In Almaty many flights arrive very early. We also hit the city at 04:30 a.m., checked in at our hotel and managed to get some hours of sleep (on the way from Austria one loses 4 hours). Then we leisurely explored the city and visitied Kok Tobe, a mountain east from Almaty, reachable by cable car or bus. It’s a nice view point with a small amusement park and a tiny zoo. The gondola station is near metro station Abay on Dostyk Avenue.
The city itself is characterized by Soviet buildings (concrete monsters, “Brutalist architecture”).
Flying from Almaty to Dushanbe the next day was quite interesting, as the Almaty International airport more looked like an aviation museum than a modern airport.
Getting around is a bit difficult: distances are long, the metro only consists of one line and the bus network is not easy to figure out. So better plan on visiting fewer sights to account for the additional time you need getting around.
In the end of our journey we came back to Almaty for some hours. Here some more impressions:
Next: Dushanbe
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