Almaty (Alma Ata)

Surprisingly perhaps, I think Almaty is a pretty cool place.. You hear many bad comments, stories and yes maybe some bad things happen in this country, but it's hard to believe when you wander the streets of this extremely cosmopolitan and friendly city. There are of course many Kazakhs like in Atyrau, but here there is a far more diverse mixture of ethnic groups, many Russians, other Central Asians, Tajiks, Kyrgyzs, Uzbeks as well as Chinese, Koreans, Japanese and probably many many more nationalities. It really feels like - as some have called it - 'The capital of Central Asia'.

The streets are filled with cars, busses, mashrutnoes, people offering rooms or girls and dodging them is a new skill to learn, but within a fairly short walk you can reach one of the multitide of parks that are all over the city, some small, some large, all with water features of some kind ! I don't think I have ever been to a city with so many water fountains. And within these tree filled parks, it is so easy to forget you are in a fairly large city, the traffic sounds muffled by the forest of trees and the sprays of water around, the views of gardens and people of all types enjoying the summer weather. There is a wide selection of food available here too, cafes, bars, restaurants everywhere, as well as casinos. One of the best value is a food market on corner of Gogol/Ablaya Khan, where you can have all kinds of local specialities freshly cooked, manty (boiled dumplings), laghman (noodles with whatever you like), Plov (Uzbek national dish, of lamb, rice and vegetables) and shaurma (a tortilla wrapped shoarma with chips inside!!) at a very reasonable price. There is also of course "Mad Murphy's Irish Bar" where you can pay 3 or 4 times as much for some home cooked delights like sausage and mash !!



Left: Church in Almaty Park, made entirely of wood !
Right: Monument to commemorate 28 soldiers who died during World War I

Yesterday, took a cable car up to the hill in Almaty, Kak Tobe, which offers views of the city and to the South the mountains that divide Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan, some so high they are still snow-capped even when it's always in the mid-30s each day in Almaty.



Left: Views of snow capped mountians south of Almaty.
Right: One of Almaty's many fountains.



Left and Right: If you like fountains, you'll like Almaty ;-)