The land of nomads
Almaty was a last-minute addition when we were about to book flights to Uzbekistan. I did not know much about what to expect, apart from large grasslands/ deserts I had heard of. As I started looking deeper, I realized Almaty has a lot to offer with gorgeous nature and varied landscapes in and around the city. You can move from city buildings to mountains to canyons to deserts very quickly. We had 3 days to accommodate, so decided to spend all of them in and around Almaty
When to visit
Ideal time is autumn from September- November with colorful foliage all around. It also has minimal rain during this period. We visited in May which was recommended by many but had a lot of rainy days. May is one of the months with highest number of rainy days
Visa
Kazakhstan is visa free for Indians for 14 days. No application required before travel or at airport. The easiest process among the countries we have travelled so far
Currency: Tenge
We exchanged a small amount at the airport for emergency. There are many exchange shops in the city that provide good rates. We exchanged USD at MiG Exchange near Arbat G Almaty shopping street (https://maps.app.goo.gl/2m2zbfE9jri1ib8Y8)
Getting in
We took Air Astana from Tashkent. Regular connects to Almaty exist from major cities like Delhi. You get a small Kazakh chocolate in Air Astana flights
Getting around
Yandex was the app we used extensively to travel around. Yandex from airport to city costs about 2500 Tenge ($5/ INR 500)
Places to see
Within Almaty city
- Ascension cathedral: Colorful cathedral built completely with food in the middle of a large park
- The 28 Panfilov Heroes Memorial Park: Dedicated to World War II heroes beside Ascension cathedral
- Arbat: Walking street with high end shops. You can hear good live music by musicians on the street
- Almaty central mosque: Golden domes modern mosque, spiritual identity of the city
- Green Bazaar: Multi storied bazaar selling all kinds of things, colorful to gross
- Rahat Chocolate factory: Manufactures the famous Kazakhstan chocolates featuring in Air Astana Flights. Small bard were 125 Tenge, small bags 500 Tenge (200 gram) and large bags around 2000 Tenge (750 grams- 1 kg)
- President’s Park: Potential stop on the way to Sunkar Falcon Sanctuary
Beyond Almaty city
- Shymbulak mountains- Half day
- Sunkar Raptor Falcon Sanctuary- Half day
- Day tour to Charyn canyon, Kaindy lake, Kolsai lake
- Day tour to singing dunes and Altyn Emel National Park for singing dune, Akatau, Kakatau mountains
- Issyk Lake
See more details in a separate post here
Things to know
- Kazakh eagles are famous for hunting. You can watch an episode on BBC Earth , although this particular one was from Mongolia
- Beshbarmak (meaning five fingers) is the national dish of Kazakhstan made of horse meat and noodles. It is traditionally eaten with hands
- World Nomad Games was hosted in Astana in 2024. The current cities of Kazakhstan are quite far away from nomadic culture though. You need to go deeper into the countries to witness one today
- On average, Kazakh people are quite reserved vs. Uzbek neighbours, but some go out of the way to make your day. On one of the days, we re discussing amongst us which fruits to buy from a local shop. Many of them seemed new and native to the country. The shop keeper was sweet enough to give one of each kind for us to try so that we could decide and come back the next day!
Where we stayed
We stayed in Hotel Kazakhstan for a day (38k Tenge | $85 | INR 7.3k). The iconic hotel features on 5k Tenge note. They have good room, wide variety of options for breakfast and a grand reception hall
For next few days, we moved into a wonderful Airbnb ($60 | INR 5k per night) as we had an early start every day and would anyway have to skip breakfast. The apartment was gorgeous, compact, comfortable with all possible amenities. Our wonderful host Margherita was responsive, courteous, always there asking if we were doing ok. Her instructions to reach the apartment were spot on, we had no issues finding the place. There is a 24×7 shop downstairs and a fruit stall where you can purchase daily things like water, yoghurt, bread etc.
How much does it cost for 3-4 days in Almaty
We spent around $650 per person
- Flights: $260 (Open Jaw Tashkent- Almaty- Delhi on Air Astana)
- Hotel: $100 ($50 per night)
- Food: $50 (We carry our own food/ shop at supermarkets)
- Tours/ transport: $220
- Insurance: $15