Quick Tips:

At Almaty's airport, you can't get a baggage cart until after you have cleared customs. You have to put your own bags on a scanner prior to getting to the customs agent. It's not a big distance, but with heavy bags and lots of people behind you, it can be awful! With this in mind, don't pack too much if you can help it. Don't let the guys at the airport exit grab your bags! Try to have transportion waiting when you arrive, chances are you will land at 2:00am and your options are few if you don't plan ahead.

You can get anything you want or need at the Ramstor. It is frequented largely by foreigners and wealthy "Novi Kazakhi" - you can even get American supermarket brand cereals here if you get a jones for home.

Don't drink the water!

Americans need a visa to enter Kazakhstan. For details, go to this site.

Best Way To Get Around:

As a tourist, I would avoid the white ramshackle buses with curtains all together (you will see them, just don't get on!).

The meat section can be a little scary (OK, very scary--we have Kazakh friends who won’t even go in there). Skinned animals hang from hooks and they apparently scoff at the idea of refrigerating meats. In addition to the standard butcher fare, you can get the Kazakh specialty horse meat, although I don’t recommend actually purchasing anything from Zelyony’s meat department.

If you actually are going to buy any food items here (besides fruits and veggies that you can peel), keep a lookout for inexpensive caviar (only buy caviar in tins). Even if you have no intention of buying anything, the bazaar is alive with sights, sounds, and smells, and is well worth checking out. The tradition of central Asian bazaars lives on at Zelyony Bazaar.

On the side streets around the Bazaar, local vendors, housewives, veterans, and anyone else with something to sell run a makeshift flea market. Everything from old pots and pans to knitted caps to Soviet pins and military items are on display. We bought several handfuls of Soviet lapel pins for about $2US.

A word of caution (besides avoiding the meat stalls): watch your wallet in and around the bazaar, the crowds can get thick and you never know who you will bump into (literally).

This beautiful Russian Orthodox Cathedral sits amid rose gardens at the center of Panfilov Park. The colorful structure was built entirely of wood, and amazingly no nails were used in its construction (in fact, it was one of the few buildings to survive the 1911 earthquake that rocked Almaty, making it one of the few pre-Soviet structure standing in the city). During the Soviet era, the cathedral was used as a history and economics museum, but it was returned to the Russian Orthodox church in the mid-1990s and has been used for religious services ever since.

The outside of the multi-domed church, with its colorful panels and elaborate detail, is very impressive-–however, the small interior of the building is even more awe-inspiring. Every possible inch of the walls in the main chapel is covered with murals and gilt-edged icons.

There is a small gift shop manned by little Babushkas that sells Russian Orthodox icons and religious items.

Koktyube is also a great place to take a leisurely stroll. There is a path that leads in a large loop around the top of the hill, affording views of the beautiful Zailiysky Alatau Mountain range on one side and sprawling Almaty on the other. The TV tower is not accessible to the public. There is a playground (with huge double stand-up swings-–really fun) at the foot of the tower.

During the warmer months, dozens of newly married couples come careening up the hill in their elaborately decorated wedding cars (Mercedes is their car of choice if they can get one) to have their picture taken against the scenic backdrop of Almaty. It’s a hoot to watch them.

Besides risking your life driving up to Koktyube with the newlyweds, you can also take a cable car from near the Palace of the Republic on Dostyk. Cars depart three times per hour and the 10-minute ride is 100 tenge for adults, 50 tenge for students and free for kids under 7. You can also walk up on any of the small street that lead through the neighborhoods east of Lugansky Street.

There are many great hiking trails that are accessible from Koktyube. Check out "The Hiker’s Guide to Almaty" by Arkady Pozdeyev for info on trails.