin statue is in storage somewhere, so might at least re-appear elsewhere at some point, as has happened in other places, such as in Almaty ... The tank is said to have been given a new home too, but I do not know where. UPDATE 2025: another reader has confirmed that the de-Sovietizing of this park is complete, no trace of those symbols/statues is left and instead there are animal-theme sculptures for a more child-friendly appeal of the park ...] --------------------------- The other Lenin is (was?) to be found in yet another little park to the south of the city centre, also off Lenin/Astana Street, on the corner of Tolstoy Street.