Almaty, last stop in Kazakhstan...

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Here is my last little stop in Kazakhstan. This time I'm arriving from Kyrgystan by the road. The people at my hotel nicely dropped me at the border. I just had to walk the few hundred meters to the border...smiling procedure....walk the bridge across the on the Chu River....and I was back for the third time in few days in Kazakhstan. I'm still 200km from the former capital that is Almaty. Was the third one in a big share taxi...good for me, the front seat is still available...and the ride will cost me only 6usd...not bad for 200km...



Almaty is lodged at the feet of beautiful mountains. Sadly for me, the sky went from partly cloudy, to cloudy, even with few minutes of rain, so not a huge shot at those new buildings with snow capped mountain backdrop. I'm staying in what seems to be a brand new Holiday Inn. Nothing to claim about the place, just a pretty nice bed! Oh, and the fact that there is a bus stop right in front of the hotel. Almaty is huge...I walked like crazy over two days, but that bus system is pretty efficient, and cheap! Cost me just 60c to go all the way to the airport on my way out!



There are not many amazing buildings around. I spent some time enjoy the gorgeous Zenkov Cathedral....all made by wood, not a single steel nail. Here too, it's not the season for ballet or opera...but I was very aware o this before my trip. Here it's big avenues with lots of trees....pretty nice experience, specially with all these cafe terraces all over. Not so sure it's that fun in the middle of the winter!



I also took the cable car to enjoy the view of the city. Up there, they have a mini-crap zoo, and few fun things for the kids.Good way to discover that this city is actually, pretty huge! Here too they have a fun metro...but it's a new one....brand new one thanks to the oil money. Interesting fact, here they have zero problems with tourists taking pictures in the metro...they actually smiled big way once I asked! Cute!



I visited few markets....but they also have those huge brand new shopping malls...you can see here, money has come in big drove since independence and thanks to the oil industry! Sadly, not many interesting museum to go around the city. It seems that since the official capital moved to northern Astana close to 20 years ago....the amazing new architecture, is rather getting out of ground in northern Astana.



I have to admit, if there was one city in Central Asia I would live in, this is the one. An airport with flights to many places....from Asia to Europe....all the goods you will need to survive...so serious culture....if you do not come in August, smile! And I'm sure they also know how to party. Do not ask me about the night life, I walk so much that it was each night a pretty early one.



Next stop, I'm flying south, to a very interesting capital, one where I would rather not live!

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