I thought quite a few times about going to Kazakhstan but until two years ago I knew nothing about it except for a taxi driver someplace in the US when I was visiting. He won the green card lottery and his next step was to start an interesting business, very typical of new immigrants. My second encounter was with three Kazak girls in Turkey who needed a ride to the local town since the bus was not showing up. I had space in the car I rented so I took them to the town and we talked a little bit about Kazakhstan. they were very nice people and I thought it might be interesting to visit. But the deciding factor was the two wars going on, one in Ukraine and one in Iran. I was thinking to avoid both of those I would fly in between and that meant going through Georgia and then onto Kazakhstan which I did. A pleasant surprise was the people. They are just extremely friendly, helpful and joy to be around. If you ever get the chance to go in that direction I highly recommend visiting if it’s just to enjoy the people. Next time I will spend in the countryside sometime to enjoy what many people have explained is extreme beauty.
Almaty Kazakhstan has a few is interesting things including the main park with the cathedral a museum which I did not visit at the local shopping areas. in one full day you can pretty much see everything of interest. It’s easy to get around using taxis and the buses or Metro. But don’t expect the timetables to show up in Google Maps. If you get stuck somewhere or with something the people are very helpful and things will work out just fine.
one thing I want to mention, with everything I did interacting with other people I always felt that people were being honorable and straightforward. I never felt people were trying to take advantage of the dumb tourist. on the contrary. The whole atmosphere was one of welcome and friendly.
